New Approaches for Reducing Digital Stress

Lea Reis also works as a research associate at the Department of Information Systems and Services at the University of Bamberg. Prof. Dr. Tim Weitzel's department has been focusing on digital health for more than ten years. In the ForDigitHealth research association, he and PD Dr. habil. Christian Maier are leading the sub-project "Is digital stress contagious?"

The ForDigitHealth research association wants to understand the issue holistically and contribute to a healthy approach to digital technologies and media. Tim Weitzel says, "Cross-disciplinary cooperation is necessary so that we can really address the depth and breadth of the topic. There are great opportunities when, for example, information systems and psychology work together. That's enormous fun and also very valuable." Scholars from five disciplines are working together: information systems, psychology, computer science, communication studies and medicine. The association involves 31 researchers from five Bavarian universities, including the University of Bamberg.

"The association’s academic staff meet regularly. We talk about our dissertations, challenges and progress," reports Lea Reis. "This helps us to know which issues we are researching in each case. The topics don't overlap, but rather complement each other. And we help each other, for example with literature tips."

In addition to the many positive aspects, however, she has also learned why interdisciplinary collaboration can be challenging, for example, when developing research methods: "Within one discipline, the participants agreed very quickly on what actually depicts a development. When we met as an interdisciplinary team, there was much more need for conversation and discussion." Researchers had to explain their standpoints to each other and find shared, consistent terms. "It was very helpful that Sabine Toussaint, as managing director, led the meetings, so we were able to develop a uniform association language in the discussion rounds. In addition, everyone involved in the association treats researchers from other disciplines very respectfully."

Even though Lea Reis enjoys academic discussions and debates, she particularly welcomes the fact that the research association doesn't lose sight of its aim: "We seek to produce valuable research findings that the public can easily understand. After all, the association is funded by public money." In total, the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts provides ForDigitHealth with 3.3 million euros in funding. The office headed by Sabine Toussaint therefore supports the association not only administratively, but also in terms of communication. The office updates the association's website, communicates via Twitter, creates videos and manages the network's own blog—all in order to make the topic of digital health accessible to a broad audience.