Examining Youth Digital Wellbeing in Australia and the Philippines

Digital services offer new opportunities for health interventions to be delivered to diverse young people. Initiatives such as mental health and peer-support programs promise lower costs of implementation and greater accessibility for young people.

However, further research is required into how such practices can best enhance the wellbeing of young people in and across different settings. This project responds to this concern by assessing young people’s experiences of digital health interventions across Australia (a high-income country) and the Philippines (a middle-income country). By working closely with professional stakeholders and young people in each country, the project will co-design and co-develop targeted public health messaging, practitioner guidance and support as well as policy frameworks that enable youth health and wellbeing.

The project is being led by Associate Professor Benjamin Hanckel, in collaboration with Associate Professor Jan Bernadas at De La Salle University, with researcher Dr Pryor Placino and a project advisory board and youth advisory board.

The project is an ARC funded DECRA project.

The work builds on Hanckel’s critical work in this field, including the publication of his 2023 book: ‘LGBT+ Youth and Emerging Technologies in Southeast Asia: Designing for Wellbeing’   https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-99-4394-4