The Society of Digital Psychiatry, in collaboration with JMIR Mental Health—an open-access, peer-reviewed journal published by JMIR Publications—invites you to a webinar titled “From Co-Design to Community Care: Implementing Library BeWell for Teen Mental Health.”
In this webinar, Dr. Ashley Knapp will present Library BeWell, an innovative digital mental health intervention for teens developed through a community-engaged partnership with public libraries. The session will trace the journey of Library BeWell from its inception, highlighting key findings from formative research—including co-design workshops and usability testing—and exploring how digital health tools can be effectively integrated into the unique ecosystem of public libraries.
Key Takeaways:
- The Power of Co-Design: Discover how community-engaged partnerships and workshops with teen patrons ensure digital mental health tools are tailored to the actual needs and preferences of marginalized youth.
- Leveraging Non-Traditional Ecosystems: Learn why public libraries are uniquely positioned as vital hubs for mental health intervention and how to effectively integrate digital tools into these community spaces.
- From Research to Implementation: Gain insights into the lifecycle of a digital intervention—from initial formative research and usability testing to the real-world application of a NIMH-funded anxiety support service.
The webinar will be held on April 24, 2026, at 12 PM EST. To register, please use this link:
Speaker:
Ashley Knapp, PhD; Assistant Professor, Northwestern University
Dr. Knapp's research is focused on youth digital mental health broadly, with a particular interest in designing and implementing accessible, community-based digital tools with marginalized youth and those youth most experiencing inequities. She is currently supported by a NIMH-funded K01 award, where she has partnered with a local public library and their teen patrons to adapt a digital mental health service for anxiety to be implemented into the public library’s teen services.
Read Dr Knapp’s related work here and here.
Moderator:
John Torous, MD, MBI; Cofounder, Society of Digital Psychiatry
Dr Torous is the director of the Digital Psychiatry division in the Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an affiliated teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, where he also serves as a staff psychiatrist and member of the academic faculty. He has a background in electrical engineering and computer sciences; he earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley, before pursuing medical school at the University of California, San Diego. Dr Torous completed his psychiatry residency, fellowship in clinical informatics, and master’s degree in biomedical informatics at Harvard. He actively investigates the potential of mobile mental health technologies for psychiatry and has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and 5 book chapters on the subject. Dr Torous serves as the editor-in-chief of JMIR Mental Health.