JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

During the unprecedented time of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to support mental wellbeing is urgent. In March 2020, Text4Hope was provided as a community health service to Alberta residents. This free service aims to promote psychological resilience and alleviate pandemic-associated stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms.

Objective:

This study aimed to evaluate Text4Hope subscribers’ experience, satisfaction, and perspectives related to technology-based support during crisis or emergency situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, by gender.

Methods:

Individuals self-subscribe to Text4Hope to receive daily supportive text messages for three months. Subscribers were invited to complete an online survey at six weeks to collect service satisfaction related information. Overall satisfaction was assessed on a scale from 0 to 10 using the one sample t-test and Likert scale satisfaction responses were used to assess various aspects of the Text4Hope program. Gender differences were measured by using One-Way ANOVA test and Chi-Square analysis.

Results:

Overall service satisfaction was high (8.55/10 (SD=1.78) and more than 70% of subscribers agreed that Text4Hope helped them to cope with stress and anxiety, feel connected to a support system, manage COVID-19 related issues, and improve mental wellbeing. Similarly, subscribers agreed that messages were positive, affirmative, and succinct. Messages were read by 97.9% of respondents always or often and more than 20% returned to messages always or often. The majority of subscribers (89.3%) read the messages and either reflected upon them or took a positive action. Subscribers welcomed almost all technology-based services as part of their health care during crisis or emergency situations (70%). Text4Hope was more effective among females, who reported higher satisfaction rates and improved coping after receiving text messages.

Conclusions:

Text4Hope successfully captured subscribers’ satisfaction and acceptance, during COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents affirmed the high quality of the messages with their positive feedback. Technology-based services can provide remotely accessible, cost-effective, and population-level interventions that align with recommended distancing practices during pandemics. Text4Hope subscriber feedback revealed high satisfaction and acceptance rates after six weeks of receiving daily messages. Clinical Trial: The study protocol was approved by the Research and Ethics Board of the University of Alberta (Pro00086163).