While cell phone ownership is common among people with SMI, their adoption of smartphone technology lags behind that of the general population primarily due to cost barriers. Efforts to use mHealth in these populations need to recognize current mobile ownership patterns while planning for anticipated expansion of new technologies to poor populations as cost barriers are reduced in the coming years.
Background To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a text message intervention to improve young people’s knowledge of sexual reproductive health (SRH) and harms related to smoking in Indonesia. Methods: A quasi-experimental short message service (SMS) trial of young people aged 16–24 years receiving twice weekly SMS over a 10-week intervention period. Pre- and post-online demographic and risk behaviour surveys were used to assess changes in knowledge. Among respondents who completed both surveys, we assessed changes in knowledge before and after SMS intervention using paired McNemar’s test and differences in mean knowledge score using a paired t-test. Results: In total, 555 eligible young people were enrolled into the SMS intervention; 235 (42%) completed a follow-up survey, of which 198 (84%) were matched to a baseline survey. Median age of participants was 19 years and the majority were female (63%). The mean knowledge score significantly increased between baseline and follow-up surveys for SRH questions [2.7, (95% CI 2.47, 2.94) vs 3.4 (95% CI 2.99, 3.81) (P = <0.01)] and smoking-related questions [3.8 (95% CI 3.66, 3.99) vs 4.1 (95% CI 3.99, 4.28) (P = 0.03)]. A majority of participants reported that the SMS intervention increased their knowledge (95%) and were a useful reminder (95%). Conclusions: An SMS intervention was feasible, acceptable and improved adolescents’ SRH knowledge and smoking knowledge in a low- to middle-income setting. SMS interventions targeting young people need to be scaled up, with the potential to explore additional topics around healthy lifestyle, nutrition and physical activity.
Objectives: Quality improvement is a critical mechanism to manage public health agency performance and to strengthen accountability for public funds. The objective of this study was to evaluate a relatively new quality improvement resource, the Public Health Quality Improvement Exchange (PHQIX), a free online communication platform dedicated to making public health quality improvement information accessible to practitioners. Methods:We conducted an internet-based survey of registered PHQIX users (n ¼ 536 respondents) in 2013 and key informant interviews with PHQIX frequent users (n ¼ 21) in 2014, in the United States. We assessed use of the PHQIX website, user engagement and satisfaction, communication and knowledge exchange, use of information, and impact on quality improvement capacity and accreditation readiness.Results: Of 462 respondents, 369 (79.9%) browsed quality improvement initiatives, making it the most commonly used site feature, and respondents described PHQIX as a near-unique source for real-world quality improvement examples. Respondents were satisfied with the quality and breadth of topics and relevance to their settings (average satisfaction scores, 3.9-4.1 [where 5 was the most satisfied]). Of 407 respondents, 237 (58.2%) said that they had put into practice information learned on PHQIX, and 209 of 405 (51.6%) said that PHQIX had helped to improve quality improvement capacity. Fewer than half of respondents used the commenting function, the Community Forum, and the Ask an Expert feature.Conclusions: Findings suggest that PHQIX, particularly descriptions of the quality improvement initiatives, is a valued resource for public health practitioners. Users reported sharing information with colleagues and applying what they learned to their own work. These findings may relate to other efforts to disseminate quality improvement knowledge.
BackgroundSince it was first defined in 1995, Public Health Informatics (PHI) has become a recognized discipline, with a research agenda, defined domain-specific competencies and a specialized corpus of technical knowledge. Information systems form a cornerstone of PHI research and implementation, representing significant progress for the nascent field. However, PHI does not advocate or incorporate standard, domain-appropriate design methods for implementing public health information systems. Reusable design is generalized design advice that can be reused in a range of similar contexts. We propose that PHI create and reuse information design knowledge by taking a systems approach that incorporates design methods from the disciplines of Human-Computer Interaction, Interaction Design and other related disciplines.DiscussionAlthough PHI operates in a domain with unique characteristics, many design problems in public health correspond to classic design problems, suggesting that existing design methods and solution approaches are applicable to the design of public health information systems. Among the numerous methodological frameworks used in other disciplines, we identify scenario-based design and participatory design as two widely-employed methodologies that are appropriate for adoption as PHI standards. We make the case that these methods show promise to create reusable design knowledge in PHI.SummaryWe propose the formalization of a set of standard design methods within PHI that can be used to pursue a strategy of design knowledge creation and reuse for cost-effective, interoperable public health information systems. We suggest that all public health informaticians should be able to use these design methods and the methods should be incorporated into PHI training.
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