SMS Messages Help People Build Health Habits

Mind-Body-Spirit News:

If you’re sending motivating messages to clients via cell phone short-message service (SMS), keep it up. A research review of studies, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2009; 36 [2], 165–73), noted that SMS-delivered interventions have positive short-term behavioral results. Researchers from the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland, in Australia, found 14 studies that had evaluated SMS interventions and were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. All but one found that the intervention had a positive effect on behavior change.

The SMS messaging programs in these studies successfully helped people quit smoking, lose weight, exercise more or successfully manage diabetes. The benefits of this type of communication include the fact that it has a wide reach, can be individually tailored, and can be delivered and received instantaneously.