CoActuem

Citizen science project to investigate social support networks in mental health

CoActuem per la Salut Mental is a research project aimed at studying the social support networks of people with mental health problems and their families. The aim is to understand how they work in order to enhance their benefits: facilitating recovery processes and contributing to prevention. 

This initiative, promoted by the University of Barcelona in collaboration with the Federació Salut Mental Catalunya (FSMC), places people with their own experience of mental health and their family environment at the centre, involving them as co-researchers in the project and engaging them throughout the whole process. 

Thus, the group has created a Telegram chatbot through which they can receive micro-stories written by the co-researchers, explaining their own experiences and problems. This is a way to share their experiences with other people concerned about mental health. The people who subscribe to the chatbot may or may not have experienced mental problems, as the experiences may also have been experienced by people around them. The chatbot asks subscribers to answer a series of questions related to the micro-stories received. 

Hence, this system becomes a tool to research and generate scientific evidence on social support networks in the field of mental health with a view to becoming empirical material for policy recommendations, as well as to end the stigmatisation and invisibilisation of the experiences of these people. 

More information about the project here.

PI: Josep Perelló Palau 

COPI: Isabelle Bonhoure

Research group: Complexity Lab Barcelona (CLabB)

Institution: Universitat de Barcelona (UB) 

Visit the group website here.

For further information contact us.