Helping someone who is depressed can be very important to the depressed person. When someone is experiencing depression, he or she frequently feels all alone. A number of supportive family members or friends can often make a big difference. In this paper we investigate how we can intelligently form a social support network, taking the needs of the support recipient and the possibilities of the potential support providers into account. To do so, we exploit dynamic models about the preferences and needs of both support providers and support recipients. The outcome of these models is used as input for a configuration process of a support network. In a case study, it is show how such an intelligently formed network results in a reduced long term stress level.
Azizi Ab Aziz, Michel C. A. Klein, Jan Treur