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Background: Launched in February 2010, the text4baby mobile health program aims to build a public health brand, promote positive self-efficacy for prenatal care, and encourage prenatal and postpartum health care behaviors among underserved women nationwide.
Program background: Text4baby delivers text messages about prenatal and postpartum health behaviors. Previous speakers on this panel have described the program in depth.
Evaluation Methods and Results: Text4baby is being evaluated in a randomized controlled cross-site design. Demonstration sites follow a common protocol based on comparison of text messaging plus usual health care compared to usual care alone. The evaluation uses a multi-theory approach to behavior change including the Health Belief Model (HBM), Diffusion of Innovations, and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). Finally, the evaluation will examine text4baby social marketing strategies and development of brand equity among Medicaid-eligible pregnant women and new mothers. Text4baby seeks to answer the following evaluation questions: - What is the level of exposure to the text4baby brand among the target audience? - How do audience members receive and react to branded messages? - What effects does text4baby have on health knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, self-efficacy and social norms? - What effects does text4baby have on health behaviors? - What side benefits does text4baby confer on other programs such as referral to helplines and other health services? - What effects does text4baby have on postpartum maternal and child health outcomes?
Conclusions: We present initial pilot study results and describe plans for long-term program evaluation over a 3 year period.
Implications for research and/or practice: Mobile health programs have potential to reach audiences using an effective and widely used channel - the cell phone. Text4baby targets an audience that relies heavily on cell phones and thus may represent a channel for many future health marketing and communication interventions designed to benefit them.