Abstract
Objective: Where traditional approaches fall short, widely accessible and accepted, yet under leveraged, digital technologies such as text messaging present novel opportunities to solve a range of health care solutions. The following provides a preliminary analysis of the Text4Support program, a text-messaging intervention using the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy, which seeks to support the health and well-being of individuals seeking support for addiction or mental health concerns. The goal of this study was to assess whether the Text4Support program improved the perceived overall mental well-being of participants.Methods: The evaluation analyzes survey responses of individuals who were enrolled in the Text4Support program beginning in July 2019, who had completed the 6-months program by May 2020. Participants were asked to provide responses to three surveys during their time in the program—at baseline, 12-weeks and 6-months, which included questions documenting demographic information, general satisfaction with the program, and a participants' level of “global distress” through use of the Clinical Outcomes Routine Evaluation System (CORE-10)—a validated brief 10-item assessment and outcome measurement tool used to assess conditions including anxiety, depression, physical problems, and risk to self.Results and Conclusions: This data set did not include a large enough sample of participants to reach statistical significance. Nevertheless, the study provides some preliminary analysis, and identifies opportunities for the future analysis and research.
Highlights
Global mobile phone ownership has proliferated and presents an unprecedented opportunity to bring substance use and mental health related support services to more individuals in new and innovative ways, regardless of where or when they need them
If interested in the study, phone numbers from participants were logged into the Text4Support program system, and they were assigned a “theme” or “texting group” for their daily text messages at the discretion of the physician or mental health therapist
Phone numbers from participants were logged into the Text4Support program system, and they were assigned a “theme” or “texting group” for their daily text messages at the discretion of the physician or mental health therapist
Summary
Global mobile phone ownership has proliferated and presents an unprecedented opportunity to bring substance use and mental health related support services to more individuals in new and innovative ways, regardless of where or when they need them. 90% of Canadians are estimated to have a mobile phone (up 1.8% from 2016/17) [3]. Mobile service coverage is expansive, with 99.4% of the Canadian population estimated to have mobile coverage, including 98.0% of rural communities and 88.2% of First Nations reserves [3]. Substance use and mental illness are the leading causes of disability in Canada, a third of Canadians over the age of 15 years indicate that they do not feel their mental health needs are being adequately met [4], and only half of those experiencing a major depressive episode claim to have received adequate care [5]. The cost of the Canadian mental health burden is high, estimated at $51B CAD annually including lost productivity, health care costs, and decreases in quality of life [7]
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