The Challenge of poor mental health
As we've emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, it's safe to say that student’s mental health is experiencing a notable decline. As evidenced by various indicators, the 2020–2021 academic year witnessed over 60% of college students meeting the criteria for at least one mental health issue (Lipson, S. K., et al., Journal of Affective Disorders, Vol. 306, 2022).
Additionally, in a separate national survey conducted by the American College Health Association, nearly three-quarters of students reported experiencing moderate to severe psychological distress (National College Health Assessment, 2021).
Even before the pandemic, educational institutions were already grappling with a surge in demand for mental health support that far exceeded available resources. Consequently, it has become increasingly evident that the conventional counselling centre model is ill-equipped to effectively address this mounting issue.
Similar to the prevailing pattern observed in the public health system, the conventional approach commonly entails waiting until an individual reaches a crisis point, where they possess the necessary health literacy to self-diagnose and seek suitable support, often in the form of student counselling. Regrettably, this approach fails to capture a significant number of individuals, and when interventions are implemented belatedly, their effectiveness decreases by approximately 22%.
Lua Health, an evidence-based AI-powered solution
In response to these challenges, Lua Health has partnered with the MSc in Consumer Behaviour in the School of Psychology at the University of Galway to delve deeper into the issue of student mental health. The collaboration aimed to address the following questions:
- What is the current state of students' mental health?
- Are students aware of the supports available to them to improve their mental health?
- Can Lua, a proactive screening and triage solution, provide effective support?
To explore these questions, Lua Health introduced its artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, Lua, within the University's Microsoft Teams instance. Students were able to interact with Lua just as they would chat with a colleague. The deployment and setup process took less than an hour.
After the study was approved by the ethics committee, the MSc students then recruited 40 student participants, who had access to Lua for two weeks in alternating rotations. This allowed us to compare those who had access to Lua and those who didn't.
Ordinarily, the Lua Health technology is deployed so that it passively and accurately detects issues relating to mental health and wellness using our evidence-based AI software. That then allows the technology to intuitively provide a clear steer towards the most appropriate early intervention available, thus ensuring that the condition can get dealt with as it emerges and before it exacerbates.
For the purposes of this study, however, Lua reached out to the student each day and asked them how they were feeling. If a student responded that they were feeling worried, annoyed, sad or angry, Lua jumped in to offer some in-the-moment support and guide them to available resources that the University offers them and to help them in the future. This approach is derived from the evidence-based approach known as ecological momentary assessment.
Results; reinforcing the problem but with a possible solution
- Unfortunately a significant portion, 40% of the time, students reported experiencing feelings of anger, sadness, worry, or annoyance. The underlying reasons for these emotions are detailed below.
- Shockingly, 29% of students were unable to identify any mental health supports offered by their university. However, this number dropped to zero after they started using Lua.
- Notably, 19.2% of students took advantage of the wellbeing support that was recommended by Lua, as measured by the clickthrough rate.
- An important finding was the statistically significant decrease in the rate of depression among students before and after using Lua (p < 0.01).
- Additionally, there was a statistically significant increase in students' awareness of the mental health support provided by their university before and after utilising Lua (p < 0.01).
Hope on the horizon
Our findings align with previously published research, underscoring the concerning state of students' mental health. It is widely recognised that poor mental health has far-reaching consequences, including diminished academic performance, increased dropout rates, and long-term health implications.
However, the current approach adopted by universities falls short of adequately addressing these challenges. Merely providing support is insufficient; we must expand our efforts to include proactive screening and triaging of individuals in need. In the general population, the journey from the onset of depression to diagnosis typically spans eight years—an unsettling reality that underscores the insidious nature of poor mental health. It is incredibly difficult for individuals to self-diagnose and seek help, exacerbating the problem.
Fortunately, solutions like Lua, as demonstrated above, leverage cutting-edge technology and evidence-based research to empower individuals to assess and monitor their wellbeing in real-time, facilitating timely access to support rather than waiting for a crisis to unfold.
If you are interested in learning more about the study or about how Lua could help your population. Just drop us an email at info@luahelath.io to arrange a call!
… and of course a massive thanks to the students in the MSc of Consumer Psychology who supported us with this industry collaborative project! A great opportunity for the industry to have support in designing and running a research study.
