UCD to lead European Research Network in developing technologies for mental health
By Eithne Dodd | Nov 23 2016
Above: Dr David Coyle, TEAM project co-ordinator.[br]TECHNOLOGY Enable Mental Health for Young People (TEAM), a new research and training network for developing new technologies to support the provision of mental health for young people was announced yesterday at UCD.TEAM was awarded €4 million in funding by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme.TEAM is a multidisciplinary network of mental health experts, computer scientists, designers and policy experts from five countries and four universities. Fifteen PhD students will be using the doctoral training and research this platform will provide.The aim of the network is to aid in the delivery, affordability and accessibility of mental health services for young people.It will focus on the development, design and evaluation of new, technology-enabled, mental health services and collaborate closely with mental health charities and technology companies. TEAM will emphasise technologies that support the assessment, prevention and treatment of mental health issues.TEAM project co-ordinator, Dr David Coyle, of UCD’s School of Computer Science said: “we are not going to address all of the challenges in youth mental health in just four years. But we do aim to train a new generation of researchers, with a unique combination of skills, who will be at the forefront of this challenge in the coming decades.”“It was critical that TEAM had an appropriate balance of mental health experts, computer scientists and designers.”In the past, research has suggested that 50% of mental disorders emerge by the age of 14, if untreated this can lead to further difficulties in later life.