Case report: Use texts to reach young people
Case report: Use texts to reach young people
Reaching young people with an HIV prevention message is important: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates young people ages 13-29 accounted for 39% of all new HIV infections in 2009.1 This challenge is accelerated when it comes to youth of minority races and ethnicities; in 2009, young black persons accounted for 65% of diagnoses of HIV infection reported among persons ages 13-24.1
An innovative service known as Text 2 Survive is providing minority youth and young adults ages 13-35 in Illionois with accurate information about HIV/AIDS, and it is connecting them with sites offering testing and related preventive services. Through the service, cell phone users receive a list of nearby sites offering free services, obtain information about upcoming health events, and receive monthly alerts with helpful health tips and information. With a minimal investment of staff time and financial resources, the program has enhanced access to HIV testing and accurate sexual health information for this at-risk population.
The Center for Minority Health Services, a division of the Illinois Department of Public Health, launched the Text 2 Survive program in 2010 as part of its efforts to connect African-American and other minority youth to needed HIV testing and related services. Through its Brothers and Sisters United Against HIV /AIDS program, the agency already had created public awareness about HIV through a public awareness campaign, a Web site, a peer educator program, and other outreach activities.
Program developers sought to identify new outreach methods that would appeal to minority youth. They found that African-American and Latino youth often use cell phones — especially for texting — more than white youth, thus making texting a logical vehicle to reach them.
Program developers contacted Rip Road of New York City, the company responsible for the technology platform for the Kaiser Family Foundation's "Get Text-Ed" service used during the launch of its 2009 national Get Yourself Tested event. To remove financial barriers to young people getting tested, program developers reorganized the CDC's database of test sites so that state-funded clinics offering free testing would be listed first in the mobile locator service.
"Implementing the texting program was easy because we started small and already had a built-in audience: our grantees and community partners, and our target population that they work with," explains Veronica Halloway, MA, a public service administrator with the health department's Center for Innovation and Technology Education. "Also, the program lists organizations that provide free HIV testing, so it was an easy sell to the organizations so they can increase their test numbers, and the target group, because they can seek free test sites anonymously."
How to get the word out?
How does the program get the word out to at-risk youth and young adults about Text 2 Survive? Program organizers look to grantees, local health departments, and community partners in distributing information, says Halloway. Printed palm cards are placed in clinics, mobile units, and office sites, and they are distributed at health fairs and community events.
Partners also can use the program at no cost for polling or quizzes at events, which adds a level of interaction between them and the youth, notes Halloway. "For example, an event was held at three public schools where the kids used the quiz portion of the program to answer questions about HIV testing among youth," says Halloway. "Not only were the kids inviting others to participate in the quiz, it sparked a debate among them about what age they can get tested without their parents' consent."
The program also has a widget (a small customizable piece of code) that can be promoted on interested parties' websites and blogs. The text service has branched out in other avenues; anyone with a cell phone can text the word "event" to 36363 and receive a list of health fairs and other free events sponsored by community partners and other health organizations in the area.
The service costs about $36,000 a year to operate, program organizers estimate. Text 2 Survive saves money by using an already existing computer programming code rather than one developed just for the program, organizers note.
Text in English, Spanish
Text 2 Survive is now available in Spanish. By using a cellphone, Illinois citizens can send a text with the message "centro," plus their five digit zip code to the phone number 36363 for Spanish, or text "IL" plus their five digit zip code to the same number for English. A confidential text message is immediately sent back to the phone with the nearest HIV/AIDS testing center contact information. To help spread the benefits of getting tested, that person can then send their friends a text message urging them to get tested as well.
The service has been highly successful in English because it's private, convenient, and confidential, explains Halloway. Program organizers have experienced some hesitation with the Spanish locator because some Latino users are hesitant that their phone numbers will be used to locate them, especially if they are in the United States illegally or undocumented, says Halloway. Program organizers are working with community partners to educate potential Latino users that their phone numbers are not traceable, she notes.
Reference
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV Among Youth. Fact sheet. Atlanta, 2011. Accessed at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/youth.
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