Background Evidence about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on existing health inequalities is emerging. This study explored differences in mental health, sense of coherence (SOC), sense of community coherence (SOCC), sense of national coherence (SONC), and social support between low and high socioeconomic (SES) groups, and the predictive value of these predictors for mental health. participants and procedure A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey in the Netherlands in October 2021, comprising a total of 91 respondents (n = 41, low SES; n = 50, high SES). results There were no differences in mental health, SOC, SOCC, SONC, and social support between the groups. SOC was a predictor for mental health in both groups and SOCC for the low SES group. conclusions We found that both SOC and SOCC predict mental health during the pandemic. In the article we reflect on possible pathways for strengthening these resources for mental health.
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Mental health literacy (MHL) interventions in secondary schools may help to improve competencies that adolescents require to stay mentally healthy and seek help if mental health problems arise. These MHL interventions should be tailored to the needs of adolescents and educational professionals (EPs) to reach sustainable implementation and long-term effectiveness. However, evidence is lacking on these needs. Thus, our aim was to explore their experiences with, and perspectives on, mental health help seeking and needs regarding MHL interventions. We performed online focus group discussions and interviews with adolescents (n = 21; 13–19 years) and EPs (n = 12) and analyzed the data using directed content analysis. We identified three themes related to mental health help seeking: (1) Limited MHL competencies of adolescents, (2) Limited competencies of EP to provide mental health support, and (3) Limited mental health promotion in the school environment. We further identified three themes regarding MHL interventions: (1) Addressing basic mental health knowledge and skills, (2) Interactive and easily accessible, and (3) Sustainable implementation. Improving the MHL competencies of adolescents and EPs, and creating a mental health-literate school environment can promote adolescents’ mental health help seeking. Our findings highlight the importance of developing MHL interventions that are tailored to both adolescents’ and EPs needs.
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In this project, we explore how healthcare providers and the creative industry can collaborate to develop effective digital mental health interventions, particularly for survivors of sexual assault. Sexual assault victims face significant barriers to seeking professional help, including shame, self-blame, and fear of judgment. With over 100,000 cases reported annually in the Netherlands the need for accessible, stigma-free support is urgent. Digital interventions, such as chatbots, offer a promising solution by providing a safe, confidential, and cost-effective space for victims to share their experiences before seeking professional care. However, existing commercial AI chatbots remain unsuitable for complex mental health support. While widely used for general health inquiries and basic therapy, they lack the human qualities essential for empathetic conversations. Additionally, training AI for this sensitive context is challenging due to limited caregiver-patient conversation data. A key concern raised by professionals worldwide is the risk of AI-driven chatbots being misused as therapy substitutes. Without proper safeguards, they may offer inappropriate responses, potentially harming users. This highlights the urgent need for strict design guidelines, robust safety measures, and comprehensive oversight in AI-based mental health solutions. To address these challenges, this project brings together experts from healthcare and design fields—especially conversation designers—to explore the power of design in developing a trustworthy, user-centered chatbot experience tailored to survivors' needs. Through an iterative process of research, co-creation, prototyping, and evaluation, we aim to integrate safe and effective digital support into mental healthcare. Our overarching goal is to bridge the gap between digital healthcare and the creative sector, fostering long-term collaboration. By combining clinical expertise with design innovation, we seek to develop personalized tools that ethically and effectively support individuals with mental health problems.
The ELSA AI lab Northern Netherlands (ELSA-NN) is committed to the promotion of healthy living, working and ageing. By investigating cultural, ethical, legal, socio-political, and psychological aspects of the use of AI in different decision-makingcontexts and integrating this knowledge into an online ELSA tool, ELSA-NN aims to contribute to knowledge about trustworthy human-centric AI and development and implementation of health technology innovations, including AI, in theNorthern region.The research in ELSA-NN will focus on developing and mapping ELSA knowledge around three general concepts of importance for the development, monitoring and implementation of trustworthy and human-centric AI: availability, use,and performance. These concepts will be explored in two lines of research: 1) use case research investigating the use of different AI applications with different types of data in different decision-making contexts at different time periods duringthe life course, and 2) an exploration among stakeholders in the Northern region of needs, knowledge, (digital) health literacy, attitudes and values concerning the use of AI in decision-making for healthy living, working and ageing. Specificfocus will be on investigating low social economic status (SES) perspectives, since health disparities between high and low SES groups are growing world-wide, including in the Northern region and existing health inequalities may increase with theintroduction and use of innovative health technologies such as AI.ELSA-NN will be integrated within the AI hub Northern-Netherlands, the Health Technology Research & Innovation Cluster (HTRIC) and the Data Science Center in Health (DASH). They offer a solid base and infrastructure for the ELSA-NNconsortium, which will be extended with additional partners, especially patient/citizens, private, governmental and researchrepresentatives, to have a quadruple-helix consortium. ELSA-NN will be set-up as a learning health system in which much attention will be paid to dialogue, communication and education.
The Healthy Workplace monitor is being developed to monitor the health and well-being of knowledge workers in relation to the office space and their home workplace. Since the corona period, a lot has changed in the way knowledge workers work. Both offices and employees require more flexibility to carry out work in an efficient but also healthy and enjoyable way. It is important to identify office workers needs with regard to workspaces at the office and at home from a holistic view, in which mental , physical and social aspects play a role. A vital, happy employee is a productive employee.
