Designing a systemic intervention for student loneliness and social connectedness using a mixed-methods, co-creation approach

TL;DR

This paper presents a new digital tool called MAPP designed to reduce student loneliness by focusing on the university as a social system rather than individual students.

Contribution

The study introduces MAPP, a co-created digital solution that shifts the focus from individual loneliness to systemic social connectedness in universities.

Findings

Students perceive universities as partly responsible for their social connectedness.

Campus space perceptions are key to students' social experiences.

MAPP fosters belonging and social engagement through a visualised living social network.

Abstract

Loneliness and social (dis)connectedness are significant public health concerns, particularly among university students. Despite calls to reconceptualise loneliness as a systemic issue, interventions typically target individual students. This series of studies used a sequential mixed-methods and participatory action approach to explore students’ social experiences and co-design a digital health solution. Focus groups (Study One) and a survey (Study Two) revealed that students see universities as partly responsible for their social connectedness, with perceptions of campus space being key. These insights informed the co-design of MAPP (Study Three), a preventative, system-focused digital solution. MAPP is an interactive campus map that visualises the university’s living social network. It increases the visibility and accessibility of the university community to foster belonging, scaffold social engagement, and support institutional inclusivity. By shifting focus from the lonely student to the university as a social system, MAPP offers a novel, holistic response to student loneliness.

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