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Infrastructural Work Behind The Scene: A Study of Formalized Peer-support Practices for Mental Health

Ding, X. (S.) , Tran, L., Liu, Y., O’Neill, C. and Lindsay, S. (2023) Infrastructural Work Behind The Scene: A Study of Formalized Peer-support Practices for Mental Health. In: 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '23), Hamburg, Germany, 23-28 Apr 2023, p. 561. ISBN 9781450394215 (doi: 10.1145/3544548.3580657)

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Abstract

Peer-support has long been recognized as valuable for mental health, and has been commonly practiced online over the Internet. However, it is often reported that peer exchange online can have harmful effects, and there has been limited research on how to ensure its effectiveness and safety. Our ethnographic study of formalized mental health peer-support practices in Scotland uncovers the infrastructural work involved when setting up and managing conditions upon which peer-support can take place in an effective and safe way. We illustrate that peer-support for mental health is not only about bringing peers together to interact with each other, but also about ensuring availability, timeliness, proactive care, positivity and safety of peer-support as a service, by weaving various social, spatial and technical elements together and managing groups and their boundaries. Our findings illuminate the work behind these peer-support practices, and suggest design implications.

Item Type:Conference Proceedings
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Ding, Dr Sharon and Tran, Ms Linda and Lindsay, Dr Stephen
Authors: Ding, X. (S.), Tran, L., Liu, Y., O’Neill, C., and Lindsay, S.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
ISBN:9781450394215
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2023 The Authors
First Published:First published in Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: 561
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy
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