HealthyhornsTXT A Text Messaging Program to Promote Student Health - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

HealthyhornsTXT

A Text Messaging Program to Promote Student Health & Academic Success

Contributors

Elizabeth M. Glowacki, MA Doctoral Candidate, Department of Communication Studies Center for Health Communication Susan Kirtz, MPH Health Promotion Coordinator, University Health Services Center for Health Communication Jay M. Bernhardt, MPH, PhD Dean, Moody College of Communication Founding Director, Center for Health Communication Jessica Duncan Cance, MPH, PhD Assistant Professor, The College of Education, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education Jessica Hughes Wagner, MPH, MCHES Manager of Health Promotion, University Health Services Denise Barrera Student Assistant, University Health Services

Background

• Funded by the National Social Norms Center at Michigan

State University

• Aimed at supporting students’ health and academic success
• Students send an average of 70+ texts per day (up to 300+)
• Connects with students at critical moments in their health and

social decision making process

Fall 2014

• Year-long

program pilot Fall 2015

• Develop

partnerships

• Dose study

Spring 2016

• Time study
• Linguistic

agency study

Development

• Topics: Alcohol, stress, sleep, sex, physical activity,

nutrition, campus events

• Messages developed by: University Health Services,

Counseling & Mental Health Center, RecSports, students

• Scheduled based on campus events (UHS flu shot

campaign, football game weekends, exams, etc.)

• Uses Mosio text messaging software
• Not linked with students’ EHR at UHS

Recruitment

• Opt-out in Think About It online education program

– Required of all incoming students

• Text to subscribe
• Currently 5208 active participants

Retention

• Weekly gift card drawing

– Ready to win some tacos? Reply TACOS by 5pm today to enter to win a Torchy's giftcard. Good luck!

Students love tacos!

Sample Messages

• We asked, and y'all answered. The majority of Longhorns who

drink had 4 or fewer the last time they went out! Will you stay with the herd tonight?

• Looking for the best birth control method for you or your

partner? University Health Services can help! bit.ly/UTBirthControl

• Come get a FREE Healthyhorns Safe Spring Break Kit with 20

awesome items from UHS this week! Text SSBK for the giveaway schedule.

– Safe Spring Break Kit schedule: Mon-Tue from 11-1 at West Mall, Wed- Thu from 11-1 at Gregory. #whilesupplieslast

Implementation and Evaluation

• Two-condition experiment evaluating message dose:
• Daily: one message per day
• Weekly: one message per week
• 907 participants completed post-test survey:

– Current health practices and attitudes (questions from National College Health Assessment) – Intentions to engage in recommended health behaviors – Attitudes toward HealthyhornsTXT

• Survey links sent to participants’ mobile phones
• Incentives: One out of every 200 participants entered in a

drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card

9% 10% 12% 32% 37%

Friends outside UT Family member Significant other Roommates Friends at UT

Quantitative Findings

Did you talk with anyone about the messages you received? If so, who?

Message Relevance

Sleep/Napping 64.06% Stress Management 59.98% Hydration 39.47% Nutrition 36.38% Fitness 30.43% University Health Services 28.34% Campus Resources 26.90% Healthy Sexuality 24.92% Alcohol Use 24.70% Cold/Flu 19.07% Body Image 18.08% Tobacco Use 4.63% Prescription Drug Use 3.97%

Participant Feedback Scores

Item Mean Score 1=Strongly Disagree 5=Strongly Agree The text messages I received increased my knowledge of how to stay healthy at UT. 3.60 The text messages I received increased my awareness of my health (or ways to improve my health) on a regular basis. 3.51 I liked the messages I received. 3.50 The messages I received about health were relevant for me and my experiences as a UT student. 3.48

Participant Feedback Scores

Item Mean Score 1=Strongly Disagree 5=Strongly Agree I would feel comfortable text messaging with my healthcare provider. 3.35 I took a specific action to improve my health as a result of receiving a text message from HHTT. 2.86 I shared information from the text messages with another person. 2.86 My health behaviors have changed because of the messages received in this program. 2.73 I received too many messages from this program. 2.78 I didn’t receive enough messages from this program. 2.43

9 11 13 14 15 17 18 19 23 37 38 52 63 66 76 79 190 Nutrition Campus resources Body image Tobacco use Stress management Cold/flu Prescription drug abuse Fitness Hydration Sleep/napping University Health Services Mental health Alcohol use Healthy sexuality Well-being/Misc. Gift Card for Torchy's Tacos HHTXT Program

Daily Group

# of Opt Outs by Subject of Text

2 4 6 13 16 22 24 188 214 Body image Campus resources Hydration Prescription drug abuse Stress management Tobacco use University Health Services Well-being/Misc. Healthy sexuality Sleep/napping Fitness Cold/flu Nutrition Alcohol use Mental health HHTXT Program Gift Card for Torchy's Tacos

Weekly Group

# of Opt Outs by Subject of Text

Opt-Outs

Key Word Usual Care Weekly Daily Combined plzsleep 4 16 20 tacos 3653 11457 11015 26125 vteer 1 201 202 utcompassion 89 123 212 surewalk 52 113 165 flu 44 238 166 448 hornslink 37 97 134 wrapitup 65 149 214 ecig booflu 67 140 207 utfruit 20 59 79 uthands 27 27 smokefree 50 100 150 amnesty 20 21 27 68 consent 6 13 19 napmap 180 180 testme 79 79 Total 4107 11717 12505 28329

Responses to Keywords

3 10 18 48 173 249 309 406 423 442 494 890 4352 Tobacco use Fitness Prescription drug abuse University Health Services Nutrition Alcohol use Well-being/Misc. Campus resources Stress management Cold/flu Sleep/napping Healthy sexuality Mental health HHTXT Program

Link Clicks by Subject (tracked using bitly.com)

Qualitative Findings

I took a specific action to improve my health as a result of receiving a text message from HealthyhornsTXT. If yes, please describe briefly.

• “I started eating more servings of fruits and I began eating healthier. I also began

implementing a better sleep schedule and managed my stress better.”

• “I found out about unknown napping spots on campus so I could get some rest from

studying all night the day before.”

• “Tried to eat more vegetables and drank more water to prevent dehydration.”
• “I decided to quit drinking soda and stick to water just because HHTT motivates me

to improve my health and strength as a former athlete.”

• “Remembered to start bringing a water bottle to school to get more water.”

Qualitative Findings

• “I looked into getting counseling for some personal and academic problems I was

having.”

• “I saw signs of alcohol poisoning this past weekend that I read from the link sent on a

text message.”

• “The drinking tips were healthy and had some great pointers about steps to take before

and after drinking. For example, the suggestion to eat before and to hydrate before and after.”

• “One text linked me to be healthy horns contraception videos and I made an

appointment at the women's health center at the SSB as a result.”

• “Got tested for the full range of STIs.”
• “I practiced the stress management techniques!”

Challenges

• Limited to 160 characters (challenging to share information

in concise, engaging manner)

• Gathering/creating messages
• Finding tone/style appropriate for students
• Technical issues (tracking links, exporting tracking info

from Mosio)

Ongoing Projects and Next Steps

Time of message delivery: 11am vs. 9pm Linguistic Agency vs. Regulatory Fit: Prevention vs. Promotion Messages

Human

Threat Treatment

Non- human

Threat Treatment