Exploring Design Opportunities for Supporting Mental Wellbeing Among East Asian University Students in Canada

Document Title

Exploring Design Opportunities for Supporting Mental Wellbeing Among East Asian University Students in Canada

Document Information

• Research Area: Cultural Differences and the Design of Mental Health Technologies
• Keywords: Mental health, mental wellbeing, culture, social media, mobile applications

Research Background and Issues

• Challenges Identified by the Authors: East Asian university students in Canada exhibit low utilization rates of mental health services, primarily due to cultural barriers and unfamiliarity with Western mental health values. Additionally, the design of mental health technologies has not adequately considered users' cultural backgrounds and needs, making it difficult to effectively improve the mental wellbeing of this group.
• Significance of the Research: East Asian university students represent one of the largest minority groups in Canada, yet their mental health needs have not received proportional attention. The discrimination against Asians triggered by COVID-19 has further exacerbated the mental health challenges faced by this group.
• Motivation and Related Work: Mental health technologies are considered to reduce the cost of mental health care and provide anonymity. However, existing research has rarely explored how East Asian students use these technologies or whether these technologies align with their cultural backgrounds.

Solution

• Method or Solution: The authors conducted interviews with 20 East Asian university students in Canada to analyze how their cultural backgrounds influence their use and perceptions of mental health technologies, proposing opportunities for designing more inclusive mental health technologies.
• Innovation: Emphasizing cultural sensitivity and the interactivity of mental health technology design, the study explores learning opportunities, such as promoting mental health knowledge dissemination, enhancing autonomy, and advocating mental wellbeing through storytelling and skill-sharing.
• Implementation Steps:
  • Select participants, including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese university students in Canada.
  • Use semi-structured interviews and rapid prototyping of mental health applications (Speed Dating) to collect data.
  • Apply thematic analysis frameworks to summarize and refine interview content, focusing on user behavior and experiences with mental health technologies.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Findings:
  1. Identified preferences of East Asian students for Western mental health technology platforms, such as favoring technologies with stronger anonymity and autonomy.
  2. Described design elements that support learning mental health knowledge, including phased learning guidance and problem-based reflection features.
• Advantages:
  • Provides unique insights into cultural sensitivity, emphasizing the cultural adaptability of mental health design.
  • Offers specific recommendations for optimizing mental health technology design, such as using storytelling to share experiences and developing features that support interaction.
• Experimental or Evaluation Results: Interview participants expressed that applications capable of gradually enhancing mental health awareness and offering more personalized and interactive experiences were more appealing.
• Limitations and Future Directions:
  • Limitations: Participant bias exists, as most students were interested in digital mental health tools; the insufficient representation of Japanese students in the sample may affect the study's generalizability.
  • Future Directions:
    1. Investigate how to enhance real-time interaction and social support in mental health applications.
    2. Explore methods to encourage family members to share mental health stories, overcoming language barriers and cultural stigma.
    3. Further examine how cultural interactions within university campuses influence the usage experience and effectiveness of mental health technologies.