Abstract
Introduction
Short message service (SMS), or text-based, health interventions offer a promising opportunity to deliver health education and have been shown to improve diet and exercise. However, few are theory-based or target low-income parents. This pilot study, informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), primarily sought to determine if health education delivered via SMS was feasible and acceptable to low-income parents of young children.
Methods
Using a one-group, pre- to post-test study design to assess a 12-week SMS-based health education program, parents enrolled in a health-related program at an early childhood development center for low-income families were sent three text messages per week that corresponded to a weekly diet or physical activity-related theme. Surveys assessed pre-post changes in TPB constructs and collected program feedback.
Results
Among the 119 eligible parents invited to participate, 109 were sent all text messages for the duration of the study. Participants were mostly Black (98.9%), 25–39 years old (83.9%), female (93.8%), and in single-parent households (63.8%). More than half (n = 59) completed the pre-survey, answered a bi-directional program text, or completed the post-survey. Twelve participants completed both the pre- and post-survey and at least one bi-directional text. Post-survey results revealed that most participants liked the program design and enjoyed their experience with the program.
Conclusions
SMS-based interventions can simplify delivery of health information to low-income parents of young children. Although engagement was low, retention was high, and feedback was largely positive.
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Data Availability
N/A.
Code Availability
N/A.
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Funding
This study was supported by a Grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (P30361543).
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All authors reviewed the final manuscript. Dr. MGE was the primarily responsible for program design, data analysis, and writing all versions of the manuscript. She also assisted with program implementation. Dr. JF, as PI of the Health Beginnings program, was responsible for obtaining IRB approval, and she was also helpful in manuscript revisions. Ms. TTW and Ms. SMT were responsible for program implementation. Dr. KPT overseas our entire relationship with the early childcare center where the program partook, and she was engaged in the data analysis and interpretation.
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All data used in this study was collected with the approval of the Tulane University Institutional Review Board (study ID number 2019-549).
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Evans, M.G., Fleckman, J., Williams, T.T. et al. Delivering Health Information to Parents via a Theory-Informed SMS-Based Intervention: Development and Results from a Pilot Study. Matern Child Health J 26, 49–57 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03233-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03233-0