Sharpen Engagement Data ACM CHI Conference in Barcelona

Resiliency Technologies’ real-world case studies covering over 10 years of data implementing the Sharpen® system in diverse patient populations has been accepted to the Engagement in Digital Health Interventions workshop at the ACM (The Association for Computing Machinery) CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. The conference takes place April 13–17, 2026, at the Barcelona International Convention Centre in Barcelona, Spain.

The Sharpen® case studies, co-authored with Victoria Cosgrove of Stanford University and Duke Biber of James Madison University, will be published on the workshop website, included in the official workshop booklet, and considered for collaborative research outputs from the all-day session.

About ACM CHI

ACM CHI is the leading international conference dedicated to human-computer interaction, drawing researchers, clinicians, engineers, and designers from around the globe. The 2026 theme — Creant el demà junts, or "Creating Tomorrow Together" — reflects a commitment to building the future through transdisciplinary collaboration.

The all-day workshop "Engagement in Digital Health Interventions" brings together a diverse group of researchers focused on exploring what it actually means for users to engage with digital health interventions, how should we define engagement, measure it, and design for it — and how do those choices translate into real clinical benefit?

The workshop aims to develop a shared understanding across disciplines, and to document lessons learned for the field. Sharpen data will be included through specific case study examples.

Sharpen Engagement Data

Twenty years of community-based participatory research and 50,000+ post-program surveys from adolescents, parents, educators, and clinicians underpin Sharpen's engagement model. Our case study highlights digital interventions built on authentic community voices, clinical integration that removes barriers, and multi-dimensional definitions of engagement spanning behavioral metrics, clinical outcomes, and community design.

Three distinct real-world implementations of Sharpen DTX show what meaningful engagement actually looks like and how it differs across populations, clinical contexts, and design approaches.

1. Medical student participants who completed the self-guided, 5-hour Sharpen metal health literacy course reveals how featuring documentary-style peer storytelling speaking candidly about mental health and resiliency leads to increased engagement, improvements in mental health literacy, and high acceptability and satisfaction ratings.

2. Adolescent patients on a clinical waitlist for eating disorder treatment were prescribed Sharpen DTX through EHR integration. 59.4% of patients voluntarily engaged, spending up to 44 minutes in a session.

3. Division I college athletes completed mandatory mental health screening and athlete mental health literacy training through Sharpen. The program achieved a 100% high-risk case management success rate.

We're honored to be at the table with researchers building a more rigorous, human-centered evidence base for digital mental health.