Mental and Emotional health difficulties are a leading cause of disability worldwide. Interestingly, studies have consistently shown that interpersonal relationships and social support can play a vital role in emotional health and wellbeing. Technologies that effectively support emotional wellbeing are likely to offer significant benefits, both for individuals and for society as a whole. This talk will discuss the potential of social media such as social networking sites, online games and mobile phone applications to provide social support for the emotional wellbeing of users, as well as the design constraints inherent in doing so. The EPSRC-funded project called "Exploring social Networks to Augment Cognitive behaviour Therapy (ENACT)," which is being lead by the Lincoln Social Computing research centre, will be discussed as an example of work in this field.
2. Introduction
Mental and emotional health difficulties are
a leading cause of disability worldwide (Funk
et al., 2010).
Interpersonal relationships & social support
can play a vital role in emotional health and
wellbeing (Assay et al., 1999; House et al, 1998).
Technologies that effectively support
emotional wellbeing are likely to offer
significant benefits to individuals and to
society.
3. Structure
Emotional Wellbeing / Mental health
Using technology to support mental &
emotional health
Why?
Previous work
Design constraints / unique requirements
ENACT project
Background
Work in progress
Conclusion
4. Emotional wellbeing
“…fundamental to our quality of life. It
enables us to experience life as meaningful
and is an essential component of social
cohesion, peace and stability in the living
environment, contributing to social capital
and economic development in society.”
(WHO, 2005)
6. Emotional Wellbeing
Mental health is
unfortunately
thought of only when
there are problems
Indeed, most of the
research in this area
is on interventions for
mental health
problems
7. Mental Health Problems
Worldwide, 151 million people suffer from
depression at any one time, and 844,000
people die by suicide every year (Funk et
al., 2010).
One in four UK adults experiences at least
one diagnosable mental health problem in
any one year, and one in six experiences this
at any given time (ONS, 2001).
Work in this field has potential for massive
impact – genuinely improving peoples lives
8. Technology & Emotional
Wellbeing - Why?
Most people with problems don’t seek help
Stigma
Unaware help is available / necessary
Geography
Lowering costs – increasing access
Technology can help improve interventions
record behaviour more accurately
Technology can connect people
Willingness to disclose info online
9. Previous work
Online interventions
for common mental
health conditions.
Beating the Blues
Meta-review results
broadly agree
that, for depression
and anxiety dis-
orders, cCBT has been
found to be no less
effective than
therapist-led cognitive
behaviour therapy
(Fouroushani et al., 2011).
10. Previous work
Mood recording using mobile phones (Burns et
al, 2011).
Mobile device to record sleep behaviour&
deliver intervention (Riley et al, 2010).
Text messaging to help smokers to quit
Computer games to help kids control
diabetes (Baranowski et al, 2008).
11. Unique Requirements
Framework for complex health interventions
(Campbell et al., 2000).
Normalisation Process Theory (Murray et al, 2010).
Design & Evaluation Guidelines for Mental
Health Technologies (Doherty et al., 2010).
How to do HCI in mental health field
The health problem, the type of therapy,
The therapist role, the user needs,
the NHS, GPs & referral,
12. ENACT background
CBT – a form of therapy that combines
cognitive re-structuring with behavioural
intervention. Systematic & modular.
Effective for common mental health
problems.
Self-help CBT is effective
CCBT is effective when engaged with
But not currently engaged with very well
13. ENACT goals
Improve the uptake of & adherence to
CCBT through the use of social media
Make the experience as much like using a
computer in 2011 as possible
Mobile Apps, Social Network, Game
Mechanics
Insomnia as a test case
14. conclusion
This area is emerging – very exciting.
Potential to have real impact on huge
proportion of the population
Lots of potential applications of this
approach
15. References
WHO. Mental Health Action Plan for Europe: Facing the
Challenges, Building Solutions In proc WHO European Ministerial
Conference on Mental Health, 2005.
Funk, M., et al., eds. Mental health and development: targeting people
with mental health conditions as a vulnerable group. 2010, WHO:
Geneva.
Office for National Statistics (2001). Psychiatric Morbidity among Adults
living in private households, 2000. London: Office for National Statistics.
Assay, T., et al., The Empirical Case for Common Factors in Therapy:
Quantitative Findings, in The Heart and Soul of Change. 1999, APA:
Washington. p.23-55.
House, J.S., et al., Social relationships and health. Science, 1998, 241
p.540–45.
Doherty, G., Coyle, D., & Matthews, M. (2010). Design and evaluation
guidelines for mental health technologies. Interacting with
Computers, 22, 243-252.
16. References
Campbell, M., Fitzpatrick, R., Haines, A., Kinmonth, A.L., Sandercock, P.,
Tyrer, P.,(2000). Framework for design and evaluation of complex
interventions to improve health. British Medical Journal 321, 694–696.
Murray E, Treweek S, Pope C, MacFarlane A, Ballini L, Dowrick C, Finch
T,Kennedy A, Mair F, O’Donnell C, Ong BN, Rapley T, Rogers A, May C:
Normalisation process theory: a framework for developing, evaluating
and implementing complex interventions. BMC Med 2010, 8:63.
Fouroushani, P.S., Schenider, J., &Assareh, N. (2011). Meta-review of the
effectiveness of computerised CBT in treating depression. BMC
Psychiatry 11, 131.
Burns, M.N., Begale, M., Duffecy, J., Gergle, D., Katt., C.J., Giangrande,
E., & Mohr, D. (2011). Harnessing content sensing to develop a mobile
intervention for depression. J Med Internet Res, 13, 3.
Riley, W.T., Mihm, P., Behar, A., & Morin, C.M. (2010). A computer device
to deliver behavioral interventions for insomnia. Behavioral Sleep
Medicine, 8, 2-15
Hinweis der Redaktion
This is an unusual presentation - I have no results. However, I think it is important to explain this work as it lets everyone know why Andy and Sue are here – but also because it’s a major grant and an avenue of research that we, at LiSC, intend on pursuing beyond this one particular project.The title may not be great – I want to talk primarily about using social media to deliver interventions for mental health. However, also interested in the role of technology in general and it’s effects on mental & emotional wellbeing.
The first two statements are facts, taken from WHO (include refs!)The third is a proposition that could (and has) led to some interesting research. Indeed, this is the basis of a theme of research we are undertaking in LiSC.
Explain technology – from web pages, to text messages, online chat, social networks, games, mobile phone applications etc…
This is the focus of a workshop we have submitted to CHI for next year. Aims are to bring together experts on this from disparate fields to begin this discussion.
It’s supposed to mean health, but you rarely hear people talk about their good mental health.Just because most work has been on interventions so far, doesn’t mean this is where the biggest potential benefits lie. Prevention may be more beneficial.Mention CHI workshop. . Aims are to bring together experts on this from disparate fields to begin this discussion.
Work in mental health has huge benefits – but why are we discussing this in a computer science research seminar?
Work in mental health has huge benefits – but why are we discussing this in a computer science research seminar?May not initially seem like a great idea. The relationship between a therapist and patient is one of the most consistent predictors of clinical outcomes. Perhaps decreasing or removing entirely this contact would have a really bad effect?Maybe – this is certainly a concern - but there are some compelling reasons for giving it a go.Despite these fantastic effective treatments – people don’t use them.
“no less effective” – but remember it has all of those benefits of being more cost effective, easier to access etc.
Not only does it seem like a good idea, there is lots of stuff going on. There is good evidence that this stuff works.
When developing technological interventions for mental health, there are a number of concerns that are very specific.First of
CBT is very systematic and modular – so its easy to turn into an app.
It’s not about improving effectiveness. This was key to our involvement – the effectiveness has already been demonstrated.