Co-designing and testing a guide for participatory design of eHealth in mental healthcare
Type of research: qualitative empirical
Description:
Digital mental health interventions (eHealth), such as apps, wearables, and online modules, offer promising ways to support people with severe mental illness (SMI). However, these interventions are only effective when they align with the skills, needs, and daily realities of their users. Participatory design, actively involving people with SMI in development, can help ensure that digital interventions are usable, meaningful, and empowering.
The HANDIG project aims to develop a practical digital and physical guide that supports participatory design of digital mental health interventions. This guide will help researchers, mental healthcare professionals, designers, and people with SMI collaborate in the development, testing, and implementation of eHealth.
For this thesis project, you will join a multidisciplinary research team consisting of designers, researchers, and professionals from a large mental healthcare organization. The project builds on earlier work in which digital interventions were co-designed together with people with SMI, generating valuable insights into participatory research methods.
Your role
Depending on your interests, you will contribute to:
· Further developing and improving a website prototype
· Creating and adapting content for a broad audience
· Testing the usability of the website
· Co-designing, developing, and testing a creative physical tool to share knowledge and examples of participatory design
Who are we looking for?
Preferably a Dutch-speaking student for ease of communication with stakeholders, but English also possible.
What do we offer?
This thesis offers hands-on experience in participatory research and design, while contributing to more inclusive and effective digital mental health interventions.
What you can learn:
· How to apply participatory design methods in mental healthcare research
· How to collaborate with people with lived experience and professionals
· How to translate research knowledge into accessible, practical tools