JEPMEN

Journaling through E-coaching to Promote Mental Health in Schools

JEPMEN is the first journaling-based virtual mental health coach for students, using AI and social robotics to reduce emotional barriers, offer 24/7 access, and detect symptoms in real time. It features a virtual agent for reflective writing and a multimodal analysis module that provides professionals with actionable information for early, personalized intervention.

It consists of two complementary modules:

• Embodied Agent-Assisted Journaling Interface: A psychologically attuned conversational agent that guides students through structured journaling activities. It can administer wellbeing questionnaires, offer emotionally intelligent prompts, and encourage expressive writing—helping students overcome barriers to disclosure and fostering deeper self-reflection than traditional self-report methods often allow.
• Multimodal Analysis and Decision Support for Counselors: A data-driven module that provides mental health professionals with ethically framed, actionable insights. Powered by algorithms developed from years of research, it enables a more precise and timely understanding of students’ psychological states and wellbeing trajectories.

The urgency of JEPMEN lies in today’s student mental health crisis: one in five students report suicidal thoughts, more than half experience distress, yet only a quarter seek help. Counseling services remain understaffed, reactive, and limited to brief sessions. Meanwhile, many students turn to public AI chatbots, which respond instantly but lack safe support and integration with university counseling. Existing tools are fragmented and poorly embedded in school systems. JEPMEN directly addresses these challenges by combining evidence-based design with technological innovation.

Group IP: Davinia Hernandez-Leo

Project Promoter: Batuhan Sayis 

Institution: The Engineering School and the ICT Department of Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona

Group website here.

For more information contact us.