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A research team from Monash University will be developing a fully automated conversational agent (chatbot) to deliver cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), to help nurses who are facing occupational burnout.
Professor Dr Su Tin Tin and her team working on the chatbot said that they were inspired by the stigma surrounding mental health and the lack of resources to deal with mental illnesses in the country.
The CBT is a psycho-social intervention which can help the user change their negative thought patterns and behaviours into developing and helping them cope with strategies to solve problems.
Dr Su’s project will be an upgraded version of an earlier chatbot which was created by the researchers at Stanford University in 2017. She explained that her team’s version of chatbot would understand the language needs and cultural sensitivities of the Malaysian population.
The team plans to study the chatbot’s efficacy with the nurses based in rural districts in the country, self-identifying as having symptoms relating to work-related stress and burnout.
Dr Su also explained that the chatbot can address as well as helping users to alleviate work-related mental health issues including anxiety and depression. It will also help medical frontliners to find the motivation to continue their amazing work during these trying times.
This research is quite exciting, and we can’t wait to see how this will help our frontliners during these critical times.
Stay safe and if you’re feeling down, stressed out, or contemplating suicide, and need someone to talk to, you can contact the Befrienders via their telephone number at 03-76272929.