When smokers were looking for more information about quitting from the American Legacy Foundation’s Website, they often indicated they would like additional information via their mobile phone. Enter Infield.

Charged with reducing smoking across all populations, the Legacy Foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, providing everyone access to tobacco prevention and smoking cessation services.

The Legacy Foundation used Infield’s technology to craft a 4-week mobile campaign to help smokers quit. In addition, multiple streams of messages were developed, with each participant randomly assigned to a stream. At certain intervals, the Infield system asked participants if they were smoke free, and those responses were used in a research study to measure effectiveness of various mobile campaigns.

Because Infield’s system is designed with data analysis in mind, the messaging program collects, calculates, and displays data on how subscribers actually interact with the program. As such, program managers are able to quickly measure the program’s effectiveness and make on-the-fly adjustments to increase impact.

Knowledge about what works in smoking cessation messaging is being incorporated into Legacy’s overall knowledge base on how to help people quit, and follow-up studies are being designed.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC), a 39,000-member nonprofit medical society, is dedicated to enhancing the lives of cardiovascular patients through continuous quality improvement, patient-centered care, payment innovation and professionalism.

ACC chose Infield to deliver mobile-friendly, content-rich health messages to its CardioSmart readers to promote healthy living and smoking cessation.

ACC currently offers two mobile-ready health programs under their patient-centered CardioSmart brand:

• CardioSmartTXT PREVENT: This program delivers two messages per week with heart-healthy tips on diet and exercise, stress management and more. Many tips include web and/or video links. With content developed by ACC members, ACC-member cardiologists are encouraged to sign their patients up for the program.
• CardioSmartTXT QUIT: In cooperation with the National Cancer Institute, ACC offers its own private-label mobile smoking cessation program. Realizing all the benefits of NCI’s research-backed cessation protocol, ACC reaches their members in a way that suits their needs. Support is offered twice a day during the two-month program.

To subscribe to either ACC campaign, visit the CardioSmart website.

Newborns don’t come with a handbook. Until now. FirstBorn, an evidence-based maternal health program, uses Infield text messaging to support new moms. Pertinent texts help guide new parents through the first three years of their child’s development.

First time parents have a lot to worry about. With a new bundle of joy comes a huge bundle of nerves. But every mother wants to provide the best they can for their little one and do whatever they can to raise a healthy child.

Through weekly 2-way text messages, mothers who register with FirstBorn receive tailored information about nutrition, early childhood development, and upcoming FirstBorn events, such as follow-up appointments.

Each message asks the subscriber for a response, such as a pledge to encourage a healthy behavior or a confirmation about an upcoming FirstBorn event. Follow-up messages contain additional content or links to promote healthy decisions. For example, if a mother promises to buy extra fruit at the market over the weekend, Infield sends a website link containing ideas for healthy snacks that include fruit. Many text messages invite responses around topics like reading to kids, charting vaccinations, and general parenting engagement. “Have you read to your child this week? Please reply YES or NO,” is another specific example.

In addition to healthy lifestyle information, the system has positively impacted compliance with in-office appointments. In the program’s first week, Infield discovered that 25% of FirstBorn’s subscribers didn’t know what time their next follow-up appointment was. FirstBorn program managers followed-up with those moms and significantly decreased the clinic no-show rate, saving time and money, not to mention a bit of stress for a new mother.

By reaching new moms on the device they always carry, FirstBorn can deliver program and health messaging straight to new moms. And that keeps everyone healthy.

Each day, three thousand new teenagers start smoking, adding to the 4.5 million teens that already smoke. When the National Cancer Institute wanted to try a new method of outreach, mobile technology, they chose Infield.

Smoking is the single most preventable cause of premature death in the United States. A new method of reaching these young adults was desperately needed. Enter mobile.

In September 2011, the National Cancer Institute went live with SmokefreeTXT using Infield’s two-way text messaging system targeted at young adults who want to quit. When signing up for the program, teens choose a specific day to quit, then receive supportive messages leading up to that day and for 30 days after their quit day. Experts in the field of smoking cessation provide the content, targeting specific behaviors during the cessation cycle.

Routinely, the messages encourage young adults to seek additional information.

• Bad cravings? Text CRAVE to get one of ten tips.
• Bad mood? Text MOOD for advice on feeling better.
• Did you slip? Text SLIP and get back on track, with links to a live chat or a toll-free quit line.

Adults can also use SmokefreeTXT to help them break the habit. In fact, adults and teens receive a different style of messaging, with language that resonates with each generation. Adults receive tips in conventional language, while the teen content is written in OMG, LOL-speak.

To support its mission to bring effective smoking cessation to teenagers and adults, NCI knew it had to move beyond the industry standard of a generic, 3x-a-week blast text message.

Infield offered innovative programming to make the campaigns more effective:

1. True, two-way communication that drives engagement and keeps subscribers in the program. This includes as many as 10 variable responses to texts such as CRAVE, MOOD, SLIP, etc., to keep the user experience fresh and motivating.

2. Links, embedded in the text messages, offer additional content to smartphone users while maintaining communication with feature-phone owners. Anyone can access a live chat with a cessation counselor.

3. An SMS-registration system that asks new subscribers questions, in order to tailor message content to the user. This avoids a one-size-fits all campaign. Your grandmother will receive different messages than your teenage nephew, as they should.

4. A back-end transaction and reporting system that allows program managers to learn from the interactions between the Infield system and its subscribers. When health professionals evaluate what works, and what doesn’t, they can make small, data-backed changes to increase effectiveness of cessation programs.

By innovating well beyond blast text messages, Infield provides NCI with the ability to offer novel health interventions. Since SmokefreeTXT’s launch, Infield has crafted the program for other healthcare organizations to offer their members. What can we do for the people that look to your organization for health guidance?