We’re making progress with our update to the Thought Spot website and apps. While still under development, we’re close to starting an RCT to test the update before its public release. Paulysha is one of the students involved in this phase and shares a little of what’s happening behind the scenes.
Who are you and what is your position at CAMH?
My name is Paulysha De Gannes and I am a research practicum student from the University of Toronto working on the Client and Family Education team.What project are you currently involved with?
I am currently involved with the Thought Spot project! I’m developing recruitment strategies for the randomized control trial (RCT), usability testing and crowdsourcing workshops. I am drafting a “Twelve Tips” guide on recruiting transition-aged youth for research studies. I’m also conducting key informant interviews to substantiate my strategic recruitment plan and the tip guide. There are many other projects that I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with, including, but not limited to, facilitating focus groups, giving presentations and conducting a scoping literature review.What is the goal of this project?
Thought Spot is an mHealth intervention that aims to increase help-seeking behaviours. Thought Spot is an interactive map that allows users to view “spots” that are health and wellness related. These places are either from a formal resource database or are crowdsourced from users. Students may also record their own experiences—their “thoughts,” hence the name of the app—within the app to keep a personal log of their wellness experiences.Thought Spot is available for Androids, iPhones and desktops. Thought Spot is a CIHR- and eHIPP-funded project that will begin an RCT this fall to test its efficacy.