Designing for Teen Mental Health: An exploration of the co-design of virtual reality in the public library setting

Teen mental health is in a state of crisis in the United States. One in three adolescents is suffering from a mental health issue and suicide is the third leading cause of death for teens ages 15–24. The demand for mental health resources far outweighs the supply suggesting creative and accessible mental health resources are needed. The public library is a community resource available to all community members and is an ideal location for providing mental health supports. Therefore, in this project, we engaged three, diverse groups of teens (n = 30) in the design and development of a virtual reality environment intended to support teen mental health. Teens from two urban (Seattle and Washington, D.C.) and one rural setting (Texas) participated in a 13-session, after school co-design program led by local library staff. Through these design sessions, we learned that (1) Teens are interested and engaged in talking about their mental health and find nature and animals relaxing and helpful. (2) Teens envision virtual reality (VR) as an environment to help them manage or avoid stress and feelings of overwhelm. (3) As designers, teens enjoy active interaction and the ability to iterate on their designs. (4) VR designs by teens often included being in nature and with animals. These data suggest that virtual reality may be a successful medium and public libraries an appropriate site in which to engage teens in co-design for mental health. More importantly, such programs may offer an invitation to encourage teens to think about and discuss their own mental health.