| Description |
Professor Anne Cutler talks about overcoming listening trouble, and Associate Professor Mark Antoniou discusses using text-based chat for mental health in remote communities. Topic: Different ways of overcoming listening trouble
Speaker: Professor Anne Cutler
Abstract:
When listening to speech is difficult (because of background noise, or articulatory imprecision, etc.), hearers have several ways of augmenting the inadequate audio in order to decide upon what was said. These include attending to visual speech cues, using their knowledge of what is and what is not a word, or computing likelihood in context. Do these different strategies co-operate or might they conflict? Do they differ in how effective they are? Are they alternative expressions of the same process, or are they independent of one another?
Topic: Using text-based chat to deliver psychological therapeutic services to rural and remote communities
Speaker: Associate Professor Mark Antoniou
Abstract: 
People living in rural and remote communities face a unique set of stressors, such as natural disasters, extreme climate events, and financial instability. Though they are more likely to be affected by mental illness, they also have poorer access to mental health services than those living in cities. Those living in rural areas are also less likely to seek help because of self-stigma and entrenched stoic beliefs about help-seeking as a sign of weakness. E-mental health services have the potential to circumvent these barriers using technology. Text-based forms of e-mental health service delivery (e.g., chat-based therapy via a smartphone) are likely to be particularly attractive for those concerned with stigma, and relatedly, confidentiality. In this project, the Centre for WHS in partnership with Virtual Psychologist and researchers at Western Sydney University are examining text-based, real-time communications between clients living in rural and remote areas and qualified human therapists. Anonymised transcripts of these text-based communications will be subjected to computational linguistic analyses to determine if language patterns reliably predict mental health outcomes. The ultimate goal is to identify individuals at risk of serious mental health is sues and suicide, with a view to harm minimisation and intervention to save lives..
MARCS staff and students are reminded that all meetings and workshops have an important role in building and maintaining the sense of community which is central to the success of MARCS as a cooperative and energetic research institute. Your attendance is both welcomed and expected. The zoom ID is: 627 146 998. Link to zoom https://uws.zoom.us/j/627146998 |
