Garment-Based Wearables for Shared Management of Anxiety of the Student in the University Context
Name of applicant
Minna Pakanen
Title
Associate Professor
Institution
Aarhus University
Amount
DKK 4,799,687
Year
2023
Type of grant
Semper Ardens: Accelerate
What?
To help university students cope with their growing study-related anxiety and prevent it from developing into more severe mental health issues, this project investigates how smart garment-based wearables could be designed to allow shared management of student anxiety with their close ones in the study context.
Why?
The number of Danish university students experiencing anxiety in their studies is growing due to stressful factors of studies coupled with individual performance requirements, e.g., the pursuit of good grades. The study reform suggested by the Danish government might worsen the situation by asking students to complete their studies faster and more efficiently.
How?
This project aims to understand university students' experiences with study-related anxiety and their needs for wearable technology, design and develop garment-based wearables for the shared management of student anxiety, and finally study their subjective lived experiences with the wearables to provide an alternative means to tackle raising mental care needs of the young population.