Spring 2023 course code: ENGR 491-510
(HR) denotes Honors.
What is the overall goal of your project?
Research has consistently shown a rapid growth in the number and severity of psychological problems among university students. Recently, the use of remote health monitoring and communication technologies has shown promise in improving quality of care for these problems. In particular, the prevalence of sensor-enabled devices — such as smartphones — have the potential to increase access to and continuity of care by extending treatment beyond scheduled office visits. When symptoms are known, telehealth counseling has the potential to improve mental health outcomes, especially in higher education student bodies where many students have a limited capacity to travel long distances to receive mental health counseling services that traditionally take place in centralized office complexes.
In addition, the facilitation of large-scale dialogues on mental health between students, faculty and staff has the potential to alleviate the stigma surrounding mental health and to promote the development of effective student-centered interventions. This AggiE_Challenge project will address this research gap by developing a remote monitoring technology using a novel wearable tool to supplement telehealth counseling sessions. Our goal is to establish a complex infrastructure that uses proactive counseling as well as ubiquitous computing capabilities to detect changes in mental states. This will allow us to interact with students, to triage or provide support and to facilitate data collection and monitoring between students and therapists. Check out the Applied Cognitive Ergonomics Lab website for more information.
Faculty mentor: Dr. Farzan Sasangohar
Engineering majors targeted: All majors