@article{ref1,
title="Enrolling underserved women in mHealth programs: results from Text4baby outreach campaigns",
journal="Health promotion practice",
year="2018",
author="Bushar, Jessica A. and Fishman, Jodie and Garfinkel, Danielle and Pirretti, Amy",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="1524839918763589-1524839918763589",
abstract="Public health practitioners have increasingly leveraged technology-based communication to get health information into the hands of hard-to-reach populations; however, best practices for outreach and enrollment into mobile health (mHealth) programs are lacking. This article describes enrollment results from campaigns focused on enrolling underserved pregnant women and mothers in Text4baby-a free, mHealth service-to inform outreach strategies for mHealth programs. Text4baby participants receive health and safety information, interactive surveys, alerts, and appointment reminders through at least three weekly texts and a free app-timed to users' due date or babies' birth date. Text4baby worked with partners to implement national, state, and community-based enrollment campaigns. Descriptive statistics were used to compare baseline enrollment prior to a campaign with enrollment during a campaign to generate enrollment estimates. Enrollment rates were calculated for campaigns for which the number targeted/reached was available. National television campaigns resulted in more than 10,000 estimated enrollments. Campaigns that were integrated with an existing program and text-based recruitment had the highest enrollment rates, ranging from 7% to 24%. Facebook advertisements and traditional media targeting providers and consumers were least effective. mHealth programs should consider text-based recruitment and outreach via existing programs; additional research is needed on return on investment for different outreach strategies and on the effectiveness of different outreach strategies at reaching and enrolling specific target populations.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1524-8399",
doi="10.1177/1524839918763589",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1524839918763589"
}