Health Promotion Text Messaging Preferences and Acceptability Among the Medically Underserved

Abstract

The Colorado Healthy Heart Solutions program uses community health workers to provide health promotion and navigation services for participants in medically underserved, predominantly rural areas who are at risk for developing cardiovascular disease. A text messaging program designed to increase participant engagement and adherence to lifestyle changes was pilot tested with English- and Spanish-speaking participants. Preimplementation focus groups with participants informed the development of text messages that were used in a 6-week pilot program. Postimplementation focus groups and interviews then evaluated the pilot program. Participants reported a preference for concise messages received once daily and for positive messages suggesting specific actions that could be feasibly accomplished within the course of the day. Participants also consistently reported the desire for clarity in message delivery and content, indicating that the source of the messages should be easy to recognize, messages should state clearly when participants were expected to respond to the messages, and any responses should be acknowledged. Links to other websites or resources were generally viewed as trustworthy and acceptable, but were preferred for supplementary material only. These results may inform the development of future chronic disease management programs in underserved areas or augment existing programs using text messaging reinforcement.

Acceptability of mHealth Technology for Self‐Monitoring Eating and Activity among Rural Men

“…Text messages were developed based on prior studies that reported types (content, length, day of week, time of day), clarity, and frequencies of text messaging associated with behavior change (Albright et al., ; Patrick et al., ; Shapiro et al., ; Shaw et al., ). Text messages were organized conceptually based on the evidence related to healthy lifestyles, with content adapted from healthy eating and activity guidelines (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ; United States Department of Agriculture, ).…”

Test@Work Texts: Mobile Phone Messaging to Increase Awareness of HIV and HIV Testing in UK Construction Employees During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…In our study, despite the remote nature of the intervention, employees were initially approached and recruited face-to-face in their place of work (as opposed to a clinical setting), then provided with an opt-out option with the introductory message. This may have increased the uptake since other studies have required participants to actively send a text message to be enrolled [72], be enrolled at a focus group [73], or be enrolled by a healthcare practitioner [68].…”

Let’s get technical: Enhancing program evaluation through the use and integration of internet and mobile technologies

“…In addition, evaluators should consider user preferences for message content. Text messages from a program should be comprised of short, specific, positive content in combination with a clear source and request for action, if necessary (Albright et al, 2015). Links are preferred as added rather than primary resources, and responses sent back to evaluators should be acknowledged (Albright et al, 2015).…”