What is it about?
Having quality social support is crucial for our mental well-being, particularly during tough times like the financial and career instability caused by COVID-19. To help people going through similar situations, we developed a system that connects them with peers for support. The system adopted a matchmaking algorithm, commonly used for finding romantic partners, to suggest peers who share similar life concerns and are willing to support each other.
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Why is it important?
In our pilot study, we found that using the system resulted in a significant reduction in anxiety and a borderline decrease in depression, despite users not feeling like they had more social support. While it's too soon to draw conclusions, these results suggest that the adopted matchmaking system may have potential for improving people's mental health. Further research is needed to explore this possibility.
Perspectives
In tough times, I wanted to be able to feel down without pressure to appear positive for others. I wanted to hear that I'm not alone in my struggles and that others have gone through the same thing. The app provides a space where people can connect with empathetic support and feel less alone. I hope this article effectively conveys this idea and inspires further research in this area.
Wan Jou She
Nara Sentan Kagaku Gijutsu Daigakuin Daigaku
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Matchmaking for Mental Well-being: Development of a Peer-based Support System (Peer2S) for Students during COVID Lockdown, March 2023, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3581754.3584148.
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