User Satisfaction With a Daily Supportive Text Message Program (Text4PTSI) for Public Safety Personnel: Longitudinal Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background Public safety personnel (PSP) are exposed to traumatic events due to their work environments, which increases the risk of mental health challenges. Providing effective and evidence-based interventions, such as SMS text messaging programs, can improve PSP's overall mental well-being with high user satisfaction rates. Objective This study aims to evaluate users’ satisfaction, receptiveness, and perceptions of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)–based supportive SMS text messaging intervention (Text4PTSI). Methods Participants self-subscribed to Text4PTSI and received unidirectional cognitive behavioral–based supportive text messages for 6 months. Participants completed a web-based survey delivered via SMS text message at enrollment, and 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months post enrollment. Respondents’ perception and receptivity of the program were assessed using a questionnaire measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Data were collected as categorical variables, and overall satisfaction with the Text4PTSI program was measured on a scale from 0 to 100. Results There were 131 subscribers to the Text4PTSI program; however, only 81 subscribers responded to the survey, producing 100 survey responses across the 3 follow-up time points. The overall mean score of satisfaction was 85.12 (SD 13.35). More than half of the survey responses agreed or strongly agreed that Text4PTSI helped participants cope with anxiety (79/100 responses, 79%), depressive symptoms (72/100 responses, 72%), and loneliness (54/100 responses, 54%). Similarly, most of the survey responses agreed or strongly agreed that the Text4PTSI program made respondents feel connected to a support system, improved their overall mental well-being (84/100 responses, 84%), felt more hopeful about managing concerns about their mental health or substance use (82 out of responses, 82%), and helped enhance their overall quality of life (77/100 responses, 77%). The available survey responses suggest that the majority always read the supportive text messages (84/100 responses, 84%), took time to reflect on each message (75/100 responses, 75%), and returned to read the text messages more than once (76/100 responses, 76%). Conclusions PSP who responded to the follow-up surveys reported high user satisfaction and appreciation for receiving the Text4PTSI intervention during the 6-month program. The reported satisfaction with the service provided could pave the way to ensuring a better uptake of the service with potential effectiveness to end users.

Subscribers’ Perspectives and Satisfaction with the MoreGoodDays Supportive Text Messaging Program and the Impact of the Program on Self-Rated Clinical Measures

“…Overall, our results indicate that 77.3% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed the MoreGoodDays messages made participants feel connected to a support system, which is consistent with what was reported for the Text4Mood, Text4Hope, Text4Hope-addition and Text4PTSI programs [26,37,38]. Connection to a support system was particularly important for young adults during the pandemic stages when face-to-face contact was restricted.…”

“…Our results reemphasize the loneliness association with the transitional stage of this group and acknowledge the significance of the text message intervention in filling in the gap and helping subscribers cope with loneliness. Comparative to other studies, Text4Hope and Text4PTSI had lower numbers of respondents reporting the messages helped them cope with loneliness [26,38].…”

“…Across the three time points, our results show that a slightly higher proportion of responses (80.4%) indicated MoreGoodDays messages helped subscribers improve their overall mental well-being in comparison with the Text4Hope satisfaction study (75.6%) [26]. On the contrary, a slightly higher percentage of respondents in the Text4Mood and Text4PTSI evaluation study indicated that the text message intervention helped them improve their overall mental well-being (83.1% and 84%, respectively) [21,38]. Finally, in the sixth month post-intervention, 89.7% of respondents reported the program helped them improve their overall mental well-being.…”

“…Unfortunately, only 32.5% of our respondents felt hopeful about managing their substance use concerns after receiving the MoreGoodDays messages. This is lower than the over 40% of respondents in the Text4Hope-Addiction and Text4PTSI program evaluation surveys who indicated they felt hopeful about managing concerns with their mental health or substance use after receiving the daily supportive text messages [37,38]. Unlike the MoreGoodDays messages, the messages in the Text4Hope-Addiction were more targeted at addiction support.…”

Mitigating Psychological Problems Associated with the 2023 Wildfires in Alberta and Nova Scotia: Six-Week Outcomes from the Text4Hope Program

“…In light of the psychological impact of wildfires, developing effective support and intervention strategies is essential to mitigate the long-term psychological impact on affected populations. Innovative, cost-efficient, technologically enabled, and easily scalable interventions, such as daily supportive SMS text messaging [14][15][16][17], may hold the key to the provision of support to impacted communities during and after wildfires. While the use of text messaging as an intervention in mental health has been explored in various contexts, its application in a wildfire-impacted population is a novel area for research [1,18].…”