Team: 18
School: Media Arts Collaborative Charter School
Area of Science: Medicine and Health, Behavioral and Social Science
Proposal: Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, mental health issues have been rising. Recent estimates show that anxiety and depression diagnoses went up by 25%. Due to the increase in diagnoses, mental health apps have been in high demand. BetterHelp, Moodfit, Calm, and others are examples of the recent rise of apps designed specifically for mental health.
Our question is: Do existing mental health apps provide the services people need, and is there a better way to handle acute crises? Specifically, are there measures built in that alert an individual’s safety support network when they are in an acute mental health crisis? This will be a two-year project. For the first year, we will model the effectiveness of social support in avoiding adverse outcomes, like self-harm or suicide. During the second year, we will create our own app that offers broadcast capabilities to one’s social support network during acute mental health crises.
We propose using StarLogo Nova to construct a model that measures the effectiveness of contact with social support in alleviating adverse outcomes from depression and anxiety. We will start by researching communities' prevalence of anxiety and depression, how often these mental health disorders result in adverse outcomes, various options for safety plans, and how successful different interventions are at preventing adverse outcomes. We will manipulate the community’s prevalence of anxiety and depression, the likelihood of contacting social support, and the effectiveness of social support in preventing adverse outcomes.
Team Members:
Ana Sofia Rodriguez
Eduardo Dorado
Wyatt Wade
Sponsoring Teacher: Tanya Mueller