JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Web-based services are economic and easily scalable means of support that use existing technology. Text4Support is a supportive complementary texting service provided remotely to support people with different mental health conditions after they are discharged from the hospital.

Objective:

We aimed to assess user satisfaction with the Text4Support service for a better understanding of subscribers’ experiences

Methods:

This is a mixed-method assessment using quantitative and qualitative secondary data of a pilot observational controlled trial. The trial included 181 patients discharged from acute psychiatric care and distributed into four randomized groups. Out of the four study groups in the initial study, two groups were included in this analysis who received supportive text messages (89 patients), either alone or alongside peer support service. Thematic and descriptive analyses were employed. Univariate analysis was conducted to examine differences in feedback based on sex at birth and primary diagnosis.

Results:

Out of 89 participants, 39 completed the follow-up survey yielding a response rate of 40.4%. The principal findings were that Text4Support was well-perceived with a high satisfaction rate either regarding the feedback of the messages or their perceived impact. Meanwhile, there was no statistically significant difference between satisfactory items based on subscriber’s sex at birth or primary diagnosis. The initial patients’ expectations were either neutral or positive in relation to the expected nature and/or the impact of the received messages upon their mental wellbeing. Additionally, the subscribers were satisfied with the frequency of the messages as provided once daily for six consecutive months. The participants recommended more personalized messages and/or mutual interaction with healthcare personnel.

Conclusions:

Text4Support was generally well perceived by patients after their hospital discharge, regardless of their sex at birth or mental health diagnosis. Further personalization and interactive platforms were recommended that may need to be considered when designing similar future services. Clinical Trial: The study received ethics approval from the Health Ethics Research Board of the University of Alberta (Ref # Pro00078427) and operational approval from Alberta Health Services, the regional health authority. All patients provided written informed consent. The study was registered with clinicaltrials.gov (Trial registration number NCT03404882).