Unlocking Teen Wellness By Design: BeMe Health’s Journey with Supportive Media

In today’s rapidly evolving world of youth and digital media, it is crucial to stay up-to-date with the latest changes and discover innovative ways to cater to the needs of children, tweens, and teens. At BeMe Health, we are using media to connect and support Gen Z and Gen Alpha wellness, drawing inspiration from the Cooney Center’s recent research on tweens and teens to create the BeMe app, a mobile mental health platform designed to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of digital media, live support, and clinical intervention. We are also committed to making our tools as accessible and impactful as possible by including teenagers in the design process of the app and its features.

Our Teen Advisory Board (TAB), featuring 166 teens representing diverse genders, ethnicities, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and living in rural, suburban, and urban areas across the U.S., is key to our understanding of our audience. In addition to meetings, we have weekly online co-design sessions where our product team collaborates with TAB members, both shaping and playtesting new features to ensure our app appeals to a wide range of young users.

The TAB members provide valuable feedback on app features, their thoughts on how technology affects their mental health, and how our app can support them. They also share their insights on being a teenager in 2024 and provide us with cultural intelligence to ensure our app resonates with young people.

Bridging the Gap: Using Supportive Media™ For Personal Growth

Our goal at BeMe Health is to improve teenagers’ mental health and overall well-being in the BeMe app. Our two-pronged approach involves using Supportive Media™—a combination of digital media and clinically validated content— and human connection, such as live coaching from trained counselors. This “tech and touch” teen-centric mobile approach combines digital media, care activities, live support, and clinical intervention to empower teens. If more intensive help is needed, 24/7 crisis support and clinical linkage to therapy and medication management are also available.

At BeMe, we’re supporting teen wellness through media that’s not just engaging but also rigorously vetted. Our clinical team collaborates on BeMe Original videos, BeMe Care Activities, ASMR, quizzes, playlists, and puzzles, ensuring every type of our media content is rooted in solid behavioral health science. This commitment to expert validation distinguishes us from the unchecked mental health content on social media.

We stay in tune with what’s really going on in teens’ lives through real-time feedback from our BeMe Coaches, trending searches in the BeMe app, and from our Teen Advisory Board. This approach helps us craft BeMe Original content that hit home on topics like prom stress, holiday blues, college applications, or the latest in celebrity mental health news, resulting in content that’s not just relevant but also carefully vetted for its mental health benefits.

Take, for instance, the response to Stephen “tWitch” Boss’s passing in December 2022. Recognizing its significant impact on teens, our BeMe Studios team swiftly produced and curated BeMe Originals focused on grief, providing immediate support and offering live 1:1 coaching to those affected.

Insights from experts featured on our BeingMe podcast are transformed into snackable BeMe Brain Bites in the app. Moreover, our summer BeMe Teen Creator program encouraged peers to share content, enhancing the platform’s reliability and relatability. Our approach also includes identifying and clinically reviewing teen-relevant content from third parties for inclusion in BeMe TV and our app, ensuring a mix of curated and in-house content that speaks directly to teen experiences.

BeMe’s wellness-by-design ethos means our content isn’t just made with care—it’s expert-led, teen-approved, and clinically validated, ensuring we’re a trusted resource for young people navigating life’s challenges.

We designed BeMe TV as a supportive and inclusive media platform that merges teen interest in mental health content with clinically validated guidance to help young people safely navigate their emotional health and support their self-directed approach to wellness.

According to our Stanford Evaluation Study, 90% of teens who watched BeMe TV content found it helpful, while 84% reported that it boosted their self-esteem.

Teens from our advisory board and those included in user interviews expressed positive feedback on the content and coaching aspects of the BeMe app. One mentioned it “helps me a lot to be a better person, express my feelings, and handle anxiety and depression. I love it so much. My coach is amazing.” Another observed personal growth, noting she’s “becoming a more loving, kind person.” 

The app’s impact extends to future outlooks, with a teen appreciating the BeMe Safety Plan tool: “I love the safety plan, it really provides a way for us to remind our future selves of things to be grateful [for] in the future. This app gives me hope and motivation for the good things to come.”

 

Derek E. Baird, M.Ed., serves as the Chief Youth Officer at BeMe Health and is the accomplished writer and producer of the BeingMe: A Teen Mental Health Podcast, which garnered two 2023 Signal Awards. With a rich career spanning over 25 years in children’s media and educational technology, Derek has earned recognition, including the Disney Inventor Award, for his numerous contributions to the industry. He is the author of ‘The Gen Z Frequency,’ his expertise is further showcased through various peer-reviewed articles covering various topics, ranging from designing children’s media and exploring emerging educational technologies to online learning design, youth cultures, and digital safety. 

Dr. Nicoletta Tessler is a clinical psychologist and accomplished senior executive with a +20-year career of repeated success in building and leading cutting-edge behavioral health care with a deep understanding of strategy, domain knowledge, and business operations. Nicki is a high-profile thought leader, combining rapid and strategic growth with managing the operational and financial demands of a large book of behavioral health businesses. She is a proven difference-maker with an unwavering sense of purpose and a fierce passion for reinventing the field. She is a mother of two fabulous teenage daughters and bullish about modeling for them the importance of setting audacious goals, including being CEO and co-founder of BeMe Health by aiming to position BeMe as the most trusted resource in emotional health for teens.