Use of a text message program to raise type 2 diabetes risk awareness and promote health behavior change (part II): assessment of participants' perceptions on efficacy.
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Date
2013-12-20
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Although there is great enthusiasm in both the public and private sector for the further development and use of large scale consumer facing public health applications for mobile platforms little is known about user experience and satisfaction with this type of approach As a part of the Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program txt4health a public facing mobile phone based health information service targeting type 2 diabetes was launched in 3 Beacon Communities the Southeast Michigan Beacon Community in Detroit MI the Greater Cincinnati Beacon Community in Cincinnati OH and the Crescent City Beacon Community in New Orleans LA This program was marketed via large public health campaigns and drew many users within the respective communities OBJECTIVE The purpose of this investigation was to use the RE AIM framework to document txt4health efficacy by focusing on perceptions of satisfaction usage and behavior change among individuals who used txt4health in pilot studies in Southeast Michigan and Greater Cincinnati METHODS We conducted a multimodal user survey with txt4health users recruited via text message through the program to understand participant perceptions of program use and satisfaction as well as self reported perceptions of behavior change as a result of using txt4health RESULTS Txt4health users reported very high levels of program satisfaction with 67 1 108 161 reporting satisfaction scores of 8 on a 10 point scale with 10 equivalent to most satisfied mean 8 2 SD 1 6 All survey participants agreed strongly agreed that the messages included in txt4health were clear and easy to understand 100 0 160 160 and most found txt4health made them knowledgeable about their risk for type 2 diabetes 88 1 140 159 and made them conscious of their diet and physical activity 88 8 142 160 Most participants reported that txt4health helped them to make behavior changes related to diet after having completed txt4health most agreed strongly agreed that they are more likely to replace sugary drinks such as juice or soda with water 78 0 124 159 have a piece of fresh fruit instead of dessert 74 2 118 159 substitute a small salad for chips or fries when dining out 76 1 121 159 buy healthier foods when grocery shopping 79 7 126 158 and eat more grilled baked or broiled foods instead of fried 75 5 120 159 CONCLUSIONS Results from this study suggest that participants in txt4health a large scale public health focused text message program targeting type 2 diabetes have positive perceptions of the program and that participation has led to positive behavior change
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Keywords
Adult, At risk for a particular disease or infection, Client, Access to information or data, Alignment with local norms, Addressing individual beliefs and practices, Pilot, Efficacy, Usability, Individual based, Diabetes, Preventive, Health education or promotion, Mass messaging campaigns, SMS, Text