The Role of Technology for Peer Support on University Campuses John Lam, BA, MBET ckjlam@uwaterloo.ca Introduce myself undergrad, MBET, current startup interrupt me at anytime, I prepared this presentation because I didn’t know how many people would be here so if we have a small group, we can just have a chat also, the presentation is only maybe 20 minutes long and we can have some q&a and get out of here early because I know it’s been a long day and you’re all tired

Agenda Technology & E-Mental Health Speakeezy Implications for Peer Support Service

90% 83% 70% Internet Usage of youth use the internet households have internet 70% search for medical and health information Also, Canadians spend almost 40 hours a month online, highest among all nations Clearly the internet would be the among the best mediums to connect through, but we when we search for services, all we get is a phone number to call There is a disconnect between the delivery and consumption of services, creating an excellent opportunity

E-Mental Health Definition: Mental health services and information delivered or enhanced through the internet and related technologies Mental Health Commission of Canada recognizes that opportunity and published a report advocating for e-mental health The definition of E-mental health that we will be using is consistent with the mental health commission of Canada’s and that is

E-Mental Health 7 Cups of Tea Tranqool More Feet on the Ground Here are three excellent examples of innovations in e-mental health 7 cups of tea – an american company that offers free, anonymous, and confidential online text chat with trained listeners, online therapists & counselors Tranqool – is a startup based out of Toronto that uses an integrated video system to hold secure online therapy sessions More feet on the ground – was developed by Brock University in St Catherines Ontario, it is a website to help you recognize, respond, and refer students experiencing mental health issues in university Three examples that integrate services with online technologies to reach people faster

E-Mental Health Benefits Anytime, anywhere Stepped-care approach Predictive Decreases wait times Lowers cost Online treatments can be accessed anytime, anywhere making it service available to people at their own convenience without risk of experiencing stigma E-mental health allows use of the stepped-care approach where the severity of treatment matches the severity of an individual’s situation Tracking the usage patterns through the web, data can be used to predict the most appropriate treatment for different patients As a result of the first three benefits, wait times are decreased because clinicians are freed up to solely address the most severe cases Marginal cost of delivering service online is low because it reduces need for staff and space

E-Mental Health Challenges How to integrate? Where do they fit in the stepped-care approach? How to choose most appropriate service? how does e-mental health approaches fit in with the existing services, what are the implications for adding more channels of delivery? with another channel for delivery, who will deliver the service online for a company like Tranqool? What new protocols should be put into place if any? Where do they fit into the stepped-care approach? If online treatment is adequate, should they still receive face-to-face treatment for a professional to ensure that the treatment was effective? With an increase of services that can be accessed anywhere on the globe, how would someone go about choosing the most appropriate service to start with? People either need to know what to search for or go through a trial and error process

The first two of these challenges will likely be addressed as time passes and will be apparent once online solutions are implemented The last challenge is what my startup is looking to address We focus on top of the funnel patients and help them discover the most appropriate resources for their needs Currently only working with universities to compile their information and helping students find the resources they need Still early stage but the prototype is in development, what you see online is a temporary placeholder that roughly conveys the current iteration of the product

Speakeezy The Problem Communication Services are dispersed and disconnected Identifying the most appropriate treatment To expand a little further, Speakeezy is addressing three problems, the first being poor communication of services available to students a research study was conducted with 300 students and 60% were not even aware of counselling services at all all the groups related to mental health are siloed and disconnected from each other for top of the funnel patients, identifying the most appropriate treatment or even the fact they might need treatment is difficult

Speakeezy Benefits Quality Efficiency Equity By compiling all the information into one friendly place, and providing recommendations, we deliver quality, efficiency, and equity People get the service that is most appropriate for their situation Quick delivery of information and service Not everyone needs to see a professional, we allow for a more equitable distribution of usage among all the services

Implications for Peer Support Visibility Understanding Accessibility So how does that affect peer support groups? Understanding of the effectiveness of peer services With the visibility, comes Acessibility: People are able to reach peer services quicker and easier These implications why counselling services at the uwaterloo is currently looking into using the chat feature on the Speakeezy system to deliver peer support It is time to take advantage of the technology we have to put peer support services at the forefront of mental health treatment

Key Takeaways Prevalence of E-Mental Health Speakeezy Implications for Peer Support E-mental health is what the industry is progressing towards, it is becoming more prevalent and is able to provide efficient and effective treatment Speakeezy compiles mental health resources and helps people identify and find the ones they need E-mental health opens a doorway for peer support services. We can take advantage of this to put peer support services at the forefront of mental health treatment