Pregnancy prevention at her fingertips: A text- and mobile video-based pilot intervention to promote contraceptive methods among college women

Eric R. Walsh-Buhi, Hannah Helmy, Kristin Harsch, Natalie Rella, Cheryl Godcharles, Adejoke Ogunrunde, Humberto Lopez Castillo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: This paper reports on a pilot study evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of a text- and mobile video-based intervention to educate women and men attending college about non-daily contraception, with a particular focus on long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). A secondary objective is to describe the process of intervention development. Setting: Participants included undergraduate students attending a large urban US university between September and November 2011. Design: Using a participatory research strategy, investigators developed, delivered and evaluated a pilot mobile intervention using a texting interface, mobile videos and a contraceptive provider directory. Method: Descriptive statistics summarise the data collected from daily text-in analytics and web-based survey responses. Results: The texting interface received 1,203 visits; mobile videos were accessed 446 times. The provider directory was used by 10% of participants. Survey respondents' (N = 82) motivation for choosing non-daily contraception included cost (57%), side effects (55%), effectiveness (55%) and low recall effort (23%). Most participants (88%) would/might recommend these methods to others. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that text- and mobile video-based modalities are appropriate and feasible to deliver contraceptive education to college students. There is a critical opportunity to reach large numbers of potential users through mobile health (mHealth) interventions to disseminate accurate information and link to healthcare services.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)621-636
Number of pages16
JournalHealth Education Journal
Volume75
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 2016

Keywords

  • College students
  • USA
  • contraception
  • mobile phone
  • text messaging

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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