An Analysis of A Bidirectional School Nurse-Led Text-Messaging Service

Abstract

Aim: To analyse a school nurse led bi-directional text messaging service provided to young people aged 11–19 in two inner London boroughs. Background: School nurses play a key role in providing early advice and support to the school-aged population. The ability to access a school nurse has been recognised by young people as something that needs to improve and suggestions of being able to text a school nurse have been made. ChatHealth is a bi-directional text messaging system that allows young people aged 11–19 to ask a school nurse for advice and support via an anonymous short messaging system (SMS). Arguably, ChatHealth offers more opportunities than traditional access methods to reach more young people. However, due to the relatively new concept, there is a limited evidence base regarding its effectiveness. Methods: An audit of documentary data was completed to analyse the uptake and outcomes of ChatHealth in the local area. Content analysis was carried out analysing 26 conversation transcripts and a staff questionnaire was distributed to gain a better understanding of the role of the school nurse delivering ChatHealth. Findings: The ChatHealth service appears to be proactive in offering an efficient response to a variety of physical, emotional, sexual health and appointment queries, additionally, the uptake of the service has supplemented the established face-to-face contacts. In the local area, emotional health is the most common type of query being received from young people and the topic school nurses feel least confident in responding to. School nurses identify the benefits of ChatHealth in improving young people's access and in enhancing the visibility of the school nursing service and did not identify it as an inconvenience to their current workload.