Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Aug 14:27:e72587.
doi: 10.2196/72587.

Payors, Caregivers, and Teens: Aligning Priorities for Effective Digital Mental Health Tools

Jennifer Huberty  1 , Jacqlyn Yourell  1 , Lara Baez  1 , Louisa Salhi  2   3
Affiliations

Payors, Caregivers, and Teens: Aligning Priorities for Effective Digital Mental Health Tools

Jennifer Huberty et al. J Med Internet Res. .

Abstract

Digital mental health (DMH) tools are a promising solution to the growing need for mental health care among teens because of their scalability and accessibility. Yet the key stakeholders-payors (who reimburse), caregivers (who facilitate adoption and access), and teens aged 13-17 (the primary users of these tools)-often have conflicting priorities. These misaligned priorities can limit investment in tools that align with user needs and promote long-term engagement, ultimately hindering the effective deployment of DMH tools for teens. This viewpoint paper outlines payor, caregiver, and teen priorities for DMH tools and proposes novel strategies to align these priorities. We argue that this alignment is critical for driving meaningful improvements in teen well-being.

Keywords: adolescents; caregivers; digital mental health interventions; mental health; parents; payors; teens.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors are employees of Fit Minded, Inc. or Kooth Digital Health. The views expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of these organizations.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Stakeholder priorities in Digital Mental Health platforms and strategies for alignment. ROI: return on investment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Rideout V, Fox S, Peebles A, Robb MB. Common Sense Media; 2021. Coping with COVID‑19: how young people use digital media to manage their mental health.
    1. Giovanelli A, Ozer EM, Dahl RE. Leveraging technology to improve health in adolescence: a developmental science perspective. J Adolesc Health. 2020 Aug;67(2S):S7–S13. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.02.020. doi. Medline. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lehtimaki S, Martic J, Wahl B, Foster KT, Schwalbe N. Evidence on digital mental health interventions for adolescents and young people: systematic overview. JMIR Ment Health. 2021 Apr 29;8(4):e25847. doi: 10.2196/25847. doi. Medline. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Children and youth. Medicaid. [10-06-2025]. https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/benefits/behavioral-health-services/ch... URL. Accessed.
    1. Mental health. InsureKidsNow.gov. [10-06-2025]. https://www.insurekidsnow.gov/initiatives/mental-health URL. Accessed.

LinkOut - more resources