Hackamental was an online hackathon that encouraged high-school students
from around the world to try and develop prototypes to tackle the challenges of mental health. Within
the span of two days, teams worked together to develop digital ideas aimed towards helping confront
mental health challenges that societies encounter today.
Workshops
Levelling Up for Mental Health: How to Look Out for
Yourself and Others
Description:
1 in 5 people in Canada today
struggle with their mental health, yet only 1 in 4 will receive the help they need. The
mental health crisis is one of the most prominent issues facing our nation’s youth. Many
young people need help or wish to help their friends, but knowing how to ask for help or how
to be there for someone else can be difficult. In this workshop, participants will work
through the 5 Golden Rules of being there for a friend or loved one in crisis as well as
learn how to safeguard their own mental health. This workshop is based on research-based
data and techniques developed by Jack.org and the Born this Way Foundation.
Biography:
Graeme Hopkins: Jack Talks Speaker (Jack.org),
Saskatchewan Network Representative (Jack.org), and Marketing Content Creator (Youth Helping
Youth BC)
Graeme Hopkins is a writer, artist, director, actor, performer, and geological and
paleontological researcher based in Saskatoon. He has been extremely passionate about youth
mental health for several years, having previously served as an advocate for youth mental
health in the face of a harmful policy adopted by the Saskatoon Public Schools Division, in
addition to writing and speaking about youth mental health for the CBC’s National Division,
CBC Saskatchewan, The Hamilton Spectator, and the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. The policy was
repealed after 6 months of advocacy work. In 2021, Graeme founded and organized Wear Green
Day, an national mental health awareness event that was observed by schools from Alberta to
New Brunswick. Currently, Graeme is serving as the Saskatchewan Network Representative for
Jack.org, a national youth mental health charity, a Jack Talks Speaker for Jack.org, and a
Peer Advisory Council member for TeensTalk YXE, a local Saskatoon mental health charity.
Building a Self-Care Ritual to Avoid Burnout
Description:
Felt overwhelmed, exhausted,
unmotivated when life is busy? In this workshop, we'll explore why creating a personal self
care ritual is critical to maintaining positive mental wellness. Burnout is real and can
look like many things. In this workshop, we'll explore triggers, understand what burnout is,
and how you can avoid burnout by incorporating small things in your life to look after you
physical, mental, and spiritual health.
Biography:
Dana Ramnarine: Vice President of Rhum.hr
Dana Ramnarine (she/her) is a mother, entrepreneur, and architect of highly innovative
teams. She has spent almost 15 years helping grow some of the world’s most successful and
creative and tech companies by implementing tools to find, attract, and retain amazing
humans. She was Unity's first in-house global Recruiter, has worked at Disney, Electronic
Arts and with many other growing tech companies to help humans connect with their purpose
and find values-aligned organizations. Now leading the team at Rhum.hr, Dana is co-founder
and heads up the west coast team, working with startups, venture capitals, and growing
studios to bring HR and talent acquisition strategy to leaders and innovators. Rhum.hr have
created an on-demand model, disrupting the external agency framework to meet the needs of
ever-evolving industries and growing teams.
Winning Teams
AI Therapy
Max Sun, Petar Isakovic
AI Therapy is a website that lends an ear to users, standing
with them and helping them with their mental health issues. Users start off by speaking to the AI
directly using the "Ask a Question" button. Users can use this button to freely pour out their concerns
of life because sometimes having somebody to listen can be therapeutic. After the user finishes speaking
the AI then replies back to the user with a comforting voice using the text to speech.
Mental Miracle
Samhitha Kona, Shreya Rastogi
Mental Miracle is a tool that helps people discuss their
feelings and learn a quick way to help improve their mental health. This website provides viewers with a
chatbot that helps them navigate through their feelings and feel better. There is also a quiz feature
that asks creative questions about a person’s feelings and preferences to help them give a stress-relief
tip that is catered to how they are feeling.
BREAK OUT!
Christine Shim, Joseph Zheng, Anders Lee
BREAK OUT! aims to utilize the power of memes and humour for the
benefit of its users’ mental health. Through BREAK OUT!’s intuitive interface, users can view, share,
like, and comment on mental health-related memes. They also have the ability to create and publish their
own memes through BREAK OUT!’s meme editor.