Our Mission
At the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, we seek to understand and promote positive and healthy digital media experiences for young people, from birth through young adulthood.
Young people today are growing up in a digitally saturated world where everything from their social lives to their education come through a screen. We are, however, only beginning to understand how technology and interactive media impact their mental, physical, and social-emotional health and development. As digital tools become more deeply embedded in daily life, it is essential to develop evidence-backed guidance to direct the creation and use of interactive technology and media so that our young people can thrive and prosper in online spaces.
The Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital is committed to advancing healthy digital media experiences for young people, from birth through young adulthood. Based at one of the nation’s leading pediatric hospitals, the Lab builds an evidence base for digital wellness by conducting and translating rigorous research on the effects—both positive and negative—of technology use. Drawing on clinical experience from across the hospital, including our Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders (CIMAID), and the latest scientific findings, the Lab creates and shares actionable guidance for clinicians, caregivers, and industry to support the digital wellbeing of children, families, and society.
The Digital Wellness Lab, founded by Dr. Michael Rich, was launched in March 2021. It evolved from the Center on Media and Child Health at Boston Children’s Hospital, founded by Dr. Rich in 2003.
What is Digital Wellness
Digital wellness is a positive state of mental, physical, and social-emotional health pursued through intentional, authentic, and balanced engagement with technology and interactive media.
Our Vision
We believe that by following the science, we can create an empathetic and respectful world in which our kids can grow up healthy, smart, and kind.
How We Create Impact
Our work is focused on developing an evidence base for digital wellness by conducting, translating, and distributing, rigorous research on the positive and negative effects of technology and interactive media use on young people to inform our progress towards positive health and development for every child, teen, and young adult.
Develop an Evidence Base for Digital Wellness
We seek to develop an evidence base for digital wellness by conducting, translating, and distributing rigorous research on the effects of technology and interactive media use on young people to inform our progress towards positive health and development for every child, teen, and young adult.
Bring Stakeholders Together
As no one stakeholder holds the solution for making the digital ecosystem a positive and healthy space for young people, we rely on the diverse experiences and expertise of our team, colleagues, and collaborators to make our work inclusive of, and relevant for, all young people.
Advance Digital Wellness Focused Practices in the Tech Industry
We advance digital wellness focused design, delivery, and marketing practices in the tech industry by working to understand their current and future challenges, and to translate our research outcomes into actionable insights to share with key decision-makers.
Embed Digital Wellness in Healthcare Structures
We embed digital wellness in healthcare strategies by providing evidence-based knowledge and tools designed to move towards a more standardized understanding of, and approach to, digital wellbeing; and to empower clinicians in their ability to help young people and their families build and maintain healthy behaviors.
Our Core Values
We are ambitious & optimistic. We believe we can change the paradigm for how young people use technology and interactive media.
We rely on the diverse experiences and expertise of our team, colleagues, and collaborators and strive to make our work inclusive of, and relevant for, all young people.
We follow the data and base our guidance on a foundation of scientific evidence.
We are relentlessly focused on identifying and following the most impactful paths for change.
We are open-minded & nimble. We are willing to change our approach based on research outcomes, innovations in technology, and needs voiced by young people and their families.
We are introspective & empathetic. We learn from our mistakes and show up for each other without judgment.