Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1495665
19 Unity SUNDAY 26 MARCH 2023 Dr Katya De Giovanni, MP Department of Psychology FOLLOWING the pandemic, in 2022 the Maltese islands faced a general election. Having two members of my family already involved in politics, I decided to contest this election. To my ela- tion, I was elected, the first fe- male ever to be elected in parlia- ment from the 4th district. I was certainly proud to achieve my aim to be in the driver's seat and part and parcel of the national decisions being taken. I was also particularly honoured with the fact that I managed to be elected through a casual election and not elected through the gender cor- rective mechanism. As expected, the learning curve was a steep one. It was especial- ly steep as far as learning parlia- mentary procedures and tactics are concerned. There is a set structure in which each parlia- mentary session is carried out whereby the first half-hour is reserved for parliamentary ques- tions. The next hour and a half are focused on the debate per- taining to legal amendments or new laws under scrutiny. These can be quite interesting to follow but at times are also long-winded and unnecessary, very different to what we are used to in academia. In academia, every uttering needs to be scrupulously backed up by data. In parliament, speeches are mainly based on the contempo- rary social discourse and personal narratives on behalf of the speak- ers and not on any research pro- tocol as we are used to. Finally, the last half-hour of each sitting is reserved to the adjournment during which the agenda of the following sitting is read and where two parlia- mentary members have the op- portunity to speak about a topic of their choice. Normally, this is an opportunity to bring forward any concerns in relation to the constituency or to speak about a topic at heart. To be honest, the opportunity to speak about important and sensitive topics such as miscarriages, educational pathways and other psychological issues, represents a golden op- portunity to my quest in bringing improved levels of wellbeing and quality of life to all Maltese and Gozitan citizens. It is a common misconception that parliament happens only within the plenary session. How- ever, it is worth mentioning that there are also a number of com- mittees within the parliamentary structure that provide support to what goes on in plenary. I am lucky to have been entrusted with membership on committees to which I can contribute due to my knowledge, expertise and ex- perience accumulated through- out my career so far. Therefore, I form part of the Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee, Family Affairs Committee and Petitions Committee. Most of the time, joint committees are also held because social and family affairs have a lot in common. It is my wish for instance that one day parliament would have a committee dedicated to edu- cational issues. In my humble opinion over the recent years, a lot has been done with regards to social and family affairs, when the crux of resolving most issues in these areas would be to invest even more heavily and directly in education. Another interesting responsi- bility that I was given is that of representing the government on the Welfare Committee. This is a committee whose responsibility is that of providing care to old- er persons in residential homes. Apart from approving medical equipment, we are also working on cultural activities and digital- isation. Another initiative that I form part of is the Parliamentary As- sembly for the Mediterranean. I have been appointed chair of the delegation and together with my colleagues both from the Gov- ernment and the Opposition, we present position papers on sever- al issues pertaining to the Medi- terranean area. In July 2022, I at- tended the opening session of the Women's Parliamentary Forum in Lisbon where I presented the Maltese government's initiatives on female participation in the world of work as well as parlia- ment. Overall throughout my experi- ence in the past months, I realised that academics have a lot to offer in parliament. First and foremost, we can contribute with regards to the adequacy of the research we are presented with and also on the kind of research that can be commissioned. Moreover, as an academic in the field of psychol- ogy, it is somewhat easy for me to use my skills also in parliament by empathising and supporting my colleagues on a range of issues, even personal ones. In relation to this, it is also easy for me to link political proposals or points on the electoral manifesto to real-life experiences. Academics in politics are al- so skilled in conducting public consultation processes, especial- ly in my case, through the use of interviews and focus groups. I have personally worked as much as possible on positioning mental health issues as any other health issue requiring medical treatment and therapy, in order to mitigate the stigma associated with these conditions. The same goes for disability issues where I am work- ing on how it can be possible to work with people of different abilities. Overall, I can say that my expe- rience in politics is a positive one. It is indeed satisfying to be in a position to be able to contribute to significant changes in the lives of people, and that within the parliamentary group I am able to do my part to create a difference. 24x7 support Chatbots in specialist addiction services an academic psychologist in parliament Clayton Axisa Ph.D. Candidate THE race is officially on. Even though it is irrational to think that intelligent sys- tems can solve everything, chatbots in healthcare are now a subject of growing academic interest. With the recent release of Ope- nAI's ChatGPT, the once hypothetical intersection between automation and addictions is becoming a re- ality. Understandably, this has generated interest in how we can use this technolo- gy to enhance our everyday lives. Many businesses of all shapes and sizes are trying to see how artificial intelli- gence fits into their corpo- rate strategy. My doctoral research explores the utility of these interfaces as a pre- quel to face-to-face psycho- social assistance. It seeks to understand how we could use this as an opportunity to help individuals in Malta that are struggling with ad- diction. Health promotion, preven- tion, treatment and rehabil- itation are usually not well- equipped for 24x7 support. Restrictions like this stifle the chance of carers being active participants in the pa- tient's care plans. The chal- lenge here is more urgent for people that are weaker than others. COVID-19 has high- lighted the importance of improving existing process- es, necessitating the adop- tion of alternative delivery methods to remain accessi- ble. Zoom and other com- munication platforms made users accustomed to engag- ing virtually online. This black swan event has continued to enrich an al- ready technology-motivated population into embracing the benefits of internet in- terventions – a new pathway that offers many exciting op- portunities. Since the jour- ney starts long before the first appointment, the mode of interaction exercised by conversational agents is a compelling starting point for addressing their needs. Despite the exceptional po- tential, unchartered territo- ry still needs to be explored. Although most of the litera- ture paints a rosy picture in favour of this step forward, the unknowns are too great to ignore. As a result, this interest comes with resistance from those who prefer to err on the side of caution. The boundary between the two is a knife's edge that this project seeks to balance on. To answer these questions, I will assess whether the us- er's engagement improves due to the computerised di- alogue. I will also understand what practitioners think about these types of applications. So far, there is an ongoing debate on whether we can leverage such tools at scale to become effective catalysts for change. By observing intake in- terviews, my dissertation aspires to build a chatbot that can be embedded on an agency's website, enabling service users to interact with it outside office hours. This integration will give practitioners mission-criti- cal information about a sit- uation before they follow up based on the referrals gener- ated overnight. My findings will enable us to create synergies that bring together the best of both worlds by combining the benefits of humans and machines.