Text4Support Mobile-Based Programming for Individuals Accessing Addictions and Mental Health Services—Retroactive Program Analysis at Baseline, 12 Weeks, and 6 Months

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.

The Impact of Economic Recessions on Depression, Anxiety, and Trauma-Related Disorders and Illness Outcomes—A Scoping Review

“…As such, during recessions, governments typically lay off staff, do not replace retiring staff, or avoid creating new heavily human resource intensive mental health services [ 137 , 138 ]. Therefore, health policy and practice implications should also consider the adoption of low cost, evidence-based interventions such as bibliotherapy, Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, supportive text messaging, and encouragement of community and family level emotional support [ 138 , 139 , 140 , 141 , 142 , 143 , 144 , 145 , 146 , 147 , 148 , 149 , 150 , 151 , 152 , 153 , 154 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 159 , 160 , 161 , 162 ]. Research evidence has suggested that support from family and friends is protective during natural disasters and two studies in this review suggest that positive social support provides additional protection against anxiety and depression during times of economic recession [ 49 , 50 ].…”

Patients’ Expectations and Experiences With a Mental Health–Focused Supportive Text Messaging Program: Mixed Methods Evaluation

“…Data were collected between August 2019 and February 2020. The instrument was not validated but was adopted from surveys used in previous text messaging programs [ 2 , 3 , 19 ]. Participants entered their mobile phone numbers as their unique study ID number, which prevented multiple participation in the study.…”

“…A recent evaluation of Text4Support indicates that the program is effective and accepted by individuals seeking access to outpatient mental health services in the Edmonton Zone. A large proportion of these subscribers reported always or often reading of the messages (25/26, 96%), and after receiving the service for 6 months, the majority agreed that the text messages (TxMs) were to the point (18/24, 75%), supportive (22/24, 92%), and positive (22/24, 92%) [ 19 ]. In a similar study, the authors reported higher satisfaction with the texting service among female participants, who reported an improvement in coping with different stresses related to the COVID-19 pandemic along with an improvement in their quality of life, compared with their male counterparts [ 3 ].…”

“…In a similar study, the authors reported higher satisfaction with the texting service among female participants, who reported an improvement in coping with different stresses related to the COVID-19 pandemic along with an improvement in their quality of life, compared with their male counterparts [ 3 ]. In addition, the literature reported high satisfaction related to different mental health conditions, such as psychotic disorder and depression [ 1 , 3 , 19 ]. However, the results based on sex at birth or diagnosis were not significant for any of the assessed items.…”

Mental Health Impacts of Wildfire, Flooding and COVID-19 on Fort McMurray School Board Staff and Other Employees: A Comparative Study

“…Further studies are needed to explore and compare the impact of accessible and rapidly implementable mental health interventions such as supportive text messages on school board staff and other employees. Interventions such as supportive and informative text messaging can be used to alleviate the long-term mental health effects of the wildfires, floods, and the COVID-19 pandemic [ 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ]. Future studies may also examine the contribution of adverse childhood experiences and personal traumas such as bereavement, domestic violence, and sexual trauma on mental health outcomes in a community affected by multiple natural disasters.…”