TalkLife, a mutual support network for mental health

Ferran Benito on 5 March 2025

photo for peer support network for mental health

TalkLife, a mutual support network for mental health

TalkLife is a social support network in the field of mental health that facilitates connections between people from all over the world, allowing them to share their personal issues and provide mutual support in a safe space. It encourages the creation of bonds based on understanding and respect among peers and allows individuals to both give and receive support.

Users can anonymously share whatever is troubling them and receive an immediate answer. Additionally, they have the option to customize their posts by indicating the main topic they want to talk about and detailing how they feel about it, as well as filtering by themes, which helps them easily connect with profiles that have similar experiences. Users can also log how they feel daily and see which emotions they experience the most, enabling them to address these feelings and track their progress.

The platform is coordinated by a team that works together to offer a personalized, accessible, and secure service. This team includes psychologists and psychiatrists who ensure the well-being of users and guarantee that their experience is safe and efficient. They provide a wide range of interactive resources, including articles, videos, and self-help tools, so users have resources to learn how to manage their emotions. The platform also collaborates with professional facilitators who moderate interactions in real-time and provide emotional support to participants.

In addition, the platform has user experience designers who ensure accessible, secure, and simple navigation to maintain the well-being of users. It also has user interface designers who take care of the visual and creative aspects of the platform, providing a clear and attractive structure that offers an enjoyable experience.

The TalkLife platform is part of a digital ecosystem that offers two other platforms, specialized in mental health within more specific areas: TalkCampus, aimed at students, and WorkPlace, focused on emotional well-being in the workplace. Both allow students and professionals, respectively, to share experiences and provide mutual support related to the situations they face. Both connect people globally in an anonymous way and are available in 26 languages.

The TalkLife community allows users to connect with others who are going through similar situations and create peer support networks, encouraging social connections and a sense of belonging to the community.

Characteristics of innovation

Bank of innovations, Innovative organization, Link with the community, Mental health, New model of intervention, New service, Personalization of the service, Self-management and participation, User empowerment

Location

United Kingdom

Partners / Funders

Jamie Druitt i Andrew Foster

Genesis

This network was designed in Australia in 2012, although its headquarters are currently located in the United Kingdom. It was created in response to the lack of spaces dedicated to emotional well-being and mental health. It is based on a machine learning engine focused on mental health and suicide prevention, which was specifically created as part of the project.

Implementation level

Currently, TalkLife has 2.5 million users. 77% of the total believe that using this platform has made it easier for them to ask for help when they need it. On the other hand, 73% state that their relationships with others have improved and they feel more understood. Additionally, 65% of users feel more positive about the future, and 68% feel more capable of facing life’s obstacles, thanks to using TalkLife.

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RAPNIC Project: Automatic Recognition of Impaired Speech in Catalan

Ferran Benito on 5 March 2025

Noi amb paràlisi cerebral, potencial beneficiari del Projecte RAPNIC Reconeixement Automatic de la Parla No Intelligible en catala

RAPNIC is a project focused on developing and training an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model capable of recognizing impaired speech in Catalan.

(2025-2026)

Despite technological advancements, voice recognition systems still face significant challenges in identifying and interpreting speech patterns that deviate from standard norms, particularly in the case of so-called “impaired speech.” As a result, people with speech disorders, such as dysarthria, often struggle to be understood and are unable to access technological tools that could facilitate their communication and autonomy. Furthermore, the few existing solutions are primarily available in English, creating an additional barrier for speakers of other languages, including Catalan.

The RAPNIC project aims to address this need by developing an AI-powered solution capable of recognizing and interpreting impaired speech in Catalan. This technology will allow individuals with speech disorders to interact effectively with voice assistants, speech-to-text transcription systems, and other digital tools, thereby improving their autonomy and quality of life.

What is RAPNIC?

RAPNIC is a pioneering initiative by the iSocial Foundation that seeks to eliminate a major technological barrier for people with speech disorders. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), RAPNIC aims to develop a system capable of recognizing and understanding impaired speech, which current voice recognition systems fail to comprehend.

To achieve this, the project plans to create a database of impaired Catalan speech, built from voice recordings of individuals with speech disorders, with a particular focus on dysarthria— a motor impairment affecting facial muscles and making the pronunciation of certain phonemes difficult. This database will train AI algorithms using deep learning technology to recognize the sound patterns of these speech variations.

Infography about some benefits of Rapnic Project referred to in the the text.

In the project’s initial phase, work has been carried out on a corpus of recordings from individuals with Down syndrome and cerebral palsy, as their speech patterns generally present fewer alterations than other forms of dysarthria, making AI training more manageable. The database will contain at least 25 hours of recorded speech and involve the participation of 100 volunteer speakers with Down syndrome and cerebral palsy from 9 different social organizations, along with social professionals, speech therapists, deep learning specialists, and computational linguists.

The ultimate goal of RAPNIC is to extend this system, first to the 22,000 people with Down syndrome and cerebral palsy within the Catalan linguistic community and, in a later phase, to the entire population of 49,000 individuals with speech disorders in the Catalan-speaking region, including those with other conditions. RAPNIC will enable affected individuals to communicate more effectively with those around them, give voice commands to digital assistants, transcribe their speech into text, and interact with other digital services more independently.

CSC Impulsa 2024 Award

The RAPNIC Project has been recognized as the winner of the CSC Impulsa 2024 Awards in the category of “Innovative AI Projects in the Social Sector.”

This recognition, granted by the Catalan Health and Social Consortium (CSC), includes financial support of €20,000 and technical guidance from the consortium, which will be crucial in transforming this initiative into a tangible reality.

Project Goals

RAPNIC aims to achieve the following key objectives:

Develop an open-access dataset of impaired Catalan speech, based on voice recordings from individuals with speech disorders, particularly those with Down syndrome and cerebral palsy.
Create an Artificial Intelligence model for the recognition of impaired speech, improving accessibility and digital inclusion for people with speech disorders.
Publish a scientific study detailing the data collection process and research outcomes, contributing to the dissemination of knowledge and methodologies used in the project.

Expected Impact and Benefits

RAPNIC has significant potential to improve the lives of people with speech disorders by enhancing their interaction with digital technologies and fostering social inclusion. The main expected benefits include:

Increased autonomy for individuals with speech disorders, that in the Catalan linguistical domain grow to especially the 22,000 Catalan speakers with mild speech impairments, who will gain access to voice assistants, speech captioning tools, and automatic transcription services currently unavailable to them.
Improved accessibility and communication for affected individuals, allowing them to use the same digital tools as the rest of the population, with assurance that their specific needs will be addressed.
Reduction of the digital divide affecting people with speech disorders, particularly those with additional motor impairments.
Creation of a speech dataset that will enable researchers to continue training open-source AI models in Catalan and help companies develop speech recognition tools that support impaired speech.
Development of an AI model and methodology that could, in the future, be applied to other speech disorders (e.g., stroke, brain injuries) and adapted to other languages.

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We are launching a digital support service for Nidus users.

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Nidus has expanded its support capacity with the addition of three technical digital support specialists. The main role of the new additions is to assist entities and individuals in implementing this application, which aims to provide a set of digital tools to facilitate autonomy and inclusion for people in situations of social exclusion.

The digital support specialists are responsible for providing assistance to Nidus users, both professionals and beneficiaries, to ensure they can effectively use the application and make the most of all its features. Through two monthly visits to the entities using the Nidus tool, they offer continuous follow-up that allows them to build relationships with users and adapt to their needs.

On the other hand, the support provided by the technical specialists is not limited to using Nidus; they also complement their work by offering information and support on other technological matters that may be of interest to users. In this way, their role also facilitates the comprehensive digital inclusion of people in situations of social exclusion.

Currently, the specialists are supporting entities located in Barcelona and Girona, with plans for the team to continue expanding to reach other entities.

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La Teva Idea És Ciència: A Co-Creation Process to Improve the Autonomy of People with Intellectual Disabilities

Ferran Benito on 28 February 2025

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The initiative has involved a collaborative effort between social organizations, researchers, and students to turn everyday challenges into viable technological solutions

La Teva Idea És Ciència, a program led by the iSocial Foundation and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), has reached its final stage after months of collaborative work. This initiative has brought together people with intellectual disabilities, social sector professionals, students, and researchers to develop technological solutions that enhance autonomy.

Over the course of six working sessions held between January and February 2025 at UPC campuses, students and researchers collaborated with service users and social sector professionals to design solutions addressing six key areas of daily life: communication, personal care, financial management, socialization, household tasks, and mobility. These challenges were based on 150 pain points or barriers to autonomy, previously identified in the All by Myself working group led by iSocial, in which users and professionals from the same organizations participating in La Teva Idea És Ciència took part.

The program will continue in April with a project definition workshop, where participants, guided by a facilitation team, will work creatively to turn ideas into concrete, viable proposals. This will be followed by a public voting process, allowing the university community and social services to select the two most promising initiatives. These will be showcased in a final event with all participants. The teams behind the winning proposals will receive support from UPC to bring their ideas to life.

A Co-Creation Effort

The project has been carried out with the participation of seven social organizations specializing in intellectual disabilities: Fundació El Maresme, Fundació Ampans, Associació Alba, Support-Girona, Fundació Catalana Síndrome de Down (FCSD), and ASPACE Catalunya—all members of iSocial—along with Fundació Astres.

Josep Maria Junoy, a user experience expert and volunteer at iSocial, also played a key role as a specialist facilitator and workshop leader.

Additionally, the program has received support from the Catalan Government’s Department of Social Rights and funding from the Agency for the Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR).

Thanks to the involvement of students and researchers from UPC, this experience has fostered a valuable dialogue between the social sector and academia, enabling a deeper understanding of the real needs of people with intellectual disabilities and promoting the development of technological solutions with a direct impact on their daily lives.

La Teva Idea És Ciència has been an opportunity for people with disabilities and the social organizations that support them to actively participate in a co-creation process tailored to their needs. At the same time, it has helped raise awareness and train UPC technologists on the challenges faced by the social sector. This experience has demonstrated the power of collaboration between universities and social organizations to tackle societal challenges through innovative approaches.

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Ferran Benito on 25 February 2025

Photo that combat loneliness among older peoplepersones grans

Project to combat loneliness among older people

Photo that combat loneliness among older people

Madrid te Acompaña is a mobile application that allows people over the age of 65 registered in the city of Madrid to request accompaniment for different activities.

The project has the collaboration of Voluntarios por Madrid, a programme promoted by the City Council in which people from the city offer their support and help. Through this application, individuals over 65 that require some kind of assistance can contact volunteers to help them with daily tasks, such as going shopping, going for a walk, accompanying them to a medical appointment, and assisting with various administrative tasks.

The City Council coordinates the application and allows the network of volunteers to receive and manage requests in an automated way. Volunteers can classify services according to the needs and characteristics of the people requesting them and their area of residence. Additionally, the application includes a space where people benefiting from this support can comment on and rate the assistance received, while volunteers describe the progress of the person they are accompanying.

The use of the application is very simple and at the same time contributes to the digital inclusion of older people in the city, thus addressing the generational digital divide. By fostering these connections, personalized care is provided to tackle unwanted loneliness and improve the quality of life for people over 65 in the city.