Welcome to PhD candidate, Aricia Kostouros!

Welcome to the latest PhD candidate joining our Telephone and Online Services team, Aricia Kostouros!

Under the supervision of Prof Dan Lubman, Prof Patrick Olivier, and A/Prof Roisin McNaney, Ms Kostouros’s PhD will explore the role of AI in designing digital infrastructure for helpline services to support pathways to mental health care and workforce wellbeing.

“I’m drawn to work that reduces unnecessary complexity for both patients and care providers, including the ways that health professionals can work across clinical, community and policy settings to improve how services are experienced,” Ms Kostouros explains.

With a background in dietetics, public health and service design, Ms Kostouros has a practical interest in how services respond to real-world conditions, and in the two-way process of translating knowledge into practice.

“My research investigates how design methods can support the development of digital infrastructure in mental health and addiction helplines in ways that reflect real service conditions,” she says.

According to Ms Kostouros, helplines are often a first point of contact in a fragmented healthcare system, where staff manage high demand, unclear care pathways and disconnected systems and tools.

Her project will use a mixed-methods approach alongside design practices such as systems mapping and participatory design to better understand these pressures and identify opportunities for more cohesive and responsive care.

“I’m grateful to Telephone and Online Services at Turning Point, as well as Monash University’s Action Lab, and the CSIRO Next Generation Graduates Program for their support in this work.

“They have created space for research that focuses on practical challenges and the people directly affected by them. They support innovation and interdisciplinary work that connects health, technology, and the broader social systems that shape care.

“That approach aligns with how I think about change, and being able to learn from people who’ve worked across research and practice has been a valuable part of my learning experience,” she says.

Welcome, Aricia Kostouros!

Learn more about opportunities for research students at Turning Point.

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