Janet Baseman1, Debra Revere2, Ian Painter2, Mark Oberle1, Jeffrey Duchin3, Hanne Thiede3, Randall Nett4, Dorothy MacEachern5, Andy Stergachis1. 1. 1Department of Epidemiology,School of Public Health,University of Washington,Seattle,Washington. 2. 2Department of Health Services,School of Public Health,University of Washington,Seattle,Washington. 3. 3Communicable Disease Epidemiology & Immunization Section,Public Health - Seattle & King County,Seattle,Washington. 4. 4Public Health and Safety Division,Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services;Helena,Montana. 5. 5Disease Prevention and Response,Spokane Regional Health District,Spokane,Washington.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Health care providers play an essential role in public health emergency preparedness and response. We conducted a 4-year randomized controlled trial to systematically compare the effectiveness of traditional and mobile communication strategies for sending time-sensitive public health messages to providers. METHODS: Subjects (N=848) included providers who might be leveraged to assist with emergency preparedness and response activities, such as physicians, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, and veterinarians. Providers were randomly assigned to a group that received time-sensitive quarterly messages via e-mail, fax, or cell phone text messaging (SMS) or to a no-message control group. Follow-up phone interviews elicited information about message receipt, topic recall, and perceived credibility and trustworthiness of message and source. RESULTS: Our main outcome measures were awareness and recall of message content, which was compared across delivery methods. Per-protocol analysis revealed that e-mail messages were recalled at a higher rate than were messaged delivered by fax or SMS, whereas the as-treated analysis found that e-mail and fax groups had similar recall rates and both had higher recall rates than the SMS group. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to systematically evaluate the relative effectiveness of public health message delivery systems. Our findings provide guidance to improve public health agency communications with providers before, during, and after a public health emergency.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVES: Health care providers play an essential role in public health emergency preparedness and response. We conducted a 4-year randomized controlled trial to systematically compare the effectiveness of traditional and mobile communication strategies for sending time-sensitive public health messages to providers. METHODS: Subjects (N=848) included providers who might be leveraged to assist with emergency preparedness and response activities, such as physicians, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, and veterinarians. Providers were randomly assigned to a group that received time-sensitive quarterly messages via e-mail, fax, or cell phone text messaging (SMS) or to a no-message control group. Follow-up phone interviews elicited information about message receipt, topic recall, and perceived credibility and trustworthiness of message and source. RESULTS: Our main outcome measures were awareness and recall of message content, which was compared across delivery methods. Per-protocol analysis revealed that e-mail messages were recalled at a higher rate than were messaged delivered by fax or SMS, whereas the as-treated analysis found that e-mail and fax groups had similar recall rates and both had higher recall rates than the SMS group. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to systematically evaluate the relative effectiveness of public health message delivery systems. Our findings provide guidance to improve public health agency communications with providers before, during, and after a public health emergency.
Entities:
Keywords:
communication; emergency preparedness; public health; public health practice; text messaging
Authors: Aharona Glatman-Freedman; Michal Bromberg; Amit Ram; Miri Lutski; Ravit Bassal; Olga Michailevich; Mor Saban; Dvora Frankental; Rita Dichtiar; Anna Kruglikov-Moldavsky; Violetta Rozani; Dolev Karolinsky; Tali Braun; Inbar Zuker; Lital Keinan-Boker; Barbara G Silverman Journal: Isr J Health Policy Res Date: 2020-12-02