In celebration of 2012 National Infant Immunization Week, which emphasizes the
importance of protecting infants from vaccine-preventable diseases, we have a guest blog post this week from the Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition:
Text4baby Fights Pertussis
with Innovative Technology
By Kathy Waligora,
Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition
Since 2010, Text4baby, the first ever FREE mobile health service, has
been using cell phones to share health tips with pregnant women and new moms.
Moms sign up by texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE to 511411 to receive messages
in Spanish) to receive helpful messages that are timed to their due date or
baby’s first birthday. These messages include reminders about check-ups,
immunizations, oral health, and tips for good nutrition.
Evaluation of text4baby finds that it is increasing users’ health knowledge, facilitating interaction with their health providers, improving their adherence to appointments and immunizations and improving their access to health services. Below is a summary of preliminary evaluation findings from an evaluation conducted in San Diego, CA:
• 63.1% reported that text4baby helped them remember an appointment or immunization that they or their child needed
• 71.3% of participants reported talking to their doctor about a topic that they read on a text4baby message
• 53.3% of participants without health
insurance reported calling a service number.
Given the success of
this program, the recent announcement that text4baby is adding targeted pertussis
immunization information is being celebrated within public health circles. To
demonstrate how effective these simple text messages are when it comes to improving
immunization rates, text4baby has added additional pertussis messages for
subscribers in Illinois, and six other states, aimed at stopping the spread of
this deadly disease. Messages like “You & anyone who cares for your baby
need a whooping cough shot. The flu shot too during flu season. Call
800-232-4636 to find out where to get them” are simple for parents to
understand and provide clear instruction that could have an invaluable impact
on the life of their child.
The Illinois Maternal and Child Health
Coalition is the statewide coordinator for text4baby and we have been
working with health departments, community clinics, doctors’ offices and local
businesses to promote this important public health tool. To date we have helped
to enroll nearly 15,000 users and have made FREE outreach materials
available for order from our website.
Even
if you don’t need text4baby outreach materials, we hope that you will consider
sharing this information with your colleagues, family, and friends. With your
help, we can ensure that more women, children, and their families have the best
opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives.
