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SUMMARY:Combating Student Mental Illness with Technology—from the Imagin
 e Cup UK Finals - Michaela Brady and Shu Ishida\, Oxford University
DTSTART:20180711T140000Z
DTEND:20180711T150000Z
UID:TALK108136@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Microsoft Research Cambridge Talks Admins
DESCRIPTION:Soothey\n\nMental illness is a serious health issue in modern 
 society\, and it is more common than diabetes\, heart disease or even canc
 er. Options for treatment are limited and it becomes more difficult for th
 e patient to recover as the illness progresses. \n \nIn the Soothey projec
 t\, we combat this by early prevention using an RNN-powered mental healthc
 are bot. The bot has a conversation with the user\, borrowing ideas from C
 ognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). CBT identifies thought distortions wit
 hin the patient\, using conversation to address their negative thoughts an
 d make them come up with alternative ways of viewing their problems. \n \n
 Our chatbot can also help develop positive thinking for people without not
 iceable symptoms of mental illness. Our aim is to make the bot accessible 
 to students everywhere\, regardless of their mental state. Casual users ca
 n converse with the bot for pleasure without any stigma.\n\nCommon Room\n\
 nAlthough there is increasing awareness of mental illnesses among student 
 populations\, and therefore increased resources available\, many students 
 do not know where to turn in moments of crisis. How can one know they are 
 receiving the help they need for their specific issue? And how can we make
  it as frictionless as possible?\n\nCommon Room simplifies and accelerates
  student access to mental welfare services within their universities. We a
 ccomplish this through a chatbot\, powered by LUIS\, CosmosDB\, and other 
 Azure technologies. The chatbot provides automatic triage for a user's rep
 orted symptoms\, then connects them to the most relevant welfare support f
 igure for their specific needs with up-to-date contact information.\n\nUnl
 ike most therapy apps\, which do not guarantee stable long-term recovery\,
  we do not claim to provide therapy\; we are a connector\, maintaining the
  human element in addressing mental illness\, and ensuring each individual
  is treated as such. Our team has extensive experience in clinical\, exper
 imental and social psychology\, as well as welfare provision within high-p
 ressure universities like Oxford.\n\nAfter rolling out to universities\, C
 ommon Room can be expanded to workplaces within major corporations\, and e
 ncourage a culture of education and tailored mental health service provisi
 on. Common Room aspires\, above all else\, to empower those afflicted with
  mental illness to take control over obtaining the therapy and guidance th
 ey need.\n
LOCATION:Small Lecture Theatre\, Microsoft Research Ltd\, 21 Station Road\
 , Cambridge\, CB1 2FB
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