Personal communications: An extension to the mobile satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Epstein, Murray; Draper, Francois

1990-01-01

As time progresses, customer demands become far more universal, involving integrated, simple to operate, cost effective services, with technology virtually transparent to the operator. Industry will be in a position of providing the necessary services to meet the subscribers' needs. Our resource based industries, transportation services, and utilities in the more rural and unserviced areas will require quality and affordable services that can only be supplied via satellite. One answer to these needs will be one- and two-way interoperable data messaging.

Internetworking satellite and local exchange networks for personal communications applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolff, Richard S.; Pinck, Deborah

1993-01-01

The demand for personal communications services has shown unprecedented growth, and the next decade and beyond promise an era in which the needs for ubiquitous, transparent and personalized access to information will continue to expand in both scale and scope. The exchange of personalized information is growing from two-way voice to include data communications, electronic messaging and information services, image transfer, video, and interactive multimedia. The emergence of new land-based and satellite-based wireless networks illustrates the expanding scale and trend toward globalization and the need to establish new local exchange and exchange access services to meet the communications needs of people on the move. An important issue is to identify the roles that satellite networking can play in meeting these new communications needs. The unique capabilities of satellites, in providing coverage to large geographic areas, reaching widely dispersed users, for position location determination, and in offering broadcast and multicast services, can complement and extend the capabilities of terrestrial networks. As an initial step in exploring the opportunities afforded by the merger of satellite-based and land-based networks, several experiments utilizing the NASA ACTS satellite and the public switched local exchange network were undertaken to demonstrate the use of satellites in the delivery of personal communications services.

MEETING REPORT: OMG Technical Committee Meeting in Orlando, FL, sees significant enhancement to CORBA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1998-06-01

The Object Management Group (OMG) Platform Technology Committee (PTC) ratified its support for a new asynchronous messaging service for CORBA at OMG's recent Technical Committee Meeting in Orlando, FL. The meeting, held from 8 - 12 June, saw the PTC send the Messaging Service out for a final vote among the OMG membership. The Messaging Service, which will integrate Message Oriented Middleware (MOM) with CORBA, will give CORBA a true asynchronous messaging capability - something of great interest to users and developers. Formal adoption of the specification will most likely occur by the end of the year. The Messaging Service The Messaging Service, when adopted, will be the world's first standard for Message Oriented Middleware and will give CORBA a true asynchronous messaging capability. Asynchronous messaging allows developers to build simpler, richer client environments. With asynchronous messaging there is less need for multi-threaded clients because the Asynchronous Method Invocation is non-blocking, meaning the client thread can continue work while the application waits for a reply. David Curtis, Director of Platform Technology for OMG, said: `This messaging service is one of the more valuable additions to CORBA. It enhances CORBA's existing asynchronous messaging capabilities which is a feature of many popular message oriented middleware products. This service will allow better integration between ORBs and MOM products. This enhanced messaging capability will only make CORBA more valuable for builders of distributed object systems.' The Messaging Service is one of sixteen technologies currently being worked on by the PTC. Additionally, seventeen Revision Task Forces (RTFs) are working on keeping OMG specifications up to date. The purpose of these Revision Task Forces is to take input from the implementors of OMG specifications and clarify or make necessary changes based on the implementor's input. The RTFs also ensure that the specifications remain up to date with changes in the OMA and with industry advances in general. Domain work Thirty-eight technology processes are ongoing in the Domain Technology Committee (DTC). These range over a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, telecommunications, life sciences, manufacturing, business objects, electronic commerce, finance, transportation, utilities, and distributed simulation. These processes aim to enhance CORBA's value and provide interoperability for specific vertical industries. At the Orlando meeting, the Domain Technology Committee issued the following requests to industry: Telecom Wireless Access Request For Information (RFI); Statistics RFI; Clinical Image Access Service Request For Proposal (RFP); Distributed Simulation Request For Comment (RFC). The newly-formed Statistics group at OMG plans to standarize interfaces for Statistical Services in CORBA, and their RFI, to which any person or company can respond, asks for input and guidance as they start this work which will impact the broad spectrum of industries and processes which use statistics. The Clinical Image Access Service will standarize access to important medical images including digital x-rays, MRI scans, and other formats. The Distributed Simulation RFC, when complete, will establish the Distributed Simulation High-Level Architecture of the US Defense Military Simulation Office as an OMG standard. For the next 90 days any person or company, not only OMG members, may submit their comments on the submission. The OMG looks forward to its next meeting to be held in Helsinki, Finland, on 27 - 31 July and hosted by Nokia. OMG encourages anyone considering OMG membership to attend the meeting as a guest. For more information on attending call +1-508-820-4300 or e-mail info@omg.org. Note: descriptions for all RFPs, RFIs and RFCs in progress are available for viewing on the OMG Website at http://www.omg.org/schedule.htm, or contact OMG for a copy of the `Work in Progress' document. For more information on the OMG Technology Process please call Jeurgen Boldt, OMG Process Manager, at +1-508-820-4300 or email jeurgen@omg.org.

Like an extended family: Relationships that emerge when older caregivers use written messages to communicate in an ICT-based healthcare service.

PubMed

Solli, Hilde; Bjørk, Ida Torunn; Hvalvik, Sigrun; Hellesø, Ragnhild

2018-03-01

To explore the relationships that emerge amongst caregivers of persons with dementia and stroke when caregivers use written messages as their communication tool in a closed information and communication technology (ICT)-based support group. An explorative design with a qualitative approach was used that applied systematic text condensation (STC) to analyse 173 written messages extracted from a web forum. Empathetic, empowering and familiar relationships emerged amongst peers of older caregivers when the caregivers used written messages as their communication tool. The empathetic relationship was characterised by sincerity and openness when the caregivers shared emotions related to caregiving. The empowering relationship reflected a fellowship based on solidarity influenced by a sense of optimism and a willingness to share knowledge to support one another in overcoming challenges. In the familiar relationship, the caregivers were thoughtful and good-humoured with one another and displayed an attitude of consideration towards one another, as in an extended family. The use of computer-mediated communication in health care service will change the context of establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. Therefore, greater knowledge regarding how the peers of caregivers interact with one another is vital so nurses may better support and educate ICT-based support groups.

Assessing college students' attitudes toward responsible drinking messages to identify promising binge drinking intervention strategies.

PubMed

Pilling, Valerie K; Brannon, Laura A

2007-01-01

Health communication appeals were utilized through a Web site simulation to evaluate the potential effectiveness of 3 intervention approaches to promote responsible drinking among college students. Within the Web site simulation, participants were exposed to a persuasive message designed to represent either the generalized social norms advertising approach (based on others' behavior), the personalized behavioral feedback approach (tailored to the individual's behavior), or the schema-based approach (tailored to the individual's self-schema, or personality). A control group was exposed to a message that was designed to be neutral (it was designed to discourage heavy drinking, but it did not represent any of the previously mentioned approaches). It was hypothesized that the more personalized the message was to the individual, the more favorable college students' attitudes would be toward the responsible drinking message. Participants receiving the more personalized messages did report more favorable attitudes toward the responsible drinking message.

Proposed Criteria for Reimbursing eVisits: Content Analysis of Secure Patient Messages in a Personal Health Record System

PubMed Central

Tang, Paul C.; Black, William; Young, Charles Y.

2006-01-01

The Institute of Medicine called for healthcare organizations to provide care whenever needed, using the Internet as appropriate. Few organizations currently offer clinical electronic messaging services for their patients. Many believe that broader adoption of online services will not occur without a change in reimbursement policies. We propose modified Evaluation and Management (eVisit E&M) criteria derived from the current office-based E&M codes as a means of qualifying whether an online encounter should be reimbursed. Physician reviewers applied the proposed eVisit criteria to 120 randomly selected electronic messages sent by 112 patients to 69 physicians through a personal health record system. Twenty-two percent of clinical messages to physicians contained sufficient patient-history data and medical decision-making components to warrant reimbursement according to our eVisit criteria. Among a subset of patients with multiple chronic diseases, this would have generated an estimated 1.2 eVisits per patient annually. Across a broader patient population, we estimate that 0.7 eVisit encounters would be generated annually per patient. Sixty-five percent (65%) of patients felt that electronic communication with their physicians saved one or more office visits per year. Reimbursing for qualified eVisits may encourage broader use of electronic communication to improve access to care and reduce overall healthcare costs. PMID:17238444

Tele-Medicine Applications of an ISDN-Based Tele-Working Platform

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-10-25

developed over the Hellenic Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), is based on user terminals (personal computers), networking apparatus, and a...key infrastructure, ready to offer enhanced message switching and translation in response to market trends [8]. Three (3) years ago, the Hellenic PTT...should outcome to both an integrated Tele- Working platform, a main central database (completed with maintenance facilities), and a ready-to-be

Implications of Internet availability of genomic information for public health practice.

PubMed

Hesse, B W; Arora, N K; Khoury, M J

2012-01-01

Tensions in the field have emerged over how best to communicate to the public about genomic discoveries in an era of direct-to-consumer (DTC) DNA testing services available through the Internet. Concerns over what the psychological and behavioral response might be to a nuanced, multiplex risk message have spurred some to offer caution in communicating to the public about personalized risk until the necessary research has been completed on how to communicate effectively. The popularization of DTC testing services, along with a spreading Internet culture on transparency for personal data, may make 'waiting to communicate' a moot point. To steer communication efforts in the midst of increasing access to personal genomic information, a self-regulation framework is presented. The framework emphasizes the importance of presenting a coherent message in all communiqués about public health genomics. Coherence should be based on an evidence-based model of how the public processes information about health conditions and an emphasis on risk-to-action links. Recommendations from the President's Council of Advisors for Science and Technology are reviewed as a way of identifying targets of opportunity for structured communications both within the healthcare system and in the broader external ecosystem of publicly available health information technologies. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Implications of Internet Availability of Genomic Information for Public Health Practice

PubMed Central

Hesse, B.W.; Arora, N.K.; Khoury, M.J.

2012-01-01

Tensions in the field have emerged over how best to communicate to the public about genomic discoveries in an era of direct-to-consumer (DTC) DNA testing services available through the Internet. Concerns over what the psychological and behavioral response might be to a nuanced, multiplex risk message have spurred some to offer caution in communicating to the public about personalized risk until the necessary research has been completed on how to communicate effectively. The popularization of DTC testing services, along with a spreading Internet culture on transparency for personal data, may make ‘waiting to communicate’ a moot point. To steer communication efforts in the midst of increasing access to personal genomic information, a self-regulation framework is presented. The framework emphasizes the importance of presenting a coherent message in all communiqués about public health genomics. Coherence should be based on an evidence-based model of how the public processes information about health conditions and an emphasis on risk-to-action links. Recommendations from the President's Council of Advisors for Science and Technology are reviewed as a way of identifying targets of opportunity for structured communications both within the healthcare system and in the broader external ecosystem of publicly available health information technologies. PMID:22488463

Use of an Innovative Personality-Mindset Profiling Tool to Guide Culture-Change Strategies among Different Healthcare Worker Groups.

PubMed

Grayson, M Lindsay; Macesic, Nenad; Huang, G Khai; Bond, Katherine; Fletcher, Jason; Gilbert, Gwendolyn L; Gordon, David L; Hellsten, Jane F; Iredell, Jonathan; Keighley, Caitlin; Stuart, Rhonda L; Xuereb, Charles S; Cruickshank, Marilyn

2015-01-01

Important culture-change initiatives (e.g. improving hand hygiene compliance) are frequently associated with variable uptake among different healthcare worker (HCW) categories. Inherent personality differences between these groups may explain change uptake and help improve future intervention design. We used an innovative personality-profiling tool (ColourGrid®) to assess personality differences among standard HCW categories at five large Australian hospitals using two data sources (HCW participant surveys [PS] and generic institution-wide human resource [HR] data) to: a) compare the relative accuracy of these two sources; b) identify differences between HCW groups and c) use the observed profiles to guide design strategies to improve uptake of three clinically-important initiatives (improved hand hygiene, antimicrobial stewardship and isolation procedure adherence). Results from 34,243 HCWs (HR data) and 1045 survey participants (PS data) suggest that HCWs were different from the general population, displaying more individualism, lower power distance, less uncertainty avoidance and greater cynicism about advertising messages. HR and PS data were highly concordant in identifying differences between the three key HCW categories (doctors, nursing/allied-health, support services) and predicting appropriate implementation strategies. Among doctors, the data suggest that key messaging should differ between full-time vs part-time (visiting) senior medical officers (SMO, VMO) and junior hospital medical officers (HMO), with SMO messaging focused on evidence-based compliance, VMO initiatives emphasising structured mandatory controls and prestige loss for non-adherence, and for HMOs focusing on leadership opportunity and future career risk for non-adherence. Compared to current standardised approaches, targeted interventions based on personality differences between HCW categories should result in improved infection control-related culture-change uptake. Personality profiling based on HR data may represent a useful means of developing a national culture-change "blueprint" for HCW education.

How Can Mobile SMS Communication Support and Enhance a First Year Undergraduate Learning Environment?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Geraldine; Edwards, Gabriele; Reid, Alan

2009-01-01

In this paper we discuss a case study investigating how the academic and personal development of first year students on an undergraduate sports education degree can be supported and enhanced with mobile SMS (Short Message Service) communication. SMS-based technologies were introduced in response to students' particular needs (in transition to…

Design Considerations in Development of a Mobile Health Intervention Program: The TEXT ME and TEXTMEDS Experience

PubMed Central

Thakkar, Jay; Barry, Tony; Thiagalingam, Aravinda; Redfern, Julie; McEwan, Alistair L; Rodgers, Anthony

2016-01-01

Background Mobile health (mHealth) has huge potential to deliver preventative health services. However, there is paucity of literature on theoretical constructs, technical, practical, and regulatory considerations that enable delivery of such services. Objectives The objective of this study was to outline the key considerations in the development of a text message-based mHealth program; thus providing broad recommendations and guidance to future researchers designing similar programs. Methods We describe the key considerations in designing the intervention with respect to functionality, technical infrastructure, data management, software components, regulatory requirements, and operationalization. We also illustrate some of the potential issues and decision points utilizing our experience of developing text message (short message service, SMS) management systems to support 2 large randomized controlled trials: TEXT messages to improve MEDication adherence & Secondary prevention (TEXTMEDS) and Tobacco, EXercise and dieT MEssages (TEXT ME). Results The steps identified in the development process were: (1) background research and development of the text message bank based on scientific evidence and disease-specific guidelines, (2) pilot testing with target audience and incorporating feedback, (3) software-hardware customization to enable delivery of complex personalized programs using prespecified algorithms, and (4) legal and regulatory considerations. Additional considerations in developing text message management systems include: balancing the use of customized versus preexisting software systems, the level of automation versus need for human inputs, monitoring, ensuring data security, interface flexibility, and the ability for upscaling. Conclusions A merging of expertise in clinical and behavioral sciences, health and research data management systems, software engineering, and mobile phone regulatory requirements is essential to develop a platform to deliver and manage support programs to hundreds of participants simultaneously as in TEXT ME and TEXTMEDS trials. This research provides broad principles that may assist other researchers in developing mHealth programs. PMID:27847350

Design Considerations in Development of a Mobile Health Intervention Program: The TEXT ME and TEXTMEDS Experience.

PubMed

Thakkar, Jay; Barry, Tony; Thiagalingam, Aravinda; Redfern, Julie; McEwan, Alistair L; Rodgers, Anthony; Chow, Clara K

2016-11-15

Mobile health (mHealth) has huge potential to deliver preventative health services. However, there is paucity of literature on theoretical constructs, technical, practical, and regulatory considerations that enable delivery of such services. The objective of this study was to outline the key considerations in the development of a text message-based mHealth program; thus providing broad recommendations and guidance to future researchers designing similar programs. We describe the key considerations in designing the intervention with respect to functionality, technical infrastructure, data management, software components, regulatory requirements, and operationalization. We also illustrate some of the potential issues and decision points utilizing our experience of developing text message (short message service, SMS) management systems to support 2 large randomized controlled trials: TEXT messages to improve MEDication adherence & Secondary prevention (TEXTMEDS) and Tobacco, EXercise and dieT MEssages (TEXT ME). The steps identified in the development process were: (1) background research and development of the text message bank based on scientific evidence and disease-specific guidelines, (2) pilot testing with target audience and incorporating feedback, (3) software-hardware customization to enable delivery of complex personalized programs using prespecified algorithms, and (4) legal and regulatory considerations. Additional considerations in developing text message management systems include: balancing the use of customized versus preexisting software systems, the level of automation versus need for human inputs, monitoring, ensuring data security, interface flexibility, and the ability for upscaling. A merging of expertise in clinical and behavioral sciences, health and research data management systems, software engineering, and mobile phone regulatory requirements is essential to develop a platform to deliver and manage support programs to hundreds of participants simultaneously as in TEXT ME and TEXTMEDS trials. This research provides broad principles that may assist other researchers in developing mHealth programs. ©Jay Thakkar, Tony Barry, Aravinda Thiagalingam, Julie Redfern, Alistair L McEwan, Anthony Rodgers, Clara K Chow. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 15.11.2016.

Development and Initial Testing of Messages to Encourage Tuberculosis Testing and Treatment Among Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) Vaccinated Persons

PubMed Central

Galindo-Gonzalez, Sebastian; Irani, Tracy A.

2017-01-01

Misperceptions surrounding the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine can lead some vaccinated individuals to resist being tested and treated for tuberculosis (TB). Educational messages to best explain the risk of TB to BCG-vaccinated, Hispanic persons were systematically developed and tested. First, TB program staff provided messages they considered effective. These were analyzed and validated by TB experts, and then presented in group interviews initially to foreign-born Hispanic persons with a TB diagnosis, and then persons without a prior TB diagnosis. Based on interviewees’ feedback, preferred statements were used to develop one long and three short comprehensive messages. One-on-one interviews were conducted with Hispanic persons to assess the saliency of the comprehensive educational messages. Participants preferred messages that were gain or positively-framed and explained that BCG does not confer lifelong protection against TB. Participants confirmed the messages would likely have a positive impact on patient decisions to undergo TB testing and treatment. PMID:24141428

Patients’ Engagement With “Sweet Talk” – A Text Messaging Support System for Young People With Diabetes

PubMed Central

Franklin, Victoria Louise; Greene, Alexandra; Waller, Annalu; Greene, Stephen Alan

2008-01-01

Background Guidelines for optimizing type 1 diabetes in young people advocate intensive insulin therapy coupled with personal support from the health care team. “Sweet Talk” is a novel intervention designed to support patients between clinic visits using text messages sent to a mobile phone. Scheduled messages are tailored to patient profiles and diabetes self-management goals, and generic messages include topical “newsletters” and anonymized tips from other participants. The system also allows patients to submit data and questions to the diabetes care team. Objectives The aim was to explore how patients with type 1 diabetes interact with the Sweet Talk system in order to understand its utility to this user group. Methods Subjects were 64 young people with diabetes who were participating in the intervention arms of a randomized controlled trial. All text messages submitted to Sweet Talk during a 12-month period were recorded. Messaging patterns and content were analyzed using mixed quantitative and qualitative methods. Results Patients submitted 1180 messages during the observation period (mean 18.4, median 6). Messaging frequency ranged widely between participants (0-240) with a subset of 5 high users contributing 52% of the total. Patients’ clinical and sociodemographic characteristics were not associated with total messaging frequency, although girls sent significantly more messages unrelated to diabetes than did boys (P = .002). The content of patients’ messages fell into 8 main categories: blood glucose readings, diabetes questions, diabetes information, personal health administration, social messages, technical messages, message errors, and message responses. Unprompted submission of blood glucose values was the most frequent incoming message type (35% of total). Responses to requests for personal experiences and tips generated 40% of all the incoming messages, while topical news items also generated good responses. Patients also used the service to ask questions, submit information about their self-management, and order supplies. No patients nominated supporters to receive text messages about their self-management goals. Another option that was not used was the birthday reminder service. Conclusions Automated, scheduled text messaging successfully engaged young people with diabetes. While the system was primarily designed to provide “push” support to patients, submission of clinical data and queries illustrates that it was seen as a trusted medium for communicating with care providers. Responses to the newsletters and submission of personal experiences and tips for circulation to other participants also illustrate the potential value of such interventions for establishing a sense of community. Although participants submitted relatively few messages, positive responses to the system suggest that most derived passive support from reading the messages. The Sweet Talk system could be readily adapted to suit other chronic disease models and age groups, and the results of this study may help to inform the design of future text message support interventions. PMID:18653444

Learning from Marketing: Rapid Development of Medication Messages that Engage Patients

PubMed Central

Yank, Veronica; Tribett, Erika; Green, Lydia; Pettis, Jasmine

2015-01-01

Objective To adapt marketing approaches in a health services environment. Methods Researchers and advertising professionals partnered in developing advertising-style messages designed to activate patients pre-identified as having chronic kidney disease to ask providers about recommended medications. We assessed feasibility of the development process by evaluating partnership structure, costs, and timeframe. We tested messages with patients and providers using preliminary surveys to refine initial messages and subsequent focus groups to identify the most persuasive ones. Results The partnership achieved an efficient structure, $14,550 total costs, and 4-month timeframe. The advertising team developed 11 initial messages. The research team conducted surveys and focus groups with a total of 13 patients and 8 providers to identify three messages as most activating. Focus group themes suggested the general approach of using advertising-style messages was acceptable if it supported patient-provider relationships and had a credible evidence base. Individual messages were more motivating if they elicited personal identification with imagery, particular emotions, active patient role, and message clarity. Conclusion We demonstrated feasibility of a research-advertising partnership and acceptability and likely impact of advertising-style messages on patient medication-seeking behavior. Practice Implications Healthcare systems may want to replicate our adaptation of marketing approaches to patients with chronic conditions. PMID:25913245

Learning from marketing: Rapid development of medication messages that engage patients.

PubMed

Yank, Veronica; Tribett, Erika; Green, Lydia; Pettis, Jasmine

2015-08-01

To adapt marketing approaches in a health services environment. Researchers and advertising professionals partnered in developing advertising-style messages designed to activate patients pre-identified as having chronic kidney disease to ask providers about recommended medications. We assessed feasibility of the development process by evaluating partnership structure, costs, and timeframe. We tested messages with patients and providers using preliminary surveys to refine initial messages and subsequent focus groups to identify the most persuasive ones. The partnership achieved an efficient structure, $14,550 total costs, and 4-month timeframe. The advertising team developed 11 initial messages. The research team conducted surveys and focus groups with a total of 13 patients and 8 providers to identify three messages as most activating. Focus group themes suggested the general approach of using advertising-style messages was acceptable if it supported patient-provider relationships and had a credible evidence base. Individual messages were more motivating if they elicited personal identification with imagery, particular emotions, active patient role, and message clarity. We demonstrated feasibility of a research-advertising partnership and acceptability and likely impact of advertising-style messages on patient medication-seeking behavior. Healthcare systems may want to replicate our adaptation of marketing approaches to patients with chronic conditions. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Personalized persuasion: tailoring persuasive appeals to recipients' personality traits.

PubMed

Hirsh, Jacob B; Kang, Sonia K; Bodenhausen, Galen V

2012-06-01

Persuasive messages are more effective when they are custom-tailored to reflect the interests and concerns of the intended audience. Much of the message-framing literature has focused on the advantages of using either gain or loss frames, depending on the motivational orientation of the target group. In the current study, we extended this research to examine whether a persuasive appeal's effectiveness can be increased by aligning the message framing with the recipient's personality profile. For a single product, we constructed five advertisements, each designed to target one of the five major trait domains of human personality. In a sample of 324 survey respondents, advertisements were evaluated more positively the more they cohered with participants' dispositional motives. These results suggest that adapting persuasive messages to the personality traits of the target audience can be an effective way of increasing the messages' impact, and highlight the potential value of personality-based communication strategies.

Event Driven Messaging with Role-Based Subscriptions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bui, Tung; Bui, Bach; Malhotra, Shantanu; Chen, Fannie; Kim, rachel; Allen, Christopher; Luong, Ivy; Chang, George; Zendejas, Silvino; Sadaqathulla, Syed

2009-01-01

Event Driven Messaging with Role-Based Subscriptions (EDM-RBS) is a framework integrated into the Service Management Database (SMDB) to allow for role-based and subscription-based delivery of synchronous and asynchronous messages over JMS (Java Messaging Service), SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), or SMS (Short Messaging Service). This allows for 24/7 operation with users in all parts of the world. The software classifies messages by triggering data type, application source, owner of data triggering event (mission), classification, sub-classification and various other secondary classifying tags. Messages are routed to applications or users based on subscription rules using a combination of the above message attributes. This program provides a framework for identifying connected users and their applications for targeted delivery of messages over JMS to the client applications the user is logged into. EDMRBS provides the ability to send notifications over e-mail or pager rather than having to rely on a live human to do it. It is implemented as an Oracle application that uses Oracle relational database management system intrinsic functions. It is configurable to use Oracle AQ JMS API or an external JMS provider for messaging. It fully integrates into the event-logging framework of SMDB (Subnet Management Database).

The Science of Public Messages for Suicide Prevention: A Workshop Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chambers, David A.; Pearson, Jane L.; Lubell, Keri; Brandon, Susan; O'Brien, Kevin; Zinn, Janet

2005-01-01

There is minimal guidance for efforts to create effective public messages that increase awareness that suicide is preventable. To address this need, several agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Annenberg Foundation convened a workshop consisting of suicide prevention advocates and persons with expertise in public…

Preliminary findings describing participant experience with iSTEP, an mHealth intervention to increase physical activity and improve neurocognitive function in people living with HIV

PubMed Central

Henry, Brook L.; Moore, David J.

2016-01-01

We assessed the feasibility and acceptability of using text messages to monitor and encourage physical activity in the first 21 participants enrolled in an ongoing randomized controlled trial evaluating a 16-week Short Message Service/Multimedia Message Service (SMS/MMS) intervention (iSTEP) designed to increase moderate physical activity and improve neurocognition in persons with HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND; iSTEP, n = 11; control group, n = 10). Data were collected during the intervention and from interviews conducted at the 16-week post-intervention visits. Text message response rates for both iSTEP and control participants were high (89% and 85%, respectively). Pedometer self-monitoring, step count goals, and milestone achievement texts were reported to facilitate physical activity. All iSTEP participants (100%) and 70% of control participants indicated that they would recommend the study to other people living with HIV. The results indicate that it is feasible to administer an SMS/MMS physical activity intervention to persons with HAND. PMID:26847379

Cell phones as imaging sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhatti, Nina; Baker, Harlyn; Marguier, Joanna; Berclaz, Jérôme; Süsstrunk, Sabine

2010-04-01

Camera phones are ubiquitous, and consumers have been adopting them faster than any other technology in modern history. When connected to a network, though, they are capable of more than just picture taking: Suddenly, they gain access to the power of the cloud. We exploit this capability by providing a series of image-based personal advisory services. These are designed to work with any handset over any cellular carrier using commonly available Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) and Short Message Service (SMS) features. Targeted at the unsophisticated consumer, these applications must be quick and easy to use, not requiring download capabilities or preplanning. Thus, all application processing occurs in the back-end system (i.e., as a cloud service) and not on the handset itself. Presenting an image to an advisory service in the cloud, a user receives information that can be acted upon immediately. Two of our examples involve color assessment - selecting cosmetics and home décor paint palettes; the third provides the ability to extract text from a scene. In the case of the color imaging applications, we have shown that our service rivals the advice quality of experts. The result of this capability is a new paradigm for mobile interactions - image-based information services exploiting the ubiquity of camera phones.

Mission Services Evolution Center Message Bus

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mayorga, Arturo; Bristow, John O.; Butschky, Mike

2011-01-01

The Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) Message Bus is a robust, lightweight, fault-tolerant middleware implementation that supports all messaging capabilities of the GMSEC API. This architecture is a distributed software system that routes messages based on message subject names and knowledge of the locations in the network of the interested software components.

Expanding Persuasion Research: Using More Personally Relevant Issues and Exploring Relevance Perceived from Message Content.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dewis, Robert; Lee, Wen-Shu

A study explored the impact on junior high school females of "don't smoke" public service announcements (PSAs) created by two groups of high school females. The study extended the research on relevance and persuasion by utilizing intimate issues, and by exploring the potential for increasing message relevance by using persuasive messages…

Use of an Innovative Personality-Mindset Profiling Tool to Guide Culture-Change Strategies among Different Healthcare Worker Groups

PubMed Central

Grayson, M. Lindsay; Macesic, Nenad; Huang, G. Khai; Bond, Katherine; Fletcher, Jason; Gilbert, Gwendolyn L.; Gordon, David L.; Hellsten, Jane F.; Iredell, Jonathan; Keighley, Caitlin; Stuart, Rhonda L.; Xuereb, Charles S.; Cruickshank, Marilyn

2015-01-01

Introduction Important culture-change initiatives (e.g. improving hand hygiene compliance) are frequently associated with variable uptake among different healthcare worker (HCW) categories. Inherent personality differences between these groups may explain change uptake and help improve future intervention design. Materials and Methods We used an innovative personality-profiling tool (ColourGrid®) to assess personality differences among standard HCW categories at five large Australian hospitals using two data sources (HCW participant surveys [PS] and generic institution-wide human resource [HR] data) to: a) compare the relative accuracy of these two sources; b) identify differences between HCW groups and c) use the observed profiles to guide design strategies to improve uptake of three clinically-important initiatives (improved hand hygiene, antimicrobial stewardship and isolation procedure adherence). Results Results from 34,243 HCWs (HR data) and 1045 survey participants (PS data) suggest that HCWs were different from the general population, displaying more individualism, lower power distance, less uncertainty avoidance and greater cynicism about advertising messages. HR and PS data were highly concordant in identifying differences between the three key HCW categories (doctors, nursing/allied-health, support services) and predicting appropriate implementation strategies. Among doctors, the data suggest that key messaging should differ between full-time vs part-time (visiting) senior medical officers (SMO, VMO) and junior hospital medical officers (HMO), with SMO messaging focused on evidence-based compliance, VMO initiatives emphasising structured mandatory controls and prestige loss for non-adherence, and for HMOs focusing on leadership opportunity and future career risk for non-adherence. Discussion Compared to current standardised approaches, targeted interventions based on personality differences between HCW categories should result in improved infection control-related culture-change uptake. Personality profiling based on HR data may represent a useful means of developing a national culture-change “blueprint” for HCW education. PMID:26489012

The WLCG Messaging Service and its Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cons, Lionel; Paladin, Massimo

2012-12-01

Enterprise messaging is seen as an attractive mechanism to simplify and extend several portions of the Grid middleware, from low level monitoring to experiments dashboards. The production messaging service currently used by WLCG includes four tightly coupled brokers operated by EGI (running Apache ActiveMQ and designed to host the Grid operational tools such as SAM) as well as two dedicated services for ATLAS-DDM and experiments dashboards (currently also running Apache ActiveMQ). In the future, this service is expected to grow in numbers of applications supported, brokers and technologies. The WLCG Messaging Roadmap identified three areas with room for improvement (security, scalability and availability/reliability) as well as ten practical recommendations to address them. This paper describes a messaging service architecture that is in line with these recommendations as well as a software architecture based on reusable components that ease interactions with the messaging service. These two architectures will support the growth of the WLCG messaging service.

Pilot study of psychotherapeutic text messaging for depression.

PubMed

Pfeiffer, Paul N; Henry, Jennifer; Ganoczy, Dara; Piette, John D

2017-08-01

Background Text messaging services could increase access to psychotherapeutic content for individuals with depression by avoiding barriers to in-person psychotherapy such as cost, transportation, and therapist availability. Determining whether text messages reflecting different psychotherapeutic techniques exhibit differences in acceptability or effectiveness may help guide service development. Objectives We aimed to determine: (1) the feasibility of delivering a psychotherapy-based text messaging service to people with depression identified via the internet, (2) whether there is variation in satisfaction with messages according to the type of psychotherapeutic technique they represent, and (3) whether symptoms of depression vary according to receipt of each message type and participants' satisfaction with the messages they received. Methods For this study 190 US adults who screened positive for a major depressive episode (Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score ≥10) were recruited from online advertisements. Participants received a daily psychotherapy-based text message 6 days per week for 12 weeks. Text messages were developed by a team of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers to reflect three psychotherapeutic approaches: acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), behavioural activation, and cognitive restructuring. Each week the message type for the week was randomly assigned from one of the three types, allowing for repeats. Participants were asked daily to rate each message. On the 7th day of each week, participants completed a two-item depression screener (PHQ-2). Web-based surveys at baseline, 6, and 12 weeks were used as the primary measure of depressive symptoms (PHQ-9). Results Of the 190 participants enrolled, 85 (45%) completed the 6-week web survey and 67 (35%) completed the 12-week survey. The mean baseline PHQ-9 score was 19.4 (SD 4.2) and there was a statistically significant mean improvement in PHQ-9 scores of -2.9 (SD 6.0; p < 0.001) at 6 weeks and -4.8 (SD 6.6; p < 0.001) at 12 weeks. Mean satisfaction ratings did not vary across message types. There was generally no association between the number of weeks in which participants received a given message type and PHQ-9 scores at follow-up. However, among individuals with more severe depression at baseline (PHQ-9 ≥ 20; n = 30), the number of weeks of behavioural activation messages received was associated with less symptom improvement (ρ = 0.37; p = 0.04) at 12 weeks. Participants who gave higher satisfaction ratings to messages regardless of type had greater reductions in PHQ-9 scores at 6 weeks. Conclusions Study participants exhibited borderline clinically significant improvement in depressive symptoms at 12 weeks suggesting the effects of the intervention, if any, were small. Although there was no overall variation in changes in PHQ-9 according to users' exposure to the three message types, effectiveness among severely depressed participants could potentially be improved by tailoring towards fewer behavioural activation messages. Controlled studies to determine effectiveness of texting interventions such as this one are indicated considering that even small effects may be cost effective given the low cost of delivering text messages.

Toward personal eHealth in cardiology. Results from the EPI-MEDICS telemedicine project.

PubMed

Rubel, Paul; Fayn, Jocelyne; Nollo, Giandomenico; Assanelli, Deodato; Li, Bo; Restier, Lioara; Adami, Stefano; Arod, Sébastien; Atoui, Hussein; Ohlsson, Mattias; Simon-Chautemps, Lucas; Télisson, David; Malossi, Cesare; Ziliani, Gian-Luca; Galassi, Alfredo; Edenbrandt, Lars; Chevalier, Philippe

2005-10-01

Despite many attempts to improve the management of acute myocardial infarction, only small trends to shorter time intervals before treatment have been reported. The self-care solution developed by the European EPI-MEDICS project (2001-2004) is a novel, very affordable, easy-to-use, portable, and intelligent Personal ECG Monitor (PEM) for the early detection of cardiac ischemia and arrhythmia that is able to record a professional-quality, 3-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) based on leads I, II, and V2; derive the missing leads of the standard 12-lead ECG (thanks to either a generic or a patient-specific transform), compare each ECG with a reference ECG by means of advanced neural network-based decision-making methods taking into account the serial ECG measurements and the patient risk factors and clinical data; and generate different levels of alarms and forward the alarm messages with the recorded ECGs and the patient's Personal electronic Health Record (PHR) to the relevant health care providers by means of a standard Bluetooth-enabled, GSM/GPRS-compatible mobile phone. The ECG records are SCP-ECG encoded and stored with the PHR on a secure personal SD Card embedded in the PEM device. The alarm messages and the PHR are XML encoded. Major alarm messages are automatically transmitted to the nearest emergency call center. Medium or minor alarms are sent on demand to a central PEM Alarm Web Server. Health professionals are informed by a Short Message Service. The PEM embeds itself a Web server to facilitate the reviewing and/or update of the PHR during a routine visit at the office of the general physician or cardiologist. Eighty PEM prototypes have been finalized and tested for several weeks on 697 citizens/patients in different clinical and self-care situations involving end users (188 patients), general physicians (10), and cardiologists (9). The clinical evaluation indicates that the EPI-MEDICS concept may save lives and is very valuable for prehospitalization triage.

Towards ontology personalization to enrich social conversations on AAC systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mancilla V., Daniela; Sastoque H., Sebastian; Iregui G., Marcela

2015-01-01

Communication is one of the essential needs of human beings. Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems (AAC) seek to help in the generation of oral and written language to people with physical disorders that limit their natural communication. These systems present significant challenges such as: the composition of consistent messages according to syntactic and semantic rules, the improvement of message production times, the application to social contexts and, consequently, the incorporation of user-specific information. This work presents an original ontology personalization approach for an AAC instant messaging system incorporating personalized information to improve the efficacy and efficiency of the message production. This proposal is based on a projection of a general ontology into a more specific one, avoiding storage redundancy and data coupling, representing a big opportunity to enrich communication capabilities of current AAC systems. The evaluation was performed for a study case based on an AAC system for assistance in composing messages. The results show that adding user-specific information allows generation of enriched phrases, so improving the accuracy of the message, facilitating the communication process.

Investigating the Perceptions of Care Coordinators on Using Behavior Theory-Based Mobile Health Technology With Medicaid Populations: A Grounded Theory Study

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background Medicaid populations are less engaged in their health care than the rest of the population, translating to worse health outcomes and increased health care costs. Since theory-based mobile health (mHealth) interventions have been shown to increase patient engagement, mobile phones may be an optimal strategy to reach this population. With increased development of theory-based mHealth technology, these interventions must now be evaluated with these medically underserved populations in a real-world setting. Objective The aim of our study was to investigate care coordinators’ perceived value of using a health behavior theory-based mHealth platform with Medicaid clients. In particular, attention was paid to the perceived impact on patient engagement. This research was conducted using the patient-provider text messaging (short message service, SMS) platform, Sense Health (now Wellpass), which integrates the transtheoretical model (TTM), also called the stages of change model; social cognitive theory (SCT); supportive accountability; and motivational interviewing (MI). Methods Interviews based in grounded theory methodology were conducted with 10 care managers to understand perceptions of the relationship between mHealth and patient engagement. Results The interviews with care managers yielded a foundation for a grounded theory model, presenting themes that suggested 4 intertwined correlative relationships revolving around patient engagement: (1) A text messaging (short message service, SMS) platform supplements the client-care manager dynamic, which is grounded in high quality, reciprocal-communication to increase patient engagement; (2) Texting enhances the relationship between literacy and access to care for Medicaid patients, increasing low-literacy patients’ agency to access services; (3) Texting enhances communication, providing care managers with a new means to support their clients; and (4) Reminders augment client accountability, leading to both increased motivation and readiness to change behaviors, as well as an improved client-care manager relationship. Conclusions Messaging platform features tied to health behavior theory appear to be effective in improving patient engagement. Two-way communication (supportive accountability), trusted relationships (supportive accountability, SCT), personalized messages (TTM), and patient input (TTM, SCT, MI) appeared as the most relevant components in achieving desired outcomes. Additionally, reminder messages were noted as especially useful in making Medicaid patients accountable and in turn engaging them in their health and health care. These findings convey suggested elements for inclusion in other mHealth interventions aiming to improve patient engagement in Medicaid populations. PMID:28325711

Investigating the Perceptions of Care Coordinators on Using Behavior Theory-Based Mobile Health Technology With Medicaid Populations: A Grounded Theory Study.

PubMed

Sigler, Brittany Erika

2017-03-21

Medicaid populations are less engaged in their health care than the rest of the population, translating to worse health outcomes and increased health care costs. Since theory-based mobile health (mHealth) interventions have been shown to increase patient engagement, mobile phones may be an optimal strategy to reach this population. With increased development of theory-based mHealth technology, these interventions must now be evaluated with these medically underserved populations in a real-world setting. The aim of our study was to investigate care coordinators' perceived value of using a health behavior theory-based mHealth platform with Medicaid clients. In particular, attention was paid to the perceived impact on patient engagement. This research was conducted using the patient-provider text messaging (short message service, SMS) platform, Sense Health (now Wellpass), which integrates the transtheoretical model (TTM), also called the stages of change model; social cognitive theory (SCT); supportive accountability; and motivational interviewing (MI). Interviews based in grounded theory methodology were conducted with 10 care managers to understand perceptions of the relationship between mHealth and patient engagement. The interviews with care managers yielded a foundation for a grounded theory model, presenting themes that suggested 4 intertwined correlative relationships revolving around patient engagement: (1) A text messaging (short message service, SMS) platform supplements the client-care manager dynamic, which is grounded in high quality, reciprocal-communication to increase patient engagement; (2) Texting enhances the relationship between literacy and access to care for Medicaid patients, increasing low-literacy patients' agency to access services; (3) Texting enhances communication, providing care managers with a new means to support their clients; and (4) Reminders augment client accountability, leading to both increased motivation and readiness to change behaviors, as well as an improved client-care manager relationship. Messaging platform features tied to health behavior theory appear to be effective in improving patient engagement. Two-way communication (supportive accountability), trusted relationships (supportive accountability, SCT), personalized messages (TTM), and patient input (TTM, SCT, MI) appeared as the most relevant components in achieving desired outcomes. Additionally, reminder messages were noted as especially useful in making Medicaid patients accountable and in turn engaging them in their health and health care. These findings convey suggested elements for inclusion in other mHealth interventions aiming to improve patient engagement in Medicaid populations. ©Brittany Erika Sigler. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 21.03.2017.

Deaf people communicating via SMS, TTY, relay service, fax, and computers in Australia.

PubMed

Power, Mary R; Power, Des; Horstmanshof, Louise

2007-01-01

Despite the expansion of Deaf people's use of communication technology little is published about how they use electronic communication in their social and working lives and the implications for their concepts of identity and community. Australia is an ideal research base because the use of a range of technologies is widespread there. To gain access to a wide age range of people who identify as Deaf, members of the national organization, the Australian Association of the Deaf, were surveyed by mail. Results showed that Short Message Service (SMS), telephone typewriters (TTY), voice/TTY relay services, fax, and e-mail were used regularly. Deaf users are discerning of the purposes for which they use each method: SMS for social and personal interactions, TTY for longer communications and (via the relay service) with people and services without TTYs, fax for business and social contact, and computers for personal and business e-mails as well as Web browsing, accessing chat rooms, word processing, games, and study.

Building Self-configuring Services Using Service-specific Knowledge

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-12-01

no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control...OF PAGES 180 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON a . REPORT unclassified b. ABSTRACT unclassified c. THIS PAGE unclassified Standard Form 298 (Rev...Abstract Network applications such as Web browsing, video conferencing, instant messaging, file sharing, and online gaming are becoming a necessity for more

The role of short messaging service in supporting the delivery of healthcare: An umbrella systematic review.

PubMed

Househ, Mowafa

2016-06-01

Short messaging service (SMS) messages may present a convenient and cost-effective method to support healthcare interventions. This work assesses the effects of short messaging service on various healthcare interventions found in systematic reviews. The search strategy was based on two key concepts: short messaging service and healthcare delivery. The initial search was conducted in December 2012 and was updated in June 2013. Of the 550 identified references, 13 systematic reviews met the inclusion criteria, of which 8 were published in peer-reviewed journals and 5 were retrieved from the Cochrane library. Data analysis shows that low to moderate research evidence exists on the benefits of short messaging service interventions for appointment reminders, promoting health in developing countries and preventive healthcare. In many interventions, however, there were a few studies that were of high quality, and most of the studies were rated from low to moderate quality or had no rating at all. Healthcare organizations, policy makers, or clinicians using short messaging service messages to support healthcare interventions should (1) implement interventions that have been found to work in healthcare settings, (2) continue evaluating short messaging service interventions that have not been adequately assessed, and (3) improve collaboration between various healthcare entities to develop studies targeted at specific populations to evaluate the long-term impact of short messaging service on healthcare outcomes. © The Author(s) 2014.

Nonprofit health care services marketing: persuasive messages based on multidimensional concept mapping and direct magnitude estimation.

PubMed

Hall, Michael L

2009-01-01

Persuasive messages for marketing healthcare services in general and coordinated care in particular are more important now for providers, hospitals, and third-party payers than ever before. The combination of measurement-based information and creativity may be among the most critical factors in reaching markets or expanding markets. The research presented here provides an approach to marketing coordinated care services which allows healthcare managers to plan persuasive messages given the market conditions they face. Using market respondents' thinking about product attributes combined with distance measurement between pairs of product attributes, a conceptual marketing map is presented and applied to advertising, message copy, and delivery. The data reported here are representative of the potential caregivers for which the messages are intended. Results are described with implications for application to coordinated care services. Theory building and marketing practice are discussed in the light of findings and methodology.

Recruitment and retention in an SMS-based health education program: Lessons learned from Text2BHealthy.

PubMed

Speirs, Katherine E; Grutzmacher, Stephanie K; Munger, Ashley L; Messina, Lauren A

2016-09-01

While text messages or short messaging service programs are increasingly utilized for delivering health education, few studies have explored the unique challenges of recruiting and retaining participants in such programs. This study utilizes survey and focus group data from Text2BHealthy, a short messaging service-based nutrition and physical activity promotion program, to examine barriers to enrollment and facilitators of retention among parents of elementary school students. Results show that participants were hard to reach with recruitment materials, had difficulty with self-enrollment, and were apprehensive about program costs. However, 89-90 percent of participants were retained. Results suggest that providing manual enrollment options, alternative program delivery methods (e.g. email messages), and opportunities to reenroll may facilitate participation in short messaging service-based health education and promotion programs. © The Author(s) 2015.

A hazard-independent approach for the standardised multi-channel dissemination of warning messages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esbri Palomares, M. A.; Hammitzsch, M.; Lendholt, M.

2012-04-01

The tsunami disaster affecting the Indian Ocean region on Christmas 2004 demonstrated very clearly the shortcomings in tsunami detection, public warning processes as well as intergovernmental warning message exchange in the Indian Ocean region. In that regard, early warning systems require that the dissemination of early warning messages has to be executed in way that ensures that the message delivery is timely; the message content is understandable, usable and accurate. To that end, diverse and multiple dissemination channels must be used to increase the chance of the messages reaching all affected persons in a hazard scenario. In addition to this, usage of internationally accepted standards for the warning dissemination such as the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) and Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL) Distribution Element specified by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) increase the interoperability among different warning systems enabling thus the concept of system-of-systems proposed by GEOSS. The project Distant Early Warning System (DEWS), co-funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme, aims at strengthening the early warning capacities by building an innovative generation of interoperable tsunami early warning systems based on the above mentioned concepts following a Service-oriented Architecture (SOA) approach. The project focuses on the downstream part of the hazard information processing where customized, user-tailored warning messages and alerts flow from the warning centre to the responsible authorities and/or the public with their different needs and responsibilities. The information logistics services within DEWS generate tailored EDXL-DE/CAP warning messages for each user that must receive the message according to their preferences, e.g., settings for language, interested areas, dissemination channels, etc.. However, the significant difference in the implementation and capabilities of different dissemination channels such as SMS, email and television, have bearing on the information processing required for delivery and consumption of a DEWS EDXL-DE/CAP message over each dissemination channel. These messages may include additional information in the form of maps, graphs, documents, sensor observations, etc. Therefore, the generated messages are pre-processed by channel adaptors in the information dissemination services converting it into a format that is suitable for end-to-end delivery over the dissemination channels without any semantic distortion. The approach followed by DEWS for disseminating warnings not only relies on traditional communication ways used by the already established early warnings such as the delivery of faxes and phone calls but takes into consideration the use of other broadly used communication channels such as SMS, email, narrowcast and broadcast television, instant messaging, Voice over IP, and radio. It also takes advantage of social media channels like RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter, etc., enabling a multiplier effect, like in the case of radio and television, and thus allowing to create mash-ups by aggregating other sources of information to the original message. Finally, status information is also important in order to assess and understand whether the process of disseminating the warning to the message consumers has been successfully completed or the process failed at some point of the dissemination chain. To that end, CAP-based messages generated within the information dissemination services provide the semantics for those fields that are of interest within the context of reporting the warning dissemination status in DEWS.

School Head, Know Thy Neighbor: Why You Should Get out of the Office and Meet Your Neighboring Non-Independent School Colleagues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weaver, Roger

2011-01-01

Independent schools are increasingly placing significant priority on community service and understand the important messages about social and personal responsibility that these programs convey to students, along with the invaluable hands-on, real-world experience that they get in community service work. And while student community service is…

16 CFR 308.5 - Pay-per-call service standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... a key on a telephone keypad) of indicating a decision to incur the charges. (c) Nominal cost calls... immediately after the institution of an increase in the price for the service or a change in the nature of the..., content, language, featured personality, characters, tone, message, or the like. (i) Prohibition...

16 CFR 308.5 - Pay-per-call service standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... a key on a telephone keypad) of indicating a decision to incur the charges. (c) Nominal cost calls... immediately after the institution of an increase in the price for the service or a change in the nature of the..., content, language, featured personality, characters, tone, message, or the like. (i) Prohibition...

Socialization in Context: Exploring Longitudinal Correlates of Mothers’ Value Messages of Compassion and Caution

PubMed Central

Wray-Lake, Laura; Flanagan, Constance A.; Maggs, Jennifer L.

2012-01-01

This study examined correlates of mothers’ value messages using mother and adolescent reports across three years (N =1638 dyads). Two fundamental socialization dimensions were assessed: compassion messages (e.g., caring for others) and caution messages (e.g., being wary of others). Multilevel models revealed distinct between-person and within-person correlates for mothers’ compassion and caution messages. Individual differences in compassion messages were predicted by family context (e.g., mothers’ knowledge of friends and concerns for their child’s future) and neighborhood cohesion. Within-person effects demonstrated that compassion declined in concert with adolescents’ experiences of being bullied. Caution messages were predicted by mothers’ education levels, race/ethnicity, and marital status, and increased in relation to mothers’ concerns and perceptions that illegal substances were easily attainable in the community. Tests of age, period, and cohort effects unexpectedly revealed that longitudinal changes in compassion and caution were best explained by period effects. Consistent with new developments in value socialization theory, results suggest that mothers place emphasis on certain values based on their backgrounds, their children’s characteristics, and the broader social context. PMID:22059448

Impacts of efficacy and exemplification in an online message about weight loss on weight management self-efficacy, satisfaction, and personal importance.

PubMed

Sarge, Melanie A; Knobloch-Westerwick, Silvia

2013-01-01

Health information search is among the most popular Internet activities, requiring health campaigns to attract attention in a context of unprecedented competition with alternative content. The present study reconstructs a similar context that allows selective avoidance and exposure in order to examine which health message characteristics foster particular message impacts. Drawing on social cognitive theory, a 3-session study examined short-term and delayed impacts of efficacy and exemplification as characteristics of a weight loss online message, offered for selective reading among other content, on weight management self-efficacy, satisfaction, and personal importance. Short-term impacts and impacts 2 weeks after exposure reflect that the high-efficacy exemplar version increased self-efficacy and satisfaction, while the high-efficacy base-rate version lowered them. However, the exemplar and base-rate versions of the low-efficacy message increased importance of body weight management.

Marketing responsible drinking behavior: comparing the effectiveness of responsible drinking messages tailored to three possible "personality" conceptualizations.

PubMed

York, Valerie K; Brannon, Laura A; Miller, Megan M

2012-01-01

We investigated whether a thoroughly personalized message (tailored to a person's "Big Five" personality traits) or a message matched to an alternate form of self-schema (ideal self-schema) would be more influential than a self-schema matched message (that has been found to be effective) at marketing responsible drinking. We expected the more thoroughly personalized Big Five matched message to be more effective than the self-schema matched message. However, neither the Big Five message nor the ideal self-schema message was more effective than the actual self-schema message. Therefore, research examining self-schema matching should be pursued rather than more complex Big Five matching.

An Interactive Real-Time Locating System Based on Bluetooth Low-Energy Beacon Network †

PubMed Central

Lin, You-Wei

2018-01-01

The ubiquity of Bluetooth-enabled smartphones and peripherals has brought tremendous convenience to our daily life. In recent years, Bluetooth beacons have also been gaining popularity in implementing a variety of innovative location-based services such as self-guided systems in exhibition centers. However, the broadcast-based beacon technology can only provide unidirectional communication. In case smartphone users would like to respond to the beacon messages, they have to rely on their own mobile Internet connections to send the information back to the backend system. Nevertheless, mobile Internet services may not be always available or too costly. In this work, we develop a real-time locating system based only on the Bluetooth low energy (BLE) technology to support interactive communications by combining the broadcast and mesh topology options to extend the applicability of beacon solutions. Specifically, we turn the smartphone into a beacon device and augment the beacon devices with the capability of forming a mesh network. The implementation result shows that our beacon devices can detect the presence of specific users at specific locations, and then the presence state can be sent to the application server via the relay of beacon devices. Moreover, the application server can send personalized location-based messages to the users, again via the relay of beacon devices. With the capability of relaying messages between the beacon devices, it would be convenient for developers to implement a variety of interactive applications such as tracking VIP customers at the airport, or tracking an elder with Alzheimer’s disease in the neighborhood. PMID:29883386

An Interactive Real-Time Locating System Based on Bluetooth Low-Energy Beacon Network †.

PubMed

Lin, You-Wei; Lin, Chi-Yi

2018-05-21

The ubiquity of Bluetooth-enabled smartphones and peripherals has brought tremendous convenience to our daily life. In recent years, Bluetooth beacons have also been gaining popularity in implementing a variety of innovative location-based services such as self-guided systems in exhibition centers. However, the broadcast-based beacon technology can only provide unidirectional communication. In case smartphone users would like to respond to the beacon messages, they have to rely on their own mobile Internet connections to send the information back to the backend system. Nevertheless, mobile Internet services may not be always available or too costly. In this work, we develop a real-time locating system based only on the Bluetooth low energy (BLE) technology to support interactive communications by combining the broadcast and mesh topology options to extend the applicability of beacon solutions. Specifically, we turn the smartphone into a beacon device and augment the beacon devices with the capability of forming a mesh network. The implementation result shows that our beacon devices can detect the presence of specific users at specific locations, and then the presence state can be sent to the application server via the relay of beacon devices. Moreover, the application server can send personalized location-based messages to the users, again via the relay of beacon devices. With the capability of relaying messages between the beacon devices, it would be convenient for developers to implement a variety of interactive applications such as tracking VIP customers at the airport, or tracking an elder with Alzheimer’s disease in the neighborhood.

Effectiveness of a Social Marketing Campaign Promoting Use of a Sexual Health Text Service by Teens.

PubMed

Willoughby, Jessica Fitts

2015-01-01

Sexual health text message services are becoming an increasingly popular way to provide adolescents with accurate sexual health information, but promotion of such services is often limited. This study uses three quantitative methods (service use data, a text message-based questionnaire, and an in-school online survey) to assess the effectiveness of an in-school social marketing campaign promoting a sexual health text message service that connects teens directly with a health educator. The 3-month campaign was associated with increased service use, but use was still relatively low. Follow-up qualitative work that included focus groups and interviews found a number of barriers to use. Teens indicated they did not have sexual health questions, did not think of the service, or were unsure how to use it. Teens also brought up additional barriers such as concern over parents seeing the messages. Implications for text message service providers and health educators are discussed.

Individualized Communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1997-01-01

IntelliWeb and IntelliPrint, products from MicroMass Communications, utilize C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS), a development and delivery expert systems tool developed at Johnson Space Center. IntelliWeb delivers personalized messages by dynamically creating single web pages or entire web sites based on information provided by each website visitor. IntelliPrint is a product designed to create tailored, individualized messages via printed media. The software uses proprietary technology to generate printed messages that are personally relevant and tailored to meet each individual's needs. Intelliprint is in use in many operations including Brystol-Myers Squibb's personalized newsletter, "Living at Your Best," geared to each recipient based on a health and lifestyle survey taken earlier; and SmithKline Beecham's "Nicorette Committed Quitters Program," in which customized motivational materials support participants in their attempt to quit smoking.

Effect Of Telephone Calls And Text Messages On Goal Attainment In A Ehealth Coaching Service.

PubMed

Brivio, Eleonora; Gatti, Fabiana; Galimberti, Carlo; Gambini, Paolo; Binello, Maurizio

2015-01-01

Yukendu is a personal mobile coaching service that supports people in reaching good levels of psychological and physical wellbeing through the use of an app and a telephone-based relationship with a health coach. The aim of this contribution is to describe the results obtained in a sample of 171 clients (female, n=150) and investigate the main factors in attaining their health-related goals. Results show that 61,98% (n=106) of the sample attained the results they wanted totally or partially. The regression model (number of phone calls, text messages, plan duration, achieved weight loss) accounts for 56,9% of data variance in achieved weight loss. Significant predictors of achieved weight loss are average number of calls (B=.388, p<.05), texts exchange (B=.331, p<.05) and plan duration (B=.291). These results suggest therefore that in the first phase of health behavioral change, eHealth coaching efficacy lies primarily in the communication between coach and coachee.

Reducing errors through a web-based self-management support system.

PubMed

Ekstedt, Mirjam; Børøsund, Elin; Svenningsen, Ina K; Ruland, Cornelia M

2014-01-01

Web-based self-management support systems SMSS, can successfully assist a wide range of patients with information and self-management support. O or as a stand-alone service, are e-messages. This study describes how one component of a multi component SMSS, an e-message service, in which patients with breast cancer could direct questions to nurses, physicians or social workers at the hospital where they were being treated, had an influence on safety and continuity of care. Ninety-one dialogues consisting of 284 messages were analysed. The communications between patients and the healthcare team revealed that the e-messages service served as a means for quality assurance of information, for double-checking and for coordination of care. We give examples of how an e-mail service may improve patients' knowledge in a process of taking control over their own care - increasingly important in a time of growing complexity and specialization in healthcare. It remains to be tested whether an e-message service can improve continuity of care and prevent or mitigate medical mishaps.

Development of SNS Stream Analysis Based on Forest Disaster Warning Information Service System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, J.; KIM, D.; Kang, M.; Woo, C.; Kim, D.; Seo, J.; Lee, C.; Yoon, H.; Heon, S.

2017-12-01

Forest disasters, such as landslides and wildfires, cause huge economic losses and casualties, and the cost of recovery is increasing every year. While forest disaster mitigation technologies have been focused on the development of prevention and response technologies, they are now required to evolve into evacuation and border evacuation, and to develop technologies fused with ICT. In this study, we analyze the SNS (Social Network Service) stream and implement a system to detect the message that the forest disaster occurred or the forest disaster, and search the keyword related to the forest disaster in advance in real time. It is possible to detect more accurate forest disaster messages by repeatedly learning the retrieved results using machine learning techniques. To do this, we designed and implemented a system based on Hadoop and Spark, a distributed parallel processing platform, to handle Twitter stream messages that open SNS. In order to develop the technology to notify the information of forest disaster risk, a linkage of technology such as CBS (Cell Broadcasting System) based on mobile communication, internet-based civil defense siren, SNS and the legal and institutional issues for applying these technologies are examined. And the protocol of the forest disaster warning information service system that can deliver the SNS analysis result was developed. As a result, it was possible to grasp real-time forest disaster situation by real-time big data analysis of SNS that occurred during forest disasters. In addition, we confirmed that it is possible to rapidly propagate alarm or warning according to the disaster situation by using the function of the forest disaster warning information notification service. However, the limitation of system application due to the restriction of opening and sharing of SNS data currently in service and the disclosure of personal information remains a problem to be solved in the future. Keyword : SNS stream, Big data, Machine learning techniques, CBS, Forest disaster warning information service system Acknowledgement : This research was supported by the Forestry Technology 2015 Forestry Technology Research and Development Project (Planning project).

ORM-Based Semantics of B2B Transactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balsters, H.; van Blommestein, F.

After widespread implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning and Personal Information Management, the next wave in the application of ICT is headed towards business to business (B2B) communication. B2B has a number of specific aspects, one of them being negotiation. This aspect has been largely neglected by present implementations of standard EDI- or XML-messaging and by B2B webservice implementations. In this paper a precise model is given of the negotiation process. The requirements of a potential Buyer and the offer of a potential Seller are matched and, if the negotiation is successful, a contract is concluded. The negotiation process model is represented in ORM, extended with dynamic constraints. Our model may be implemented in the databases of the trading partners and in message- or service definitions.

Enhancing behavioral health treatment and crisis management through mobile ecological momentary assessment and SMS messaging.

PubMed

Smith, Brad; Harms, William D; Burres, Stephanie; Korda, Holly; Rosen, Howard; Davis, Jamie

2012-12-01

Many veterans returning from service in Afghanistan or Iraq suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or mild traumatic brain injury. Treating these conditions can be challenging because of high rates of relapse and associated memory impairments. We report on a pilot study that assessed the utility of mobile health (mHealth) technologies, including personal digital assistant-based ecological momentary assessment and two-way interactive text (SMS) messaging, for providing treatment feedback to clinicians, encouraging and motivating veterans throughout treatment, and monitoring participants for relapse after treatment discharge. The results of the pilot suggest that mHealth technologies are feasible adjuncts to traditional mental treatment in the veteran population. Additional work is needed to establish the degree of clinical and economic value.

Patterns of usage and preferences of users for tuberculosis-related text messages and voice calls in Uganda.

PubMed

Ggita, J M; Ojok, C; Meyer, A J; Farr, K; Shete, P B; Ochom, E; Turimumahoro, P; Babirye, D; Mark, D; Dowdy, D; Ackerman, S; Armstrong-Hough, M; Nalugwa, T; Ayakaka, I; Moore, D; Haberer, J E; Cattamanchi, A; Katamba, A; Davis, J L

2018-05-01

Little information exists about mobile phone usage or preferences for tuberculosis (TB) related health communications in Uganda. We surveyed household contacts of TB patients in urban Kampala, Uganda, and clinic patients in rural central Uganda. Questions addressed mobile phone access, usage, and preferences for TB-related communications. We collected qualitative data about messaging preferences. We enrolled 145 contacts and 203 clinic attendees. Most contacts (58%) and clinic attendees (75%) owned a mobile phone, while 42% of contacts and 10% of clinic attendees shared one; 94% of contacts and clinic attendees knew how to receive a short messaging service (SMS) message, but only 59% of contacts aged 45 years (vs. 96% of contacts aged <45 years, P = 0.0001) did so. All contacts and 99% of clinic attendees were willing and capable of receiving personal-health communications by SMS. Among contacts, 55% preferred detailed messages disclosing test results, while 45% preferred simple messages requesting a clinic visit to disclose results. Most urban household TB contacts and rural clinic attendees reported having access to a mobile phone and willingness to receive TB-related personal-health communications by voice call or SMS. However, frequent phone sharing and variable messaging abilities and preferences suggest a need to tailor the design and monitoring of mHealth interventions to target recipients.

[Design and realization of the communication system for the mobile medical terminal].

PubMed

Ji, Lei; Guo, Xu; Shi, Huayu

2013-01-01

Realizing wireless communication based on handset devices for medical staff; providing an instant messaging method. Constructing a set of communication protocols and standards; developing software both on server and client. Building an instant messaging system which follows the customized specification; based on Android the client provides functions like address book, message, voice service etc. As an independent module of the mobile medical terminal, the system can provide convenient communication for medical service with other mobile business.

The science of public messages for suicide prevention: a workshop summary.

PubMed

Chambers, David A; Pearson, Jane L; Lubell, Keri; Brandon, Susan; O'brien, Kevin; Zinn, Janet

2005-04-01

There is minimal guidance for efforts to create effective public messages that increase awareness that suicide is preventable. To address this need, several agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Annenberg Foundation convened a workshop consisting of suicide prevention advocates and persons with expertise in public health evaluation, suicide contagion, decision-making, and marketing. "Logic models" were used to define intended messages and audiences, assumed mechanisms of change, and outcomes. This summary describes some of the challenges and opportunities identified by workshop participants in evaluating public awareness campaigns in suicide prevention, technical assistance needs, and a proposed research agenda.

Credibility elements of eWOM messages in the context of health care services. A Romanian perspective.

PubMed

Purcarea, V L; Gheorghe, I R; Petrescu, C M

2013-09-15

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Romanian consumers' determinants of eWOM messages' perceived credibility in the context of health care services. We selected a sample of 127 women and we administered a questionnaire. We used the partial least squares to uncover the established relationships between the variables of the model, namely the argument strength and the source credibility of a eWOM message and the intention to purchase a health care service based on the information embedded in the eWOM messages. The results revealed that all variables had positive direct correlations with each other but the argument strength of a message has the highest impact on the intention.

An Invitation to Physical Education. Fastback 452.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chandler, Gary L.

This booklet, which is based on the philosophy of invitational education, focuses on physical education. It is designed to encourage educators to become aware of the messages they send to students; messages that are general and subtle as well as messages that are direct, specific, and personal. This awareness leads to becoming consistently,…

Persuasiveness of Anti-Smoking Messages: Self-Construal and Message Focus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Bo; Nan, Xiaoli; Zhao, Xinyan

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of independent vs interdependent self-construal in non-smokers' responses to an anti-smoking message that focuses on either personal or relational consequences of smoking. Design/methodology/approach: Two web-based experimental studies were conducted among US college non-smokers. In the…

SMS for Sexual Health: A Comparison of Service Types and Recommendations for Sexual Health Text Message Service Providers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willoughby, Jessica Fitts; Muldrow, Adrienne

2017-01-01

Objectives: Text message-based interventions may provide sexual health information to young people through a number of service types, from sending information on a regularly scheduled timeline, to providing an automated menu, to allowing young people to connect directly with health educators. While such service types exist, it is not clear which…

Engaging Students in Active Learning: The Case for Personalized Multimedia Messages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moreno, Roxana; Mayer, Richard E.

2000-01-01

Tests the hypothesis that personalized messages in a multimedia science lesson can promote deep learning by actively engaging students in the elaboration of the materials and reducing processing load. Instructional messages were presented in either a personalized style or a neutral style. Results reveal that personalized messages produced better…

Beyond Basic Feedback in Mobile Brief Interventions: Designing SMS Message Content for Delivery to Young Adults During Risky Drinking Events

PubMed Central

Dietze, Paul M; Lim, Megan S C

2017-01-01

Background Brief interventions can reduce alcohol consumption in young people through screening and delivery of personally relevant feedback. Recently, Web and mobile platforms have been harnessed to increase the reach of brief interventions. Existing literature on mobile-based alcohol brief interventions indicates mixed use of theory in developing interventions. There is no research available to guide the development of SMS text messaging (short message service, SMS) interventions delivered during risky drinking events. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and pilot an alcohol-related risk-reduction brief intervention delivered by SMS to Australian young adults during drinking events. This paper describes the development of intervention message content, with specific focus on the context of delivery during drinking events. Methods A sample of 42 young adults attended 4 workshops; these comprised focus-group style discussion on drinking habits and motivations, discussion of intervention design, analysis of existing alcohol media campaigns, and participant development of message content. Data were analyzed thematically. Results Participants described a focus on having fun and blocking out any incongruent negative influences during drinking episodes. For content to be acceptable, nonjudgmental and non-authoritative language was deemed essential. A preference for short, actionable messages was observed, including suggestions for reminders around drinking water, organizing transport home, checking on friends, and plans the next day. Participants were excited about the potential for messages to be tailored to individuals, as previous alcohol-related campaigns were deemed too generic and often irrelevant. Normative-based messages were also perceived as largely irrelevant as participants felt that they understood the drinking-related norms of their immediate peers already. Conclusions Findings from this study offer insights into young adults’ drinking events and practical advice for designing alcohol-related brief interventions. During our formative development process, we demonstrated a neat correspondence between young people’s preferences for alcohol harm reduction interventions and the theoretical principles of brief interventions, including acceptable topics and message style. PMID:28634153

Acceptability and feasibility of mHealth and community-based directly observed antiretroviral therapy to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in South African pregnant women under Option B+: an exploratory study

PubMed Central

Nachega, Jean B; Skinner, Donald; Jennings, Larissa; Magidson, Jessica F; Altice, Frederick L; Burke, Jessica G; Lester, Richard T; Uthman, Olalekan A; Knowlton, Amy R; Cotton, Mark F; Anderson, Jean R; Theron, Gerhard B

2016-01-01

Objective To examine the acceptability and feasibility of mobile health (mHealth)/short message service (SMS) and community-based directly observed antiretroviral therapy (cDOT) as interventions to improve antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence for preventing mother-to-child human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission (PMTCT). Design and methods A mixed-method approach was used. Two qualitative focus group discussions with HIV-infected pregnant women (n=20) examined the acceptability and feasibility of two ART adherence interventions for PMTCT: 1) SMS text messaging and 2) patient-nominated cDOT supporters. Additionally, 109 HIV-infected, pregnant South African women (18–30 years old) receiving PMTCT services under single-tablet antiretroviral therapy regimen during pregnancy and breastfeeding and continuing for life (“Option B+”) were interviewed about mobile phone access, SMS use, and potential treatment supporters. Setting A community primary care clinic in Cape Town, South Africa. Participants HIV-infected pregnant women. Main outcomes Acceptability and feasibility of mHealth and cDOT interventions. Results Among the 109 women interviewed, individual mobile phone access and SMS use were high (>90%), and 88.1% of women were interested in receiving SMS ART adherence support messages such as reminders, motivation, and medication updates. Nearly all women (95%) identified at least one person close to them to whom they had disclosed their HIV status and would nominate as a cDOT supporter. Focus group discussions revealed that cDOT supporters and adherence text messages were valued, but some concerns regarding supporter time availability and risk of unintended HIV status disclosure were expressed. Conclusion mHealth and/or cDOT supporter as interventions to improve ART adherence are feasible in this setting. However, safe HIV status disclosure to treatment supporters and confidentiality of text messaging content about HIV and ART were deemed crucial. PMID:27175068

Suicide Prevention Public Service Announcements Impact Help-Seeking Attitudes: The Message Makes a Difference

PubMed Central

Klimes-Dougan, Bonnie; Wright, Nathan; Klingbeil, David A.

2016-01-01

Suicide continues to be one of the most serious public health challenges. Public service announcements (PSAs) are frequently used to address this challenge, but are rarely sufficiently evaluated to determine if they meet the intended goals, or are associated with potential iatrogenic effects. Although it is challenging to assess the relative impact of different PSA modalities, our group previously noted that one billboard message failed to show the same benefits as one TV ad [e.g., Klimes-Dougan and Lee (1)]. The purpose of this study was to extend these findings to test critical aspects of suicide prevention billboard messaging. Although both simulated billboard messages presented had identical supporting messages, we predicted that the more personal billboard message, focused on saving one’s life, would cause more favorable help-seeking attitudes than the message focused on suicide. Young adult university students (N = 785) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions; one of two billboard simulations or a TV ad simulation. Help-seeking attitudes, maladaptive coping, and reports of concern and distress were evaluated. The results of this study suggest some relative benefits in endorsement of favorable help-seeking attitudes for one of the billboard conditions – stop depression from taking another life. Although further research is needed to determine what methods will alter the risk for suicide in the population, the results of this study provide a useful first step showing that some billboard messaging may favorably influence help-seeking attitudes. PMID:27471477

Suicide Prevention Public Service Announcements Impact Help-Seeking Attitudes: The Message Makes a Difference.

PubMed

Klimes-Dougan, Bonnie; Wright, Nathan; Klingbeil, David A

2016-01-01

Suicide continues to be one of the most serious public health challenges. Public service announcements (PSAs) are frequently used to address this challenge, but are rarely sufficiently evaluated to determine if they meet the intended goals, or are associated with potential iatrogenic effects. Although it is challenging to assess the relative impact of different PSA modalities, our group previously noted that one billboard message failed to show the same benefits as one TV ad [e.g., Klimes-Dougan and Lee (1)]. The purpose of this study was to extend these findings to test critical aspects of suicide prevention billboard messaging. Although both simulated billboard messages presented had identical supporting messages, we predicted that the more personal billboard message, focused on saving one's life, would cause more favorable help-seeking attitudes than the message focused on suicide. Young adult university students (N = 785) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions; one of two billboard simulations or a TV ad simulation. Help-seeking attitudes, maladaptive coping, and reports of concern and distress were evaluated. The results of this study suggest some relative benefits in endorsement of favorable help-seeking attitudes for one of the billboard conditions - stop depression from taking another life. Although further research is needed to determine what methods will alter the risk for suicide in the population, the results of this study provide a useful first step showing that some billboard messaging may favorably influence help-seeking attitudes.

16 CFR 316.4 - Requirement to place warning labels on commercial electronic mail that contains sexually oriented...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... person who initiates, to a protected computer, the transmission of a commercial electronic mail message... electronic mail message or other form of Internet-based communication requesting not to receive future... received; and (B) Remains capable of receiving such messages or communications for no less than 30 days...

16 CFR 316.4 - Requirement to place warning labels on commercial electronic mail that contains sexually oriented...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... person who initiates, to a protected computer, the transmission of a commercial electronic mail message... electronic mail message or other form of Internet-based communication requesting not to receive future... received; and (B) Remains capable of receiving such messages or communications for no less than 30 days...

16 CFR 316.4 - Requirement to place warning labels on commercial electronic mail that contains sexually oriented...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... person who initiates, to a protected computer, the transmission of a commercial electronic mail message... electronic mail message or other form of Internet-based communication requesting not to receive future... received; and (B) Remains capable of receiving such messages or communications for no less than 30 days...

16 CFR 316.4 - Requirement to place warning labels on commercial electronic mail that contains sexually oriented...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... person who initiates, to a protected computer, the transmission of a commercial electronic mail message... electronic mail message or other form of Internet-based communication requesting not to receive future... received; and (B) Remains capable of receiving such messages or communications for no less than 30 days...

GSM-PKI solution enabling secure mobile communications.

PubMed

Jelekäinen, Pekka

2004-03-31

Because of its wide distribution and ease of use, the mobile phone, as a reliable personal communications channel, offers an excellent basis for the provision of reliable electronic communications services. In Finland, ca. 75% of the citizens have a mobile phone and, at present and most likely also in the future, it is the most widely spread service channel allowing reliable electronic communications. Despite the restricted functions of the mobile phone, the citizens can use the phone also as a communications medium. In 2001, the Finns sent over 1 billion SMS messages. In Finland, TeliaSonera Finland Oyi and the Population Register Centre (PRC) have closed a co-operation agreement with the aim of creating a mobile phone service for the electronic identification of a person. The co-operation launched is a significant development project from the perspective of the citizens. As a result, the consumers will have a new alternative for reliable electronic communications and commerce in data networks in addition to the electronic identification card. In the future, it will be possible to use the services of both public administration and the private sector by means of a mobile phone more reliably than before, without a physical visit, e.g. to a health centre or to another provider of healthcare services. The possibility of identification and signature by a mobile phone allows an easier provision of versatile services irrespective of time and place, because, in addition to voice, text message, and WAP functions, the service can be utilised also in communications services through the Internet, in which case, the mobile phone acts like a card reader. From the perspective of reliable personal mobile communications, the healthcare sector is one of the most significant and challenging application areas.

The Allure of Privacy or the Desire for Self-Expression? Identifying Users' Gratifications for Ephemeral, Photograph-Based Communication.

PubMed

Waddell, T Franklin

2016-07-01

Temporary messaging programs continue to rise in popularity, due in large part to the perceived privacy that they afford. However, recent controversies have revealed that messages shared on ephemeral messaging services are persistent and potentially retrieval, thus undermining the privacy they are assumed to provide. Given this paradox, why are temporary messaging services so popular? Does the allure of privacy still motivate the use of temporary messaging programs? Or, if privacy is no longer afforded by ephemeral messaging, what other psychological gratifications do these applications fulfill that might account for their continued use? Informed by the Modality-Agency-Interactivity-Navigability (MAIN) model and the uses and gratifications tradition, the current study conducted qualitative interviews to identify the gratifications that individuals derive from the popular ephemeral messaging application, Snapchat. Study results show that the visual affordances of ephemeral messaging have legitimized photographic communication, providing self-expression and relational gratifications that are unfulfilled by text-based applications. By comparison, users report low levels of trust in the privacy affordances of ephemeral messaging, and instead projecting negative effects of temporary messaging on other users rather than self. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Efficacy of Web-Based Collection of Strength-Based Testimonials for Text Message Extension of Youth Suicide Prevention Program: Randomized Controlled Experiment.

PubMed

Thiha, Phyo; Pisani, Anthony R; Gurditta, Kunali; Cherry, Erin; Peterson, Derick R; Kautz, Henry; Wyman, Peter A

2016-11-09

Equipping members of a target population to deliver effective public health messaging to peers is an established approach in health promotion. The Sources of Strength program has demonstrated the promise of this approach for "upstream" youth suicide prevention. Text messaging is a well-established medium for promoting behavior change and is the dominant communication medium for youth. In order for peer 'opinion leader' programs like Sources of Strength to use scalable, wide-reaching media such as text messaging to spread peer-to-peer messages, they need techniques for assisting peer opinion leaders in creating effective testimonials to engage peers and match program goals. We developed a Web interface, called Stories of Personal Resilience in Managing Emotions (StoryPRIME), which helps peer opinion leaders write effective, short-form messages that can be delivered to the target population in youth suicide prevention program like Sources of Strength. To determine the efficacy of StoryPRIME, a Web-based interface for remotely eliciting high school peer leaders, and helping them produce high-quality, personal testimonials for use in a text messaging extension of an evidence-based, peer-led suicide prevention program. In a double-blind randomized controlled experiment, 36 high school students wrote testimonials with or without eliciting from the StoryPRIME interface. The interface was created in the context of Sources of Strength-an evidence-based youth suicide prevention program-and 24 ninth graders rated these testimonials on relatability, usefulness/relevance, intrigue, and likability. Testimonials written with the StoryPRIME interface were rated as more relatable, useful/relevant, intriguing, and likable than testimonials written without StoryPRIME, P=.054. StoryPRIME is a promising way to elicit high-quality, personal testimonials from youth for prevention programs that draw on members of a target population to spread public health messages. ©Phyo Thiha, Anthony R Pisani, Kunali Gurditta, Erin Cherry, Derick R Peterson, Henry Kautz, Peter A Wyman. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 09.11.2016.

Document Concurrence System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Muhsin, Mansour; Walters, Ian

2004-01-01

The Document Concurrence System is a combination of software modules for routing users expressions of concurrence with documents. This system enables determination of the current status of concurrences and eliminates the need for the prior practice of manually delivering paper documents to all persons whose approvals were required. This system runs on a server, and participants gain access via personal computers equipped with Web-browser and electronic-mail software. A user can begin a concurrence routing process by logging onto an administration module, naming the approvers and stating the sequence for routing among them, and attaching documents. The server then sends a message to the first person on the list. Upon concurrence by the first person, the system sends a message to the second person, and so forth. A person on the list indicates approval, places the documents on hold, or indicates disapproval, via a Web-based module. When the last person on the list has concurred, a message is sent to the initiator, who can then finalize the process through the administration module. A background process running on the server identifies concurrence processes that are overdue and sends reminders to the appropriate persons.

Closed-Loop Lifecycle Management of Service and Product in the Internet of Things: Semantic Framework for Knowledge Integration.

PubMed

Yoo, Min-Jung; Grozel, Clément; Kiritsis, Dimitris

2016-07-08

This paper describes our conceptual framework of closed-loop lifecycle information sharing for product-service in the Internet of Things (IoT). The framework is based on the ontology model of product-service and a type of IoT message standard, Open Messaging Interface (O-MI) and Open Data Format (O-DF), which ensures data communication. (1) BACKGROUND: Based on an existing product lifecycle management (PLM) methodology, we enhanced the ontology model for the purpose of integrating efficiently the product-service ontology model that was newly developed; (2) METHODS: The IoT message transfer layer is vertically integrated into a semantic knowledge framework inside which a Semantic Info-Node Agent (SINA) uses the message format as a common protocol of product-service lifecycle data transfer; (3) RESULTS: The product-service ontology model facilitates information retrieval and knowledge extraction during the product lifecycle, while making more information available for the sake of service business creation. The vertical integration of IoT message transfer, encompassing all semantic layers, helps achieve a more flexible and modular approach to knowledge sharing in an IoT environment; (4) Contribution: A semantic data annotation applied to IoT can contribute to enhancing collected data types, which entails a richer knowledge extraction. The ontology-based PLM model enables as well the horizontal integration of heterogeneous PLM data while breaking traditional vertical information silos; (5) CONCLUSION: The framework was applied to a fictive case study with an electric car service for the purpose of demonstration. For the purpose of demonstrating the feasibility of the approach, the semantic model is implemented in Sesame APIs, which play the role of an Internet-connected Resource Description Framework (RDF) database.

Closed-Loop Lifecycle Management of Service and Product in the Internet of Things: Semantic Framework for Knowledge Integration

PubMed Central

Yoo, Min-Jung; Grozel, Clément; Kiritsis, Dimitris

2016-01-01

This paper describes our conceptual framework of closed-loop lifecycle information sharing for product-service in the Internet of Things (IoT). The framework is based on the ontology model of product-service and a type of IoT message standard, Open Messaging Interface (O-MI) and Open Data Format (O-DF), which ensures data communication. (1) Background: Based on an existing product lifecycle management (PLM) methodology, we enhanced the ontology model for the purpose of integrating efficiently the product-service ontology model that was newly developed; (2) Methods: The IoT message transfer layer is vertically integrated into a semantic knowledge framework inside which a Semantic Info-Node Agent (SINA) uses the message format as a common protocol of product-service lifecycle data transfer; (3) Results: The product-service ontology model facilitates information retrieval and knowledge extraction during the product lifecycle, while making more information available for the sake of service business creation. The vertical integration of IoT message transfer, encompassing all semantic layers, helps achieve a more flexible and modular approach to knowledge sharing in an IoT environment; (4) Contribution: A semantic data annotation applied to IoT can contribute to enhancing collected data types, which entails a richer knowledge extraction. The ontology-based PLM model enables as well the horizontal integration of heterogeneous PLM data while breaking traditional vertical information silos; (5) Conclusion: The framework was applied to a fictive case study with an electric car service for the purpose of demonstration. For the purpose of demonstrating the feasibility of the approach, the semantic model is implemented in Sesame APIs, which play the role of an Internet-connected Resource Description Framework (RDF) database. PMID:27399717

Effects of Motivational and Volitional Email Messages (MVEM) with Personal Messages on Undergraduate Students' Motivation, Study Habits and Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, ChanMin; Keller, John M.

2008-01-01

This study investigated what kind of supportive information can be effective in improving the situation where there were severe motivational challenges. Motivational and volitional email messages (MVEM) were constructed based on an integrated model of four theories and methods, which are Keller's ARCS model, Kuhl's action control theory,…

Do Fitness Apps Need Text Reminders? An Experiment Testing Goal-Setting Text Message Reminders to Promote Self-Monitoring.

PubMed

Liu, Shuang; Willoughby, Jessica F

2018-01-01

Fitness tracking apps have the potential to change unhealthy lifestyles, but users' lack of compliance is an issue. The current intervention examined the effectiveness of using goal-setting theory-based text message reminders to promote tracking activities on fitness apps. We conducted a 2-week experiment with pre- and post-tests with young adults (n = 50). Participants were randomly assigned to two groups-a goal-setting text message reminder group and a generic text message reminder group. Participants were asked to use a fitness tracking app to log physical activity and diet for the duration of the study. Participants who received goal-setting reminders logged significantly more physical activities than those who only received generic reminders. Further, participants who received goal-setting reminders liked the messages and showed significantly increased self-efficacy, awareness of personal goals, motivation, and intention to use the app. The study shows that incorporating goal-setting theory-based text message reminders can be useful to boost user compliance with self-monitoring fitness apps by reinforcing users' personal goals and enhancing cognitive factors associated with health behavior change.

The development and implementation of stroke risk prediction model in National Health Insurance Service's personal health record.

PubMed

Lee, Jae-Woo; Lim, Hyun-Sun; Kim, Dong-Wook; Shin, Soon-Ae; Kim, Jinkwon; Yoo, Bora; Cho, Kyung-Hee

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to build a 10-year stroke prediction model and categorize a probability of stroke using the Korean national health examination data. Then it intended to develop the algorithm to provide a personalized warning on the basis of each user's level of stroke risk and a lifestyle correction message about the stroke risk factors. Subject to national health examinees in 2002-2003, the stroke prediction model identified when stroke was first diagnosed by following-up the cohort until 2013 and estimated a 10-year probability of stroke. It sorted the user's individual probability of stroke into five categories - normal, slightly high, high, risky, very risky, according to the five ranges of average probability of stroke in comparison to total population - less than 50 percentile, 50-70, 70-90, 90-99.9, more than 99.9 percentile, and constructed the personalized warning and lifestyle correction messages by each category. Risk factors in stroke risk model include the age, BMI, cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, smoking status and intensity, physical activity, alcohol drinking, past history (hypertension, coronary heart disease) and family history (stroke, coronary heart disease). The AUC values of stroke risk prediction model from the external validation data set were 0.83 in men and 0.82 in women, which showed a high predictive power. The probability of stroke within 10 years for men in normal group (less than 50 percentile) was less than 3.92% and those in very risky group (top 0.01 percentile) was 66.2% and over. The women's probability of stroke within 10 years was less than 3.77% in normal group (less than 50 percentile) and 55.24% and over in very risky group. This study developed the stroke risk prediction model and the personalized warning and the lifestyle correction message based on the national health examination data and uploaded them to the personal health record service called My Health Bank in the health information website - Health iN. By doing so, it urged medical users to strengthen the motivation of health management and induced changes in their health behaviors. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Productivity and quality improvements in health care through airboss mobile messaging services.

PubMed

Shah, P J; Martinez, R; Cooney, E

1997-01-01

The US health care industry is in the midst of revolutionary changes. Under tremendous pressures from third-party payers and managed care programs to control costs while providing high quality medical services, health care entities are now looking at information technologies to help them achieve their goals. These goals typically include improved productivity, efficiency and decision-making capabilities among staff members. Moreover, hospitals and other health care facilities that provide a broad and integrated range of inpatient and outpatient care, wellness and home care services are in the best position to offer comprehensive packages to managed care and private insurers. Many health care providers and administrators are considered mobile employees. This mobility can range from intra-building and intra-campus to multi-site and metropolitan areas. This group often relies on a variety of information technologies such as personal computers, communicating laptops, pagers, cellular phones, wireline phones, cordless phones and fax machines to stay in touch and handle information needs. These health care professionals require mobile information access and messaging tools to improve communications, control accessibility and enhance decision-making capabilities. AirBoss mobile messaging services could address the health care industry's need for improved messaging capabilities for its mobile employees. The AirBoss family of services supports integrated voice services, data messaging, mobile facsimile and customized information delivery. This paper describes overview of the current mobile data networking capability, the AirBoss architecture, the health care-related applications it addresses and long-term benefits. In addition, a prototype application for mobile home health care workers is illustrated. This prototype application provides integrated e-mail, information services, web access, real-time access and update of patient records from wireline or wireless networks, and cross media delivery and notification. It provides seamless wide area access to patient data in a secure environment, thus providing a continuity of care from the hospital to home.

Boyer-Moore Algorithm in Retrieving Deleted Short Message Service in Android Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahmat, R. F.; Prayoga, D. F.; Gunawan, D.; Sitompul, O. S.

2018-02-01

Short message service (SMS) can be used as digital evidence of disclosure of crime because it can strengthen the charges against the offenders. Criminals use various ways to destroy the evidence, including by deleting SMS. On the Android OS, SMS is stored in a SQLite database file. Deletion of SMS data is not followed by bit deletion in memory so that it is possible to rediscover the deleted SMS. Based on this case, the mobile forensic needs to be done to rediscover the short message service. The proposed method in this study is Boyer-Moore algorithm for searching string matching. An auto finds feature is designed to rediscover the short message service by searching using a particular pattern to rematch a text with the result of the hex value conversion in the database file. The system will redisplay the message for each of a match. From all the testing results, the proposed method has quite a high accuracy in rediscovering the short message service using the used dataset. The search results to rediscover the deleted SMS depend on the possibility of overwriting process and the vacuum procedure on the database file.

TeleHealth networks: Instant messaging and point-to-point communication over the internet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sachpazidis, Ilias; Ohl, Roland; Kontaxakis, George; Sakas, Georgios

2006-12-01

This paper explores the advantages and disadvantages of a medical network based on point-to-point communication and a medical network based on Jabber instant messaging protocol. Instant messaging might be, for many people, a convenient way of chatting over the Internet. We will attempt to illustrate how an instant messaging protocol could serve in the best way medical services and provide great flexibility to the involved parts. Additionally, the directory services and presence status offered by the Jabber protocol make it very attractive to medical applications that need to have real time and store and forward communication. Furthermore, doctors connected to Internet via high-speed networks could benefit by saving time due to the data transmission acceleration over Jabber.

The Moderating Role of Mood and Personal Relevance on Persuasive Effects of Gain- and Loss-Framed Health Messages.

PubMed

Wirtz, John G; Sar, Sela; Ghuge, Shreyas

2015-01-01

We predicted that mood would moderate the relation between message framing and two outcome variables, message evaluation and behavioral intention, when the message was personally relevant to the target audience. Participants (N = 242) were randomly assigned to an experimental condition in which a positive or negative mood was induced. Participants then read and evaluated a health message that emphasized potential benefits or risks associated with a vaccine. As predicted, participants who received a loss-framed message reported higher message evaluation and intention scores but only when the message was personally relevant and they were in a positive mood.

Experiences of Older Adults With Mobile Phone Text Messaging as Reminders of Home Exercises After Specialized Manual Therapy for Recurrent Low Back Pain: A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Lilje, Stina Charlotta; Olander, Ewy; Berglund, Johan; Skillgate, Eva; Anderberg, Peter

2017-03-30

Clinical experience of manual therapy for musculoskeletal pain is that patients often suffer from recurrent pain and disorders, but that they do not continue to perform their physical home exercises when they are free from symptoms. The chance of positive long-term effects of manual therapy would probably increase if patients were reminded that they are to continue to perform their exercises. Mobile phone text messaging (short messaging service, SMS) is increasingly used as an innovative intervention to remind patient to exercise. However, there are only a few studies on such interventions in the field of low back pain (LBP). Qualitative studies of patients' experiences of receiving text messages as reminders of home exercises after manual treatment for recurrent LBP have to the best of our knowledge never been published. The aim of this study was to explore older persons' common experiences of receiving reminders of home exercises through mobile phone text messaging after specialized manual therapy for recurrent LBP. A total of 7 men and 8 women (67-86 years), who had sought specialized manual therapy (Naprapathic manual therapy) for recurrent LBP were included in the study. Individual one-way text messages as reminders of home exercises (to be performed on a daily basis) were sent to each patient every third day for 3 weeks, then once a week for another 2 weeks. Semistructured interviews with 2 broad, open-ended questions were held and data were analyzed with systematic text condensation, based on Giorgi's principles of psychological phenomenological analysis. The participants appreciated the messages, which were perceived as timely and usable, and also stimulated memorizing. The messages made the participants reflect on the aim of the exercise, value of being reminded, and on their improvement in pain. During the interviews, the participants created their own routines for continued adherence to the exercises. It seems plausible that mobile phone text messaging may serve as a useful tool for patient empowerment with regard to recurrent LBP in older persons. Further studies are needed to explore whether future compliance with the exercises will be as large if the participants are not being interviewed. ©Stina Charlotta Lilje, Ewy Olander, Johan Berglund, Eva Skillgate, Peter Anderberg. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 30.03.2017.

Hierarchy of conversational rule violations involving utterance-based augmentative and alternative communication systems.

PubMed

Hoag, Linda A; Bedrosian, Jan L; McCoy, Kathleen F; Johnson, Dallas E

2008-01-01

This study examined the effects of using messages with conversational rule violations on attitudes toward people who used utterance-based augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems in transactional interactions. Specifically, the ratings were compared across messages with relevance, informativeness, and brevity violations, when latency remained constant (i.e., short). The 96 participating sales clerks viewed scripted, videotaped bookstore conversations and completed an attitude questionnaire. Results indicated that the prestored message with repeated words/phrases was rated the highest, followed by the message with excessive information; next was the message with inadequate information, followed by the message with partly relevant information. The findings may be useful to those using utterance-based systems when making message choices during interactions with service providers. Technological implications point to the development of schema/script-based systems and intelligent editing.

Understanding Messaging Preferences to Inform Development of Mobile Goal-Directed Behavioral Interventions

PubMed Central

van Stolk-Cooke, Katherine; Morgenstern, Jon; Kuerbis, Alexis N; Markle, Kendra

2014-01-01

Background Mobile messaging interventions have been shown to improve outcomes across a number of mental health and health-related conditions, but there are still significant gaps in our knowledge of how to construct and deliver the most effective brief messaging interventions. Little is known about the ways in which subtle linguistic variations in message content can affect user receptivity and preferences. Objective The aim of this study was to determine whether any global messaging preferences existed for different types of language content, and how certain characteristics moderate those preferences, in an effort to inform the development of mobile messaging interventions. Methods This study examined user preferences for messages within 22 content groupings. Groupings were presented online in dyads of short messages that were identical in their subject matter, but structurally or linguistically varied. Participants were 277 individuals residing in the United States who were recruited and compensated through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) system. Participants were instructed to select the message in each dyad that they would prefer to receive to help them achieve a personal goal of their choosing. Results Results indicate global preferences of more than 75% of subjects for certain types of messages, such as those that were grammatically correct, free of textese, benefit-oriented, polite, nonaggressive, and directive as opposed to passive, among others. For several classes of messages, few or no clear global preferences were found. There were few personality- and trait-based moderators of message preferences, but subtle manipulations of message structure, such as changing “Try to…” to “You might want to try to…” affected message choice. Conclusions The results indicate that individuals are sensitive to variations in the linguistic content of text messages designed to help them achieve a personal goal and, in some cases, have clear preferences for one type of message over another. Global preferences were indicated for messages that contained accurate spelling and grammar, as well as messages that emphasize the positive over the negative. Research implications and a guide for developing short messages for goal-directed behaviors are presented in this paper. PMID:24500775

BrdsNBz: A mixed methods study exploring adolescents' use of a sexual health text message service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Willoughby, Jessica Fitts

Sexual health text message services are becoming increasingly popular, but little is known about who uses such services and why. This project details the implementation of a campaign promoting a state-wide sexual health text message service that allows teens to text directly with a health educator and uses a mixed method design to assess who uses the service, what motivates use, and potential barriers to using the service. A theory of information seeking through text messaging is posited based on previous information seeking and communication theory and tested with adolescents. A social marketing campaign was created promoting a North Carolina sexual health text message service and conducted in six middle and high schools in the North Carolina Piedmont region in Fall 2012. More than 2000 students in four schools completed online questionnaires that assessed awareness of the service, perceptions, and use. Focus groups and in depth interviews were then conducted with middle and high school students. Results indicate teens who are sexually active and in relationships are more likely to use the service. A teens' level of uncertainty about sexual health influences affect, which in turn leads adolescents to assess various information options. Positive attitudes toward the service and credibility perceptions are direct predictors of intentions to use. Efficacy was found to be an indirect predictor, working through credibility perceptions to influence intentions to use. Although teens may have an interest in using the service, there are barriers associated with use. Survey findings and qualitative results indicate that teens are interested in using a sexual health text message service, but perceived costs, fear of parents finding out about service use, and a lack of understanding of how to use the service were barriers for some teens. This study has implications for sexual health text message services, especially those that allow teens to connect directly with a health educator.

Compression-based aggregation model for medical web services.

PubMed

Al-Shammary, Dhiah; Khalil, Ibrahim

2010-01-01

Many organizations such as hospitals have adopted Cloud Web services in applying their network services to avoid investing heavily computing infrastructure. SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is the basic communication protocol of Cloud Web services that is XML based protocol. Generally,Web services often suffer congestions and bottlenecks as a result of the high network traffic that is caused by the large XML overhead size. At the same time, the massive load on Cloud Web services in terms of the large demand of client requests has resulted in the same problem. In this paper, two XML-aware aggregation techniques that are based on exploiting the compression concepts are proposed in order to aggregate the medical Web messages and achieve higher message size reduction.

Improving Family Communication.

PubMed

Medrano, Vilma; Bonilla, Gladys; Hernández, Ericka; Romanjek, Mariana Harnecker; Gómez, Adriana; Hernández, Jasón; Reyes, Marcela Ríos; Lindenberg, Cathy Strachan

2017-03-01

TeenSmart International harnesses the power and flexibility of technology to empower youth to take personal responsibility for their health and lifestyle choices. Access to the Internet via mobile phones is often cheaper than paying to connect to a wired broadband service, and in rural areas, mobile networks may be the only means of accessing the Internet. This study assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of "cues to action" or brief motivating cell phone text messages to improve adolescent family communication and relationships. A quasi-experimental design using a voluntary sample of 100 Nicaraguan youth at high risk for poor family communication participated. Pre- and posttest quantitative measures using Student t statistical analysis, a focus group, and a participant testimony provided the evaluation evidence. Findings suggest that there are economic and motivational barriers to the use of text messages, but when barriers are eliminated, the behavioral results are positive. Youth who received two weekly text messages over a 6-month period demonstrated statistically significant improvements in family communication perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, strengthening their family communications and relationships. Brief and personalized text messaging "cues to action" may be a cost-effective intervention to improve adolescent healthy lifestyle behaviors.

Credibility Elements of eWOM Messages in the Context of Health Care Services. A Romanian Perspective

PubMed Central

Purcarea, VL; Gheorghe, IR; Petrescu, CM

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Romanian consumers’ determinants of eWOM messages’ perceived credibility in the context of health care services. We selected a sample of 127 women and we administered a questionnaire. We used the partial least squares to uncover the established relationships between the variables of the model, namely the argument strength and the source credibility of a eWOM message and the intention to purchase a health care service based on the information embedded in the eWOM messages. The results revealed that all variables had positive direct correlations with each other but the argument strength of a message has the highest impact on the intention. PMID:24146683

Developing Family Healthware, a family history screening tool to prevent common chronic diseases.

PubMed

Yoon, Paula W; Scheuner, Maren T; Jorgensen, Cynthia; Khoury, Muin J

2009-01-01

Family health history reflects the effects of genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors and is an important risk factor for a variety of disorders including coronary heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed Family Healthware, a new interactive, Web-based tool that assesses familial risk for 6 diseases (coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and colorectal, breast, and ovarian cancer) and provides a "prevention plan" with personalized recommendations for lifestyle changes and screening. The tool collects data on health behaviors, screening tests, and disease history of a person's first- and second-degree relatives. Algorithms in the software analyze the family history data and assess familial risk based on the number of relatives affected, their age at disease onset, their sex, how closely related the relatives are to each other and to the user, and the combinations of diseases in the family. A second set of algorithms uses the data on familial risk level, health behaviors, and screening to generate personalized prevention messages. Qualitative and quantitative formative research on lay understanding of family history and genetics helped shape the tool's content, labels, and messages. Lab-based usability testing helped refine messages and tool navigation. The tool is being evaluated by 3 academic centers by using a network of primary care practices to determine whether personalized prevention messages tailored to familial risk will motivate people at risk to change their lifestyles or screening behaviors.

Mobile phone short message service messaging for behaviour modification in a community-based weight control programme in Korea.

PubMed

Joo, Nam-Seok; Kim, Bom-Taeck

2007-01-01

We conducted a community-based anti-obesity programme using mobile phone short message service (SMS) messaging. A total of 927 participants were recruited and visited a public health centre for initial assessment. Mobile phones were used to deliver short messages about diet, exercise and behaviour modification once a week. After a 12-week anti-obesity programme they visited the public health centre again. Four hundred and thirty-three subjects (47%) successfully completed their weight control programme. There were mean reductions of weight, waist circumference and body mass index of 1.6 kg (P < 0.001), 4.3 cm (P < 0.001) and 0.6 kg/m(2) (P < 0.001), respectively. Over two-thirds of the subjects had a reduction in waist circumference of 5-7.5 cm. A post-intervention survey showed that the majority of participants were satisfied with the weekly SMS messages and information brochures delivered by post. SMS messaging may be an effective method of behaviour modification in weight control and anti-obesity health education programmes when promoted by community health centres.

Leveraging Text Messaging and Mobile Technology to Support Pediatric Obesity-Related Behavior Change: A Qualitative Study Using Parent Focus Groups and Interviews

PubMed Central

Dryden, Eileen M; Horan, Christine M; Price, Sarah; Marshall, Richard; Hacker, Karen; Finkelstein, Jonathan A; Taveras, Elsie M

2013-01-01

Background Text messaging (short message service, SMS) is a widely accessible and potentially cost-effective medium for encouraging behavior change. Few studies have examined text messaging interventions to influence child health behaviors or explored parental perceptions of mobile technologies to support behavior change among children. Objective Our aim was to examine parental acceptability and preferences for text messaging to support pediatric obesity-related behavior change. Methods We conducted focus groups and follow-up interviews with parents of overweight and obese children, aged 6-12 years, seen for “well-child” care in eastern Massachusetts. A professional moderator used a semistructured discussion guide and sample text messages to catalyze group discussions. Seven participants then received 3 weeks of text messages before a follow-up one-on-one telephone interview. All focus groups and interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Using a framework analysis approach, we systematically coded and analyzed group and interview data to identify salient and convergent themes. Results We reached thematic saturation after five focus groups and seven follow-up interviews with a total of 31 parents of diverse race/ethnicity and education levels. Parents were generally enthusiastic about receiving text messages to support healthy behaviors for their children and preferred them to paper or email communication because they are brief and difficult to ignore. Participants anticipated high responsiveness to messaging endorsed by their child’s doctor and indicated they would appreciate messages 2-3 times/week or more as long as content remains relevant. Suggestions for maintaining message relevance included providing specific strategies for implementation and personalizing information. Most felt the negative features of text messaging (eg, limited message size) could be overcome by providing links within messages to other media including email or websites. Conclusions Text messaging is a promising medium for supporting pediatric obesity-related behavior change. Parent perspectives could assist in the design of text-based interventions. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01565161; http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01565161 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6LSaqFyPP). PMID:24317406

Leveraging text messaging and mobile technology to support pediatric obesity-related behavior change: a qualitative study using parent focus groups and interviews.

PubMed

Sharifi, Mona; Dryden, Eileen M; Horan, Christine M; Price, Sarah; Marshall, Richard; Hacker, Karen; Finkelstein, Jonathan A; Taveras, Elsie M

2013-12-06

Text messaging (short message service, SMS) is a widely accessible and potentially cost-effective medium for encouraging behavior change. Few studies have examined text messaging interventions to influence child health behaviors or explored parental perceptions of mobile technologies to support behavior change among children. Our aim was to examine parental acceptability and preferences for text messaging to support pediatric obesity-related behavior change. We conducted focus groups and follow-up interviews with parents of overweight and obese children, aged 6-12 years, seen for "well-child" care in eastern Massachusetts. A professional moderator used a semistructured discussion guide and sample text messages to catalyze group discussions. Seven participants then received 3 weeks of text messages before a follow-up one-on-one telephone interview. All focus groups and interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Using a framework analysis approach, we systematically coded and analyzed group and interview data to identify salient and convergent themes. We reached thematic saturation after five focus groups and seven follow-up interviews with a total of 31 parents of diverse race/ethnicity and education levels. Parents were generally enthusiastic about receiving text messages to support healthy behaviors for their children and preferred them to paper or email communication because they are brief and difficult to ignore. Participants anticipated high responsiveness to messaging endorsed by their child's doctor and indicated they would appreciate messages 2-3 times/week or more as long as content remains relevant. Suggestions for maintaining message relevance included providing specific strategies for implementation and personalizing information. Most felt the negative features of text messaging (eg, limited message size) could be overcome by providing links within messages to other media including email or websites. Text messaging is a promising medium for supporting pediatric obesity-related behavior change. Parent perspectives could assist in the design of text-based interventions. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01565161; http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01565161 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6LSaqFyPP).

Lightweight CoAP-Based Bootstrapping Service for the Internet of Things.

PubMed

Garcia-Carrillo, Dan; Marin-Lopez, Rafael

2016-03-11

The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming increasingly important in several fields of industrial applications and personal applications, such as medical e-health, smart cities, etc. The research into protocols and security aspects related to this area is continuously advancing in making these networks more reliable and secure, taking into account these aspects by design. Bootstrapping is a procedure by which a user obtains key material and configuration information, among other parameters, to operate as an authenticated party in a security domain. Until now solutions have focused on re-using security protocols that were not developed for IoT constraints. For this reason, in this work we propose a design and implementation of a lightweight bootstrapping service for IoT networks that leverages one of the application protocols used in IoT : Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP). Additionally, in order to provide flexibility, scalability, support for large scale deployment, accountability and identity federation, our design uses technologies such as the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) and Authentication Authorization and Accounting (AAA). We have named this service CoAP-EAP. First, we review the state of the art in the field of bootstrapping and specifically for IoT. Second, we detail the bootstrapping service: the architecture with entities and interfaces and the flow operation. Third, we obtain performance measurements of CoAP-EAP (bootstrapping time, memory footprint, message processing time, message length and energy consumption) and compare them with PANATIKI. The most significant and constrained representative of the bootstrapping solutions related with CoAP-EAP. As we will show, our solution provides significant improvements, mainly due to an important reduction of the message length.

Lightweight CoAP-Based Bootstrapping Service for the Internet of Things

PubMed Central

Garcia-Carrillo, Dan; Marin-Lopez, Rafael

2016-01-01

The Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming increasingly important in several fields of industrial applications and personal applications, such as medical e-health, smart cities, etc. The research into protocols and security aspects related to this area is continuously advancing in making these networks more reliable and secure, taking into account these aspects by design. Bootstrapping is a procedure by which a user obtains key material and configuration information, among other parameters, to operate as an authenticated party in a security domain. Until now solutions have focused on re-using security protocols that were not developed for IoT constraints. For this reason, in this work we propose a design and implementation of a lightweight bootstrapping service for IoT networks that leverages one of the application protocols used in IoT : Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP). Additionally, in order to provide flexibility, scalability, support for large scale deployment, accountability and identity federation, our design uses technologies such as the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) and Authentication Authorization and Accounting (AAA). We have named this service CoAP-EAP. First, we review the state of the art in the field of bootstrapping and specifically for IoT. Second, we detail the bootstrapping service: the architecture with entities and interfaces and the flow operation. Third, we obtain performance measurements of CoAP-EAP (bootstrapping time, memory footprint, message processing time, message length and energy consumption) and compare them with PANATIKI. The most significant and constrained representative of the bootstrapping solutions related with CoAP-EAP. As we will show, our solution provides significant improvements, mainly due to an important reduction of the message length. PMID:26978362

Using Publish-Subscribe Messaging for System Status and Automation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Danford S.

2015-01-01

The NASA Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) system is a message-based plug-and-play open system architecture used in many of NASA mission operations centers. This presentation will focus on the use of GMSEC standard messages to report and analyze the status of a system and enable the automation of the system's components. In GMSEC systems, each component reports its status using a keep-alive message and also publishes status and activities as log messages. In addition, the components can accept functional directive messages from the GMSEC message bus. Over the past several years, development teams have found ways to utilize these messages to create innovative display pages and increasingly sophisticated approaches to automation. This presentation will show the flexibility and value of the message-based approach to system awareness and automation.

Improving Acceptance, Integration, and Health Among LGBT Service Members

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-01

person, by phone (including text message), mail or email, or online (e.g., through social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram , YouTube...at least once a week (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram , YouTube)? 13) Who do you communicate with via an LGBT-focused military listserv (e.g., OutServe

A QoS Management Technique of Urgent Information Provision in ITS Services Using DSRC for Autonomous Base Stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimura, Akitoshi; Aizono, Takeiki; Hiraiwa, Masashi; Sugano, Shigeki

A QoS management technique based on an autonomous decentralized mobility system, which is an autonomous decentralized system enhanced to provide mobile stations with information about urgent roadway situations, is proposed in this paper. This technique enables urgent messages to be flexibly and quickly transmitted to mobile stations by multiple decentralized base stations using dedicated short range communication. It also supports the easy addition of additional base stations. Each station autonomously creates information-delivery communities based on the urgency of the messages it receives through the roadside network and the distances between the senders and receivers. Each station dynamically determines the urgency of messages according to the message content and the speed of the mobile stations. Evaluation of this technique applied to the Smart Gateway system, which provides driving-assistance services to mobile stations through dedicated short-range communication, demonstrated its effectiveness and that it is suitable for actual systems.

Exploring Attitudes, Perceived Norms, and Personal Agency: Insights Into Theory-Based Messages to Encourage Park-Based Physical Activity in Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods.

PubMed

Groshong, Lisa; Stanis, Sonja A Wilhelm; Kaczynski, Andrew T; Hipp, J Aaron; Besenyi, Gina M

2017-02-01

Public parks hold promise for promoting population-level PA, but studies show a significant portion of park use is sedentary. Past research has documented the effectiveness of message-based strategies for influencing diverse behaviors in park settings and for increasing PA in nonpark contexts. Therefore, to inform message-based interventions (eg, point-ofdecision prompts) to increase park-based PA, the purpose of this study was to elicit insights about key attitudes, perceived norms, and personal agency that affect park use and park-based PA in low-income urban neighborhoods. This study used 6 focus groups with youth and adults (n = 41) from low-income urban areas in Kansas City, MO, to examine perceptions of key attitudinal outcomes and motivations, perceived norms, key referents, and personal agency facilitators and constraints that affect park use and park-based PA. Participant attitudes reflected the importance of parks for mental and physical health, with social interaction and solitude cited as key motivations. Of 10 themes regarding perceived norms, influential others reflected participants' ethnic makeup but little consensus emerged among groups. Social and safety themes were cited as both facilitators and constraints, along with park offerings and setting. Information about attitudes, perceived norms, and personal agency can increase understanding of theoretically derived factors that influence park-based PA and help park and health professionals create communication strategies to promote PA.

Analysis and lessons learned instituting an instant messaging reference service at an academic health sciences library: the first year.

PubMed

Kipnis, Daniel G; Kaplan, Gary E

2008-01-01

In February 2006, Thomas Jefferson University went live with a new instant messaging (IM) service. This paper reviews the first 102 transcripts to examine question types and usage patterns. In addition, the paper highlights lessons learned in instituting the service. IM reference represents a small proportion of reference questions, but based on user feedback and technological improvements, the library has decided to continue the service.

Patient-initiated Electronic Messages and Quality of Care for Patients With Diabetes and Hypertension in a Large Fee-for-Service Medical Group: Results From a Natural Experiment.

PubMed

McClellan, Sean R; Panattoni, Laura; Chan, Albert S; Tai-Seale, Ming

2016-03-01

Few studies have examined the association between patient-initiated electronic messaging (e-messaging) and clinical outcomes in fee-for-service settings. To estimate the association between patient-initiated e-messages and quality of care among patients with diabetes and hypertension. Longitudinal observational study from 2009 to 2013. In March 2011, the medical group eliminated a $60/year patient user fee for e-messaging and established a provider payment of $3-5 per patient-initiated e-message. Quality of care for patients initiating e-messages was compared before and after March 2011, relative to nonmessaging patients. Propensity score weighting accounted for differences between e-messaging and nonmessaging patients in generalized estimating equations. Large multispecialty practice in California compensating providers' fee-for-service. Patients with diabetes (N=4232) or hypertension (N=15,463) who had activated their online portal but not e-messaged before e-messaging became free. Quality of care included HEDIS-based process measures for hemoglobin (Hb) A1c, blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), nephropathy, and retinopathy tests, and outcome measures for HbA1c, blood pressure, and LDL. E-messaging was measured as counts of patient-initiated e-message threads sent to providers. Patients were categorized into quartiles by e-messaging frequency. The probability of annually completing indicated tests increased by 1%-7% for e-messaging patients, depending on the outcome and e-messaging frequency. E-messaging was associated with small improvements in HbA1c and LDL for some patients with diabetes. Patient-initiated e-messaging may increase the likelihood of completing recommended tests, but may not be sufficient to improve clinical outcomes for most patients with diabetes or hypertension without additional interventions.

CERN alerter—RSS based system for information broadcast to all CERN offices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Otto, R.

2008-07-01

Nearly every large organization uses a tool to broadcast messages and information across the internal campus (messages like alerts announcing interruption in services or just information about upcoming events). These tools typically allow administrators (operators) to send 'targeted' messages which are sent only to specific groups of users or computers, e/g only those located in a specified building or connected to a particular computing service. CERN has a long history of such tools: CERNVMS's SPM_quotMESSAGE command, Zephyr [2] and the most recent the NICE Alerter based on the NNTP protocol. The NICE Alerter used on all Windows-based computers had to be phased out as a consequence of phasing out NNTP at CERN. The new solution to broadcast information messages on the CERN campus continues to provide the service based on cross-platform technologies, hence minimizing custom developments and relying on commercial software as much as possible. The new system, called CERN Alerter, is based on RSS (Really Simple Syndication) [9] for the transport protocol and uses Microsoft SharePoint as the backend for database and posting interface. The windows-based client relies on Internet Explorer 7.0 with custom code to trigger the window pop-ups and the notifications for new events. Linux and Mac OS X clients could also rely on any RSS readers to subscribe to targeted notifications. The paper covers the architecture and implementation aspects of the new system.

47 CFR 101.503 - Digital Electronic Message Service Nodal Stations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Digital Electronic Message Service Nodal... AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES FIXED MICROWAVE SERVICES 24 GHz Service and Digital Electronic Message Service § 101.503 Digital Electronic Message Service Nodal Stations. 10.6 GHz DEMS Nodal Stations may be...

Improving Herpes Zoster Vaccination Rates Through Use of a Clinical Pharmacist and a Personal Health Record

PubMed Central

Otsuka, Shelley H.; Tayal, Neeraj H.; Porter, Kyle; Embi, Peter J.; Beatty, Stuart J.

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND Preventative health services, including herpes zoster vaccination rates, remain low despite known benefits. A new care model to improve preventative health services is warranted. The objective of this study is to investigate whether the functions of an electronic medical record, in combination with a pharmacist as part of the care team, can improve the herpes zoster vaccination rate. METHODS This study was a 6-month, randomized controlled trial at a General Internal Medicine clinic at The Ohio State University. The 2589 patients aged 60 years and older without documented herpes zoster vaccination in the electronic medical record were stratified on the basis of activated personal health record status, an online tool used to share health information between patient and provider. Of the 674 personal health record users, 250 were randomized to receive information regarding the herpes zoster vaccination via an electronic message and 424 were randomized to standard of care. Likewise, of the 1915 nonpersonal health record users, 250 were randomized to receive the same information via the US Postal Service and 1665 were randomized to standard of care. After pharmacist chart review, eligible patients were mailed a herpes zoster vaccine prescription. Herpes zoster vaccination rates were compared by chi-square tests. RESULTS Intervention recipients had significantly higher vaccination rates than controls in both personal health record (relative risk, 2.7; P = .0007) and nonpersonal health record (relative risk, 2.9; P = .0001) patient populations. CONCLUSIONS Communication outside of face-to-face office visits, by both personal health record electronic message and information by mail, can improve preventative health intervention rates compared with standard care. PMID:23830534

Promoting Mental Health Help-Seeking Behavior Among First-Year College Students.

PubMed

Pace, Kristin; Silk, Kami; Nazione, Samantha; Fournier, Laura; Collins-Eaglin, Jan

2018-02-01

Awareness and utilization of mental health services on college campuses is a salient issue, particularly for first-year students as they transition into college life. The current study uses focus groups and surveys to test help-seeking messages for first-year students. In this formative research, Phase 1 focus-group participants (N = 47) discussed four message concepts related to awareness of symptoms of mental health problems and services available to students. Phase 2 participants (N = 292) viewed one of three message concepts and then completed items that measured their perceptions of the message. Focus-group results helped prioritize likely effectiveness of messages based on responses to message features and provided an understanding of mental health help-seeking perceptions among college students. The quantitative results indicate the messages have potential for increasing awareness of mental health issues, as well as promoting availability of campus resources. Implications for tailoring campaign messages to first-year students are discussed.

Explaining the Efficacy of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV Prevention: A Qualitative Study of Message Framing and Messaging Preferences Among US Men Who have Sex with Men.

PubMed

Underhill, Kristen; Morrow, Kathleen M; Colleran, Christopher; Calabrese, Sarah K; Operario, Don; Salovey, Peter; Mayer, Kenneth H

2016-07-01

We investigated message comprehension and message framing preferences for communicating about PrEP efficacy with US MSM. We conducted eight focus groups (n = 38) and n = 56 individual interviews with MSM in Providence, RI. Facilitators probed comprehension, credibility, and acceptability of efficacy messages, including percentages, non-numerical paraphrases, efficacy ranges versus point estimates, and success- versus failure-framed messages. Our findings indicated a range of comprehension and operational understandings of efficacy messages. Participants tended to prefer percentage-based and success-framed messages, although preferences varied for communicating about efficacy using a single percentage versus a range. Participants reported uncertainty about how to interpret numerical estimates, and many questioned whether trial results would predict personal effectiveness. These results suggest that providers and researchers implementing PrEP may face challenges in communicating with users about efficacy. Efforts to educate MSM about PrEP should incorporate percentage-based information, and message framing decisions may influence message credibility and overall PrEP acceptability.

Identifying community perspectives for a lung cancer screening awareness campaign in Appalachia Kentucky: The Terminate Lung Cancer (TLC) Study

PubMed Central

Cardarelli, Roberto; Roper, Karen L.; Cardarelli, Kathryn; Feltner, Frances J.; Prater, Shirley; Ledford, Karen Michelle; Justice, Barbara; Reese, David R.; Wagner, Patsy; Cantrell, Christine

2017-01-01

Introduction Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scan is now covered by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services following an evidence-based recommendation, but a shared decision making process should inform patients of risks and limitations. An awareness campaign promoting LDCT screenings is an opportunity to elicit patient engagement with health providers about the risks and benefits. Focus groups representing three regions of Appalachian Kentucky known for high lung cancer rates discussed development of a lung cancer screening campaign. Recommendations included messaging content, appeals or design, campaign implementation, and trusted information or communication sources. Methods Community health workers (CHWs) from three Eastern Kentucky regions recruited individuals from their local communities using established client files. CHWs hosted six total focus groups (7–11 participants each) using questions guided by the Communication-Persuasion Matrix framework. All sessions were recorded and transcribed for independent content analysis. Results A total of fifty-four individuals (61.1% female; >55 pack year history) participated. Prior to discussion, most participants had not heard of lung cancer screening. Cited needs for content of a campaign included benefits of early detection and payment information. Messages considered most persuasive were those that include: personal testimony, messages of hope, prolonged life, and an emphasis on family and the ambition to survive. Having information come from one’s family doctor or specialty provider was considered important to message communication. Conclusions Messages about survivorship, family, and prolonged life should be considered in lung cancer screening awareness campaigns. Our results provide community input about messages regarding screening options. PMID:26411308

Text messaging to communicate with public health audiences: how the HIPAA Security Rule affects practice.

PubMed

Karasz, Hilary N; Eiden, Amy; Bogan, Sharon

2013-04-01

Text messaging is a powerful communication tool for public health purposes, particularly because of the potential to customize messages to meet individuals' needs. However, using text messaging to send personal health information requires analysis of laws addressing the protection of electronic health information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule is written with flexibility to account for changing technologies. In practice, however, the rule leads to uncertainty about how to make text messaging policy decisions. Text messaging to send health information can be implemented in a public health setting through 2 possible approaches: restructuring text messages to remove personal health information and retaining limited personal health information in the message but conducting a risk analysis and satisfying other requirements to meet the HIPAA Security Rule.

Patient Perspectives on a Text Messaging Program to Support Asthma Management: A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Doyle, Reina; Albright, Karen; Hurley, Laura P; Chávez, Catia; Stowell, Melanie; Dircksen, Suzanne; Havranek, Edward P; Anderson, Mark

2018-05-01

This study investigated participants' acceptance of a short messaging service (SMS) intervention designed to support asthma management, including suggestions regarding program delivery and message content. Individual and group interviews were conducted with patients from a safety-net health care system in Denver, Colorado. Eligible participants were English or Spanish speakers between the ages of 13 and 40 years, with diagnosed persistent asthma. All individual and group interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, translated from Spanish to English (where applicable), and analyzed for thematic content by experienced analysts using established qualitative content techniques. The qualitative software package ATLAS.ti was used for data analysis and management. This study included a total of 43 participants. In general, participants were receptive toward the SMS program and supported the use of tailored and interactive messages. Adolescents supported the idea of enhancing care by sending messages to a support person, such as a parent or guardian. However, adults were less receptive toward this idea. Participants also preferred directive educational messages and cues to action, while general messages reminding them of their asthma diagnosis were viewed less favorably. The results from this study will inform a randomized control trial evaluating the efficacy of the SMS intervention.

To Txt or Not to Txt: That's the Puzzle

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goh, Tiong-Thye; Hooper, Val

2007-01-01

This paper describes the potential use of a mobile phone Short Message Service (SMS) crossword puzzle system to promote interaction through learning activities in a large classroom environment. While personal response systems (PRS) have been used in the classroom environment to foster interaction, it is not an ideal tool with respect to cost and…

Friendly-Sharing: Improving the Performance of City Sensoring through Contact-Based Messaging Applications.

PubMed

Herrera-Tapia, Jorge; Hernández-Orallo, Enrique; Tomás, Andrés; Manzoni, Pietro; Tavares Calafate, Carlos; Cano, Juan-Carlos

2016-09-18

Regular citizens equipped with smart devices are being increasingly used as "sensors" by Smart Cities applications. Using contacts among users, data in the form of messages is obtained and shared. Contact-based messaging applications are based on establishing a short-range communication directly between mobile devices, and on storing the messages in these devices for subsequent delivery to cloud-based services. An effective way to increase the number of messages that can be shared is to increase the contact duration. We thus introduce the Friendly-Sharing diffusion approach, where, during a contact, the users are aware of the time needed to interchange the messages stored in their buffers, and they can thus decide to wait more time in order to increase the message sharing probability. The performance of this approach is anyway closely related to the size of the buffer in the device. We therefore compare various policies either for the message selection at forwarding times and for message dropping when the buffer is full. We evaluate our proposal with a modified version of the Opportunistic Networking Environment (ONE) simulator and using real human mobility traces.

Texting Adolescents in Repeat DKA and Their Caregivers.

PubMed

Wagner, David V; Barry, Samantha; Teplitsky, Lena; Sheffield, Annan; Stoeckel, Maggie; Ogden, Jimmie D; Karkula, Elizabeth; Hartman, Alexandra; Duke, Danny C; Spiro, Kim; Harris, Michael A

2016-07-01

Text message interventions are feasible, preferable, and sometimes effective for youth with diabetes. However, few, if any studies, have examined the personalized use of text messages with youth repeatedly hospitalized for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and their caregivers. This study characterizes the use of personalized text messages in Novel Interventions in Children's Healthcare (NICH). Approximately 2 months of text messages sent to youth with repeat DKA and their caregivers were logged regarding the following text characteristics: (1) content, (2) intervention type, (3) timing, and (4) recipient characteristics. NICH interventionists sent 2.3 and 1.5 texts per day to patients and caregivers, respectively. Approximately 59% of outgoing texts occurred outside of typical business hours, and roughly 68% of texts contained some form of support and/or encouragement. The relation between type of intended intervention and day/time of text was significant, χ(2)(2, N = 5,808) = 266.93, P < .001. Interventionists were more likely to send behavioral intervention text messages outside of business hours, whereas they were more likely to send care coordination and case management text messages during business hours. To our knowledge, this is the first study to specifically categorize and describe the personalized use of text messages with youth repeatedly hospitalized for DKA and their caregivers. Findings indicate that a promising treatment program for these youth frequently used text interventions to deliver praise and encouragement to patients and caregivers alike, often outside of typical business hours, and tailored text content based on patient and caregiver characteristics. © 2016 Diabetes Technology Society.

Interest in technology-based and traditional smoking cessation programs among adult smokers in Ankara, Turkey

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Little is known about the demand for smoking cessation services in settings with high smoking prevalence rates. Furthermore, acceptability of text messaging and Internet as delivery mechanisms for smoking cessation programs in non-developed countries is under-reported. Given the cost effectiveness of technology-based programs, these may be more feasible to roll out in settings with limited public health resources relative to in-person programs. Findings 148 adult smokers took part in a community-based survey in Ankara, Turkey. Two in five (43%) respondents reported typically smoking their first cigarette within 30 minutes of waking. Many participants expressed a desire to quit smoking: 27% reported seriously thinking about quitting in the next 30 days; 53% reported at least one quit attempt in the past year. Two in five smokers wanting to quit reported they were somewhat or extremely like to try a smoking cessation program if it were accessible via text messaging (45%) or online (43%). Conclusions Opportunities for low-cost, high-reach, technology-based smoking cessation programs are under-utilized. Findings support the development and testing of these types of interventions for adult smokers in Turkey. PMID:21806793

Web App- and Text Message-Based Patient Education in Mohs Micrographic Surgery-A Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Hawkins, Spencer D; Koch, Sarah B; Williford, Phillip M; Feldman, Steven R; Pearce, Daniel J

2018-07-01

Consent and wound care (WC) videos are used for education in Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS). Postoperative text messaging is poorly studied. Develop and evaluate perioperative resources for MMS patients-video modules (DermPatientEd.com) and postoperative text messaging (DermTexts.com). A study was conducted on 90 MMS patients. Patients were randomized 1:1:1:1 to videos with text messages, videos-only, text messages-only, or control. Primary outcomes included preoperative anxiety and knowledge of MMS and postoperative care. The secondary outcome included helpfulness/preference of interventions. Patients experienced a 19% reduction in anxiety as measured by a visual analog scale after the MMS video (p = .00062). There was no difference in knowledge after the WC video (p = .21498). Patients were more likely to report the WC video "very helpful" when compared with the pamphlet in understanding postoperative WC (p = .0016). Patients in text messaging groups were not more likely to report the service as "very helpful" when compared with the pamphlet (p = .3566), but preferred to receive WC instructions by text message for future visits (p = .0001). These resources proved helpful and effective in reducing preoperative anxiety. Patients prefer text message-based WC instructions over pamphlets after experiencing the service, but do not find them more helpful.

Remote Usability Testing and Satisfaction with a Mobile Health Medication Inquiry System in CKD.

PubMed

Diamantidis, Clarissa J; Ginsberg, Jennifer S; Yoffe, Marni; Lucas, Lisa; Prakash, Divya; Aggarwal, Saurabh; Fink, Wanda; Becker, Stefan; Fink, Jeffrey C

2015-08-07

Inappropriate medication use is common in the care of patients with CKD. The feasibility of a simple mobile health tool designed to advise patients on safe medication usage in CKD was examined. Participants with predialysis CKD (defined as eGFR<60 ml/min per 1.73 m(2)) in the Safe Kidney Care Cohort Study were recruited for home usability testing of a novel medication inquiry system between January and September of 2013. Testing was through two mobile platforms: (1) short messaging service text or (2) personal digital assistant (e.g., iPod Touch). Twenty participants (one half assigned to one device and one half assigned to the other device) were enrolled and received an in-center tutorial on device usage before the end of the study visit. Participants were subsequently mailed three sample pill bottles with the name of randomly selected medications and asked to input these medications into the medication inquiry system. The medication inquiry system response options were as follows: (1) safe in CKD, (2) not safe in CKD, (3) use with caution/speak with your health care provider, or (4) error message (for an incorrectly inputted medication). Participants were asked to record the response issued by the medication inquiry system for each medication sent for usability testing. A user satisfaction survey was administered after completion of the protocol. All participants owned a mobile telephone, but few owned a smartphone. Of 60 total medication queries, there were only three recorded errors, two of which occurred in the short messaging service texting group. Overall satisfaction with the application was high, with slightly higher satisfaction noted in the personal digital assistant group compared with the short messaging service group. The mobile health medication inquiry system application had general ease of use and high acceptance across two platforms among individuals representative of the CKD population. Tailored mobile health technology may improve medication safety in CKD. Copyright © 2015 by the American Society of Nephrology.

The Impact of Personal and/or Close Relationship Experience on Memorable Messages about Breast Cancer and the Perceived Speech Acts of the Sender

PubMed Central

Smith, Sandi W.; Atkin, Charles; Skubisz, Christine M.; Munday, Samantha; Stohl, Cynthia

2009-01-01

Background Memorable messages and their speech acts (purposes of the messages) can promote protection against breast cancer and guide health behaviors. Methods Participants reported their personal, friends’, and relatives’ experiences with breast cancer and a memorable message about breast cancer if one came to mind. Those with a memorable message reported its perceived speech acts. Results Individuals who had personal and friend or relative experience with breast cancer were significantly more likely to recall memorable messages than other respondents. The most frequently perceived speech acts were providing facts, providing advice, and giving hope. Conclusion This information should be used to form messages in future breast cancer protection campaigns. PMID:19431030

Personalised electronic messages to improve sun protection in young adults.

PubMed

Mair, Sarah; Soyer, H Peter; Youl, Philippa; Hurst, Cameron; Marshall, Alison; Janda, Monika

2012-07-01

We studied the acceptability and feasibility of delivering sun protection messages via electronic media such as short message services (SMS) to people aged 18-40 years. An online survey was conducted using a pre-established panel of volunteers. We compared the characteristics of those who indicated that they would like to be alerted to the UV index, with those who would not, using bivariate logistic regression. Characteristics found to be associated with a desire to receive such advice were entered into a multivariate logistic regression analysis. The median age of the 141 participants was 34 years. Overall, 80% of participants agreed that they would like to receive some form of sun protection advice. Of these, 20% preferred to receive it via SMS and 42% via email. Willingness to receive electronic messages about the UV index was associated with being unsure about whether a suntanned person would look healthy and greater use of sun protection in the past. Careful attention to message framing and timing of message delivery, and focus on the short-term effects of sun exposure such as sunburn and skin ageing should increase the acceptability of such messages to young people. Sun protection messages delivered to young adults via electronic media appear to be feasible and acceptable.

Text Messaging to Communicate With Public Health Audiences: How the HIPAA Security Rule Affects Practice

PubMed Central

Karasz, Hilary N.; Eiden, Amy; Bogan, Sharon

2013-01-01

Text messaging is a powerful communication tool for public health purposes, particularly because of the potential to customize messages to meet individuals’ needs. However, using text messaging to send personal health information requires analysis of laws addressing the protection of electronic health information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule is written with flexibility to account for changing technologies. In practice, however, the rule leads to uncertainty about how to make text messaging policy decisions. Text messaging to send health information can be implemented in a public health setting through 2 possible approaches: restructuring text messages to remove personal health information and retaining limited personal health information in the message but conducting a risk analysis and satisfying other requirements to meet the HIPAA Security Rule. PMID:23409902

The Case for Using Personally Relevant and Emotionally Stimulating Gambling Messages as a Gambling Harm-Minimisation Strategy.

PubMed

Harris, Andrew; Parke, Adrian; Griffiths, Mark D

2018-01-01

Emotions typically exert powerful, enduring, and often predictable influences over decision-making. However, emotion-based decision-making is seen as a mediator of impulsive and reckless gambling behaviour, where emotion may be seen as the antithesis of controlled and rational decision-making, a proposition supported by recent neuroimaging evidence. The present paper argues that the same emotional mechanisms can be used to influence a gambler to cease gambling, by focusing their emotional decision-making on positive external and personally relevant factors, such as familial impact or longer term financial factors. Emotionally stimulating messages may also have the advantage of capturing attention above and beyond traditionally responsible gambling messaging. This is important given the highly emotionally aroused states often experienced by both gamblers and problem gamblers, where attentional activation thresholds for external stimuli such as messages may be increased.

Assessing Mobile Phone Access and Perceptions for Texting-Based mHealth Interventions Among Expectant Mothers and Child Caregivers in Remote Regions of Northern Kenya: A Survey-Based Descriptive Study

PubMed Central

Carmichael, Jason-Louis; Hapanna, Galgallo Waqo; Wangoo, Patrick Gikaria; Karanja, Sarah; Wanyama, Denis; Muhula, Samuel Opondo; Kyomuhangi, Lennie Bazira; Loolpapit, Mores; Wangalwa, Gilbert Bwire; Kinagwi, Koki; Lester, Richard Todd

2017-01-01

Background With a dramatic increase in mobile phone use in low- and middle-income countries, mobile health (mHealth) has great potential to connect health care services directly to participants enrolled and improve engagement of care. Rural and remote global settings may pose both significant challenges and opportunities. Objective The objective of our study was to understand the demographics, phone usage and ownership characteristics, and feasibility among patients in rural and remote areas of Kenya of having text messaging (short messaging service, SMS)-based mHealth intervention for improvements in antenatal care attendance and routine immunization among children in Northern Kenya. Methods A survey-based descriptive study was conducted between October 2014 and February 2015 at 8 health facilities in Northern Kenya as part of a program to scale up an mHealth service in rural and remote regions. The study was conducted at 6 government health facilities in Isiolo, Marsabit, and Samburu counties in remote and northern arid lands (NAL). Two less remote health facilities in Laikipia and Meru counties in more populated central highlands were included as comparison sites. Results A total of 284 participants were surveyed; 63.4% (180/284) were from NAL clinics, whereas 36.6% (104/284) were from adjacent central highland clinics. In the NAL, almost half (48.8%, 88/180) reported no formal education and 24.4% (44/180) self-identified as nomads. The majority of participants from both regions had access to mobile phone: 99.0% (103/104) of participants from central highlands and 82.1% (147/180) of participants from NAL. Among those who had access to a phone, there were significant differences in network challenges and technology literacy between the 2 regions. However, there was no significant difference in the proportion of participants from NAL and central highlands who indicated that they would like to receive a weekly SMS text message from their health care provider (90.0% vs 95.0%; P=.52). Overall, 92.0% (230/250) of participants who had access to a telephone said that they would like to receive a weekly SMS text message from their health care provider. Most phone users already spent the equivalent of 626 SMS text messages on mobile credit for personal use. Conclusions Despite the remoteness of northern Kenya’s NAL, the results indicate that the majority of pregnant women or care givers attending the maternal, newborn, and child health clinics have access to mobile phone and would like to receive text messages from their health care provider. mHealth programs, if designed appropriately for these settings, may be an innovative way for engaging women in care for improved maternal and newborn child health outcomes in order to achieve sustainable development goals. PMID:28137702

47 CFR 64.3100 - Restrictions on mobile service commercial messages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Restrictions on mobile service commercial messages. 64.3100 Section 64.3100 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON... Mobile Service Commercial Messages § 64.3100 Restrictions on mobile service commercial messages. (a) No...

The effect of minimum impact education on visitor spatial behavior in parks and protected areas: An experimental investigation using GPS-based tracking.

PubMed

Kidd, Abigail M; Monz, Christopher; D'Antonio, Ashley; Manning, Robert E; Reigner, Nathan; Goonan, Kelly A; Jacobi, Charles

2015-10-01

The unmanaged impacts of recreation and tourism can often result in unacceptable changes in resource conditions and quality of the visitor experience. Minimum impact visitor education programs aim to reduce the impacts of recreation by altering visitor behaviors. Specifically, education seeks to reduce impacts resulting from lack of knowledge both about the consequences of one's actions and impact-minimizing best practices. In this study, three different on-site minimum impact education strategies ("treatments") and a control condition were applied on the trails and summit area of Sargent Mountain in Acadia National Park, Maine. Treatment conditions were designed to encourage visitors to stay on marked trails and minimize off-trail travel. Treatments included a message delivered via personal contact, and both an ecological-based message and an amenity-based message posted on signs located alongside the trail. A control condition of current trail markings and directional signs was also assessed. The efficacy of the messaging was evaluated through the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking of visitor spatial behavior on/off trails. Spatial analysis of GPS tracks revealed statistically significant differences among treatments, with the personal contact treatment yielding significantly less dispersion of visitors on the mountain summit. Results also indicate that the signs deployed in the study were ineffective at limiting off-trail use beyond what can be accomplished with trail markers and directional signs. These findings suggest that personal contact by a uniformed ranger or volunteer may be the most effective means of message delivery for on-site minimum impact education. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Health promoting messages posted in Facebook by the health ministries of Brazil and Peru during an AIDS awareness campaign].

PubMed

Cadaxa, Aedê Gomes; Sousa, Maria Fátima de; Mendonça, Ana Valéria Machado

2015-12-01

To identify health promoting contents (information that can be transformed into decision-making resources to improve quality of life and the health of individuals or groups) in Facebook postings by the ministries of health in Brazil and Peru. This case study compared the messages published in Facebook by the ministries of health from Brazil and Peru during World AIDS Day. Content analysis was employed to identify health promoting contents in the messages posted between November 2013 and February 2014. A total of 105 messages were published on the topic of interest (37 from Peru and 68 from Brazil). In both cases, most messages focused on individuals, addressing the change or adoption of personal behaviors relating to the prevention and detection of HIV - 34 messages (50.0%) for Brazil and 17 (45.9%) for Peru. Twenty-one (30.9%) messages with a structural emphasis were published by Brazil and 14 (37.8%) by Peru, addressing the context of health care system organization, including HIV/ AIDS health policies, available services, access to HIV testing and initiatives to promote testing. Hybrid messages, including both emphases, were less frequent: 13 (19.1%) for Brazil and six (16.2%) for Peru. Health promoting contents were identified in hybrid messages, which provided resources to expand the understanding of individuals about the susceptibility to AIDS.

Mobile Link - a theory-based messaging intervention for improving sexual and reproductive health of female entertainment workers in Cambodia: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Brody, Carinne; Tuot, Sovannary; Chhoun, Pheak; Swendenman, Dallas; Kaplan, Kathryn C; Yi, Siyan

2018-04-19

In Cambodia, HIV prevalence is concentrated in key populations including among female entertainment workers (FEWs) who may engage in direct or indirect sex work. Reaching FEWs with sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services has been difficult because of their hidden and stigmatized nature. Mobile-phone-based interventions may be an effective way to reach this population and connect them with the existing services. This article describes study design and implementation of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a mobile health intervention (the Mobile Link) aiming to improve SRH and related outcomes among FEWs in Cambodia. A two-arm RCT will be used to determine the effectiveness of a mobile-phone-based text/voice messaging intervention. The intervention will be developed through a participatory process. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews have been conducted to inform and tailor behavior change theory-based text and voice messages. During the implementation phase, 600 FEWs will be recruited and randomly assigned into one of the two arms: (1) a control group and (2) a mobile phone message group (either text messages [SMS] or voice messages [VM], a delivery method chosen by participants). Participants in the control group will also receive a weekly monitoring survey, which will provide real-time information to implementing partners to streamline outreach efforts and be able to quickly identify geographic trends. The primary outcome measures will include self-reported HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing and treatment, condom use, contraceptive use, and gender-based violence (GBV). If the Mobile Link trial is successful, participants will report an increase in condom use, linkages to screening and treatment for HIV and STI, and contraception use as well as a reduction in GBV. This trial is unique in a number of ways. First, the option of participation mode (SMS or VM) allows participants to choose the message medium that best links them to services. Second, this is the first RCT of a mobile-phone-based behavior change intervention using SMS/VMs to support linkage to SRH services in Cambodia. Lastly, we are working with a hidden, hard-to-reach, and dynamic population with which existing methods of outreach have not been fully successful. Clinical trials.gov, NCT03117842 . Registered on 31 March 2017.

Mobile phone messaging for illicit drug and alcohol dependence: A systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Tofighi, Babak; Nicholson, Joseph M; McNeely, Jennifer; Muench, Frederick; Lee, Joshua D

2017-07-01

Mobile phone use has increased dramatically and concurrent with rapid developments in mobile phone-based health interventions. The integration of text messaging interventions promises to optimise the delivery of care for persons with substance dependence with minimal disruption to clinical workflows. We conducted a systematic review to assess the acceptability, feasibility and clinical impact of text messaging interventions for persons with illicit drug and alcohol dependence. Studies were required to evaluate the use of text messaging as an intervention for persons who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition criterion for a diagnosis of illicit drug and/or alcohol dependence. Authors searched for articles published to date in MEDLINE (pubmed.gov), the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, CINAHL, Google Scholar and PsychINFO. Eleven articles met the search criteria for this review and support the acceptability and feasibility of text messaging interventions for addressing illicit drug and alcohol dependence. Most studies demonstrated improved clinical outcomes, medication adherence and engagement with peer support groups. Text messaging interventions also intervened on multiple therapeutic targets such as appointment attendance, motivation, self-efficacy, relapse prevention and social support. Suggestions for future research are described, including intervention design features, clinician contact, privacy measures and integration of behaviour change theories. Text messaging interventions offer a feasible platform to address a range of substances (i.e. alcohol, methamphetamine, heroin and alcohol), and there is increasing evidence supporting further larger-scale studies. [Tofighi B, Nicholson JM, McNeely J, Muench F, Lee JD. Mobile phone messaging for illicit drug and alcohol dependence: A systematic review of the literature. Drug Alcohol Rev 2017;36:477-491]. © 2017 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

A carrier sensed multiple access protocol for high data base rate ring networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Foudriat, E. C.; Maly, Kurt J.; Overstreet, C. Michael; Khanna, S.; Paterra, Frank

1990-01-01

The results of the study of a simple but effective media access protocol for high data rate networks are presented. The protocol is based on the fact that at high data rates networks can contain multiple messages simultaneously over their span, and that in a ring, nodes used to detect the presence of a message arriving from the immediate upstream neighbor. When an incoming signal is detected, the node must either abort or truncate a message it is presently sending. Thus, the protocol with local carrier sensing and multiple access is designated CSMA/RN. The performance of CSMA/RN with TTattempt and truncate is studied using analytic and simulation models. Three performance factors, wait or access time, service time and response or end-to-end travel time are presented. The service time is basically a function of the network rate, it changes by a factor of 1 between no load and full load. Wait time, which is zero for no load, remains small for load factors up to 70 percent of full load. Response time, which adds travel time while on the network to wait and service time, is mainly a function of network length, especially for longer distance networks. Simulation results are shown for CSMA/RN where messages are removed at the destination. A wide range of local and metropolitan area network parameters including variations in message size, network length, and node count are studied. Finally, a scaling factor based upon the ratio of message to network length demonstrates that the results, and hence, the CSMA/RN protocol, are applicable to wide area networks.

Analysis and implementation of cross lingual short message service spam filtering using graph-based k-nearest neighbor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayu Cyntya Dewi, Dyah; Shaufiah; Asror, Ibnu

2018-03-01

SMS (Short Message Service) is on e of the communication services that still be the main choice, although now the phone grow with various applications. Along with the development of various other communication media, some countries lowered SMS rates to keep the interest of mobile users. It resulted in increased spam SMS that used by several parties, one of them for advertisement. Given the kind of multi-lingual documents in a message SMS, the Web, and others, necessary for effective multilingual or cross-lingual processing techniques is becoming increasingly important. The steps that performed in this research is data / messages first preprocessing then represented into a graph model. Then calculated using GKNN method. From this research we get the maximum accuracy is 98.86 with training data in Indonesian language and testing data in indonesian language with K 10 and threshold 0.001.

The Experiences of Newly Diagnosed Men Who Have Sex with Men Entering the HIV Care Cascade in Lima, Peru, 2015-2016: A Qualitative Analysis of Counselor-Participant Text Message Exchanges.

PubMed

Bayona, Erik; Menacho, Luis; Segura, Eddy R; Mburu, Gitau; Roman, Fernando; Tristan, Consuelo; Bromley, Elizabeth; Cabello, Robinson

2017-06-01

Mobile phone technology (mHealth) is a promising tool that has been used to improve HIV care in high-risk populations worldwide. Understanding patient perspectives of newly diagnosed men who have sex with men (MSM) in Lima, Peru during linkage and engagement in the HIV care continuum can help close the gaps in care following initial HIV diagnosis and ensure retention in continuous care. From June 2015 to March 2016, as part of a randomized controlled trial, 40 MSM participants were linked to care with an mHealth intervention within 3 months of HIV diagnosis at Via Libre clinic. For 12 weeks, participants agreed to receive weekly predetermined, standardized short message service (SMS), WhatsApp©, and/or Facebook© messages from an assigned HIV counselor. Text messaging was bi-directional, meaning participants could also send messages to their counselor at any time. In this qualitative study, we coded and thematically analyzed 947 SMS, 918 WhatsApp, and 2,694 Facebook bi-directional messages. Mean age of participants was 29.8 years (20-50); with 70 percent reporting some post-high school education and 73 percent self-identifying as homosexual. We identified six recurring themes that emerged from the data: (a) mental health symptoms; (b) coping behaviors; (c) interpersonal support; (d) physical symptoms; (e) HIV knowledge; and (f) care coordination. Participants sent text messages describing depressive symptoms and seeking mental health services during this initial stage of HIV care. For newly diagnosed MSM entering the HIV care continuum, a bi-directional mHealth intervention provided support to facilitate care while eliciting deeply personal mental and emotional states. Future interventions could benefit from using mHealth interventions as ancillary support for clinicians.

Individual differences in drivers' cognitive processing of road safety messages.

PubMed

Kaye, Sherrie-Anne; White, Melanie J; Lewis, Ioni M

2013-01-01

Using Gray and McNaughton's (2000) revised reinforcement sensitivity theory (r-RST), we examined the influence of personality on processing of words presented in gain-framed and loss-framed anti-speeding messages and how the processing biases associated with personality influenced message acceptance. The r-RST predicts that the nervous system regulates personality and that behaviour is dependent upon the activation of the behavioural activation system (BAS), activated by reward cues and the fight-flight-freeze system (FFFS), activated by punishment cues. According to r-RST, individuals differ in the sensitivities of their BAS and FFFS (i.e., weak to strong), which in turn leads to stable patterns of behaviour in the presence of rewards and punishments, respectively. It was hypothesised that individual differences in personality (i.e., strength of the BAS and the FFFS) would influence the degree of both message processing (as measured by reaction time to previously viewed message words) and message acceptance (measured three ways by perceived message effectiveness, behavioural intentions, and attitudes). Specifically, it was anticipated that, individuals with a stronger BAS would process the words presented in the gain-frame messages faster than those with a weaker BAS and individuals with a stronger FFFS would process the words presented in the loss-frame messages faster than those with a weaker FFFS. Further, it was expected that greater processing (faster reaction times) would be associated with greater acceptance for that message. Driver licence holding students (N=108) were recruited to view one of four anti-speeding messages (i.e., social gain-frame, social loss-frame, physical gain-frame, and physical loss-frame). A computerised lexical decision task assessed participants' subsequent reaction times to message words, as an indicator of the extent of processing of the previously viewed message. Self-report measures assessed personality and the three message acceptance measures. As predicted, the degree of initial processing of the content of the social gain-framed message mediated the relationship between the reward sensitive trait and message effectiveness. Initial processing of the physical loss-framed message partially mediated the relationship between the punishment sensitive trait and both message effectiveness and behavioural intention ratings. These results show that reward sensitivity and punishment sensitivity traits influence cognitive processing of gain-framed and loss-framed message content, respectively, and subsequently, message effectiveness and behavioural intention ratings. Specifically, a range of road safety messages (i.e., gain-frame and loss-frame messages) could be designed which align with the processing biases associated with personality and which would target those individuals who are sensitive to rewards and those who are sensitive to punishments. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Online text-based psychosocial intervention for Youth in Quebec].

PubMed

Thoër, Christine; Noiseux, Kathia; Siche, Fabienne; Palardy, Caroline; Vanier, Claire; Vrignaud, Caroline

In 2013, Tel-jeunes created a text messaging intervention program to reach youth aged 12 to 17 years on their cell phones. Tel-jeunes was the first in the country to offer a text-based brief psychosocial interventions performed by professional counselors. Researchers were contacted to document and evaluate the program. The research aimed to: 1) determine motives, contexts and issues that lead young people to use the SMS service; 2) document the characteristics of text-based brief intervention; and 3) assess the advantages and difficulties encountered by counselors who respounded to youth text-messages. We conducted a multimethod research from November 2013 to May 2014. We held four focus groups with 23 adolescents aged 15 to 17 who had or not used the SMS service, conducted a content analysis of a corpus of 13,236 text messages (or 601 conversations), and two focus groups with 11 Tel-jeunes counselors, just over a year after the implantation of the service. Our findings show that the SMS service meets youth needs. They identify text messaging to be their prefered mode of communication with Tel-jeunes when they need support or information. Moreover, the service reaches young people who would not have felt confortable to contact Tel-jeunes by phone. We identified three dominant issues in youths demands: romantic relationships, psychological health and sexuality. Perceived benefits of the service include anonimity and privacy (cell phone providing the ability to text anywhere). Youth participants also appreciated writing to counselors as they felt they had more time to think abouth their questions and answers to the counselor. Counselors were more ambivalent. They considered text-based intervention to be very effective and satisfactory to adress youth information requests, but reported difficulties when dealing with more complex problems or with mental health issues. They reported that text-based communication makes it more difficult to assess youth emotional states, found the discontinuity of text-based conversations very frustrating, and experienced problems when dealing with several youth at the same time. They also struggled with some the computer-based platform features. Finding suggest that text-based intervention are now essential to reach out to youth seeking for information and help. But, Tel-jeunes text-based service required adaptations of the intervention model. Adjustment were made by the managment team when implementing the service which required taking into account youth needs, engaging in a continuous dialogue with counselors and working with the suppliers of the text-based platform to improve its features. Futur challenges include reaching out for boys, conducting interventions with younger youth who feel confortable contacting the service by SMS, and managing urgent requests initiated via web text-messaging apps rather than mobile phones.

A strategy for selecting sexual partners believed to pose little/no risks for HIV: serosorting and its implications for HIV transmission.

PubMed

Eaton, Lisa A; Kalichman, Seth C; O'Connell, Daniel A; Karchner, William D

2009-10-01

A common HIV/AIDS risk reduction strategy among men who have sex with men (MSM) is to limit their unprotected sex partners to those who are of the same HIV status, a practice referred to as serosorting. Decisions to serosort for HIV risk reduction are based on personal impressions and beliefs, and there is limited guidance offered on this community derived strategy from public health services. This paper reviews research on serosorting for HIV risk reduction and offers an evidence-based approach to serosorting guidance. Following a comprehensive electronic and manual literature search, we reviewed 51 studies relating to the implications of serosorting. Studies showed that HIV negative MSM who select partners based on HIV status are inadvertently placing themselves at risk for HIV. Infrequent HIV testing, lack of HIV status disclosure, co-occurring sexually transmitted infections, and acute HIV infection impede the potential protective benefits of serosorting. Public health messages should continue to encourage reductions in numbers of sexual partners and increases in condom use. Risk reduction messages should also highlight the limitations of relying on one's own and partner's HIV status in making sexual risk decisions.

Friendly-Sharing: Improving the Performance of City Sensoring through Contact-Based Messaging Applications

PubMed Central

Herrera-Tapia, Jorge; Hernández-Orallo, Enrique; Tomás, Andrés; Manzoni, Pietro; Tavares Calafate, Carlos; Cano, Juan-Carlos

2016-01-01

Regular citizens equipped with smart devices are being increasingly used as “sensors” by Smart Cities applications. Using contacts among users, data in the form of messages is obtained and shared. Contact-based messaging applications are based on establishing a short-range communication directly between mobile devices, and on storing the messages in these devices for subsequent delivery to cloud-based services. An effective way to increase the number of messages that can be shared is to increase the contact duration. We thus introduce the Friendly-Sharing diffusion approach, where, during a contact, the users are aware of the time needed to interchange the messages stored in their buffers, and they can thus decide to wait more time in order to increase the message sharing probability. The performance of this approach is anyway closely related to the size of the buffer in the device. We therefore compare various policies either for the message selection at forwarding times and for message dropping when the buffer is full. We evaluate our proposal with a modified version of the Opportunistic Networking Environment (ONE) simulator and using real human mobility traces. PMID:27649209

Perceived Harm of Online Drug-Encouraging Messages: Third-Person Effect and Adolescents' Support for Rectifying Measures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Wan Chi; Lo, Ven-Hwei

2015-01-01

This study examines third-person perceptions (TPP) of two types of online messages--antisocial messages that encourage drug abuse and prosocial messages in the youth anti-drug campaign--and their relationship with support for three types of rectifying measures: restrictive, corrective, and promotional. A survey of 778 secondary school students…

Context, confidentiality, and consent in tailored health communications: a cautionary note.

PubMed

Orleans, C T

1999-01-01

This article highlights key contextual factors that emerge when the evolution of tailored health communications is viewed against the backdrop of dynamic changes in the nation's health care system--including the shift from fee-for-service medicine to managed care and the proliferation of direct-to-consumer and tailored marketing strategies in the pharmaceutical industry. It focuses on contextual variables with potential to significantly mediate the impact of personally tailored health advice--including those related to confidentiality, privacy, and informed consent and to the perceived aims, intents, and sources of tailored health messages. To protect the future of tailored health messages, more research attention must be given to defining these contextual factors and understanding the roles that they play and the ways in which they can be controlled to assure the best outcomes. Such research could point the way towards a set of empirical and ethical "best practices" based on a scientific understanding of how to maximize the benefits, and minimize the potential harms, of the widescale use of tailored health communications.

Feasibility and acceptability of SMS text messaging in a prostate cancer educational intervention for African American men.

PubMed

Le, Daisy; Holt, Cheryl L; Saunders, Darlene R; Wang, Min Qi; Coriolan, Annie; Savoy, Alma D; Slade, Jimmie L; Muwwakkil, Bettye; Atkinson, Nancy L

2016-12-01

African Americans' greater access to mobile phones makes short messaging service technology a promising complement to health promotion interventions. Short messaging service text messages were added to the Men's Prostate Awareness Church Training project, a men's health intervention for African American men. We report on the feasibility and acceptability of the use of short messaging service text messages in the intervention. Short messaging service text messages served as (1) workshop reminders; (2) post-workshop message reinforcement; (3) spiritual/motivational messages; and (4) participant retention. At workshop 4, over 65 percent of participants wished to continue receiving the messages. While there was an increase in recall over time, more than one-third of the participants did not recall receiving the 53 text messages. However, recall was considerably greater among men who attended the Men's Prostate Awareness Church Training workshops. Overall, the inclusion of text messages in health promotion interventions targeting mature African American men was found to be feasible and acceptable. © The Author(s) 2015.

I spy with my little eye: cognitive processing of framed physical activity messages.

PubMed

Bassett-Gunter, Rebecca L; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E; Martin Ginis, Kathleen A; Castelhano, Monica

2014-01-01

The primary purpose was to examine the relative cognitive processing of gain-framed versus loss-framed physical activity messages following exposure to health risk information. Guided by the Extended Parallel Process Model, the secondary purpose was to examine the relation between dwell time, message recall, and message-relevant thoughts, as well as perceived risk, personal relevance, and fear arousal. Baseline measures of perceived risk for inactivity-related disease and health problems were administered to 77 undergraduate students. Participants read population-specific health risk information while wearing a head-mounted eye tracker, which measured dwell time on message content. Perceived risk was then reassessed. Next, participants read PA messages while the eye tracker measured dwell time on message content. Immediately following message exposure, recall, thought-listing, fear arousal, and personal relevance were measured. Dwell time on gain-framed messages was significantly greater than loss-framed messages. However, message recall and thought-listing did not differ by message frame. Dwell time was not significantly related to recall or thought-listing. Consistent with the Extended Parallel Process Model, fear arousal was significantly related to recall, thought-listing, and personal relevance. In conclusion, gain-framed messages may evoke greater dwell time than loss-famed messages. However, dwell time alone may be insufficient for evoking further cognitive processing.

BrdsNBz: Sexually Experienced Teens More Likely to Use Sexual Health Text Message Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willoughby, Jessica Fitts

2015-01-01

Text messaging services are becoming an increasingly popular way to provide sexual health information to teens, but little is known about who uses such services. This study assessed whether teens at a greater risk for negative sexual health outcomes use a sexual health text message service. A text message service that connects teens with sexual…

Exploring Students' Acceptance of Team Messaging Services: The Roles of Social Presence and Motivation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Yong-Ming

2017-01-01

Team messaging services represent a type of cloud computing applications that support not only the messaging among users but also the collaboration in a team. Accordingly, team messaging services have great potential to facilitate students' collaboration. However, only few studies utilized such services to support students' collaboration and…

An AI-based communication system for motor and speech disabled persons: design methodology and prototype testing.

PubMed

Sy, B K; Deller, J R

1989-05-01

An intelligent communication device is developed to assist the nonverbal, motor disabled in the generation of written and spoken messages. The device is centered on a knowledge base of the grammatical rules and message elements. A "belief" reasoning scheme based on both the information from external sources and the embedded knowledge is used to optimize the process of message search. The search for the message elements is conceptualized as a path search in the language graph, and a special frame architecture is used to construct and to partition the graph. Bayesian "belief" reasoning from the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence is augmented to cope with time-varying evidence. An "information fusion" strategy is also introduced to integrate various forms of external information. Experimental testing of the prototype system is discussed.

A Comparison Between Phone-Based Psychotherapy With and Without Text Messaging Support In Between Sessions for Crisis Patients

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Few studies have tested whether individually tailored text messaging interventions have an effect on clinical outcomes when used to supplement traditional psychotherapy. This is despite the potential to improve outcomes through symptom monitoring, prompts for between-session activities, and psychoeducation. Objective The intent of the study was to explore the use of individually tailored between-session text messaging, or short message service (SMS), as an adjunct to telephone-based psychotherapy for consumers who present to the Emergency Department (ED) in situational and/or emotional crises. Methods Over a 4-month period, two therapists offered 68 prospective consumers of a telephone-based psychotherapy service individually tailored between-session text messaging alongside their telephone-based psychotherapy. Attendance and clinical outcomes (depression, anxiety, functional impairment) of those receiving messages were compared against a historical control group (n=157) who received telephone psychotherapy only. Results A total of 66% (45/68) of the consumers offered SMS accepted the intervention. A total of 432 messages were sent over the course of the trial, the majority involving some kind of psychoeducation or reminders to engage in therapy goals. There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes between consumers who received the SMS and those in the control group. There was a trend for participants in the intervention group to attend fewer sessions than those in the control group (mean 3.7, SD 1.9 vs mean 4.4, SD 2.3). Conclusions Both groups showed significant improvement over time. Individually tailored SMS were not found to improve clinical outcomes in consumers receiving telephone-based psychotherapy, but the study was underpowered, given the effect sizes noted and the significance level chosen. Given the ease of implementation and positive feedback from therapists and clients, individually tailored text messages should be explored further in future trials with a focus on enhancing the clinical impact of the tailored text messages, and utilizing designs with additional power to test for between-group effects. PMID:25295667

A comparison between phone-based psychotherapy with and without text messaging support in between sessions for crisis patients.

PubMed

Furber, Gareth; Jones, Gabrielle Margaret; Healey, David; Bidargaddi, Niranjan

2014-10-08

Few studies have tested whether individually tailored text messaging interventions have an effect on clinical outcomes when used to supplement traditional psychotherapy. This is despite the potential to improve outcomes through symptom monitoring, prompts for between-session activities, and psychoeducation. The intent of the study was to explore the use of individually tailored between-session text messaging, or short message service (SMS), as an adjunct to telephone-based psychotherapy for consumers who present to the Emergency Department (ED) in situational and/or emotional crises. Over a 4-month period, two therapists offered 68 prospective consumers of a telephone-based psychotherapy service individually tailored between-session text messaging alongside their telephone-based psychotherapy. Attendance and clinical outcomes (depression, anxiety, functional impairment) of those receiving messages were compared against a historical control group (n=157) who received telephone psychotherapy only. A total of 66% (45/68) of the consumers offered SMS accepted the intervention. A total of 432 messages were sent over the course of the trial, the majority involving some kind of psychoeducation or reminders to engage in therapy goals. There were no significant differences in clinical outcomes between consumers who received the SMS and those in the control group. There was a trend for participants in the intervention group to attend fewer sessions than those in the control group (mean 3.7, SD 1.9 vs mean 4.4, SD 2.3). Both groups showed significant improvement over time. Individually tailored SMS were not found to improve clinical outcomes in consumers receiving telephone-based psychotherapy, but the study was underpowered, given the effect sizes noted and the significance level chosen. Given the ease of implementation and positive feedback from therapists and clients, individually tailored text messages should be explored further in future trials with a focus on enhancing the clinical impact of the tailored text messages, and utilizing designs with additional power to test for between-group effects.

Public responses to flood warning messages: the Floodline service in Scotland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cranston, Michael; Geddes, Alistair; Black, Andrew; Ambler, Alice; Menmuir, Cordelia

2017-04-01

Over the past decade, efforts have been made to improve the national flood warning system in Scotland, with new capabilities in the underlying flood forecasting tools, as well as development of an active flood warning dissemination service. This paper focusses on the latter service, for which there are around 26,000 customers registered at present, and which saw over 300,000 individual messages being issued during recent floods in winter 2015/16. However, notwithstanding such promising signs of change, evidence of how (if at all) the flood warning messages disseminated by the service actually impacts on recipient behaviour remains more limited. For example, this includes knowledge of the extent to which the messages influence actions on flood preparedness and mitigation. In consequence, there are also ongoing questions over the cost-effectiveness of the service in its current format, and of its scalability to even larger numbers of recipients. This paper will present initial findings from the first detailed study of customer perceptions of the messages distributed via the Scottish flood warning system, officially known as Floodline. In particular, the primary focus will be on results generated from a web-based questionnaire survey of registered Floodline customers. The survey was designed to assess associations between multiple customer characteristics, including location and risk level, type of warning message received, prior experience of flooding, risk awareness, and demographics. The study was conducted for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, which is responsible for running the Floodline service. More broadly it resonates with current emphases on exploring effective means of hazard communication and encouraging public engagement in flood risk management.

Environment Agency England flood warning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strong, Chris; Walters, Mark; Haynes, Elizabeth; Dobson, Peter

2015-04-01

Context In England around 5 million homes are at risk of flooding. We invest significantly in flood prevention and management schemes but we can never prevent all flooding. Early alerting systems are fundamental to helping us reduce the impacts of flooding. The Environment Agency has had the responsibility for flood warning since 1996. In 2006 we invested in a new dissemination system that would send direct messages to pre-identified recipients via a range of channels. Since then we have continuously improved the system and service we offer. In 2010 we introduced an 'opt-out' service where we pre-registered landline numbers in flood risk areas, significantly increasing the customer base. The service has performed exceptionally well under intense flood conditions. Over a period of 3 days in December 2013, when England was experiencing an east coast storm surge, the system sent nearly 350,000 telephone messages, 85,000 emails and 70,000 text messages, with a peak call rate of around 37,000 per hour and 100% availability. The Floodline Warnings Direct (FWD) System FWD provides warnings in advance of flooding so that people at risk and responders can take action to minimise the impact of the flood. Warnings are sent via telephone, fax, text message, pager or e-mail to over 1.1 million properties located within flood risk areas in England. Triggers for issuing alerts and warnings include attained and forecast river levels and rainfall in some rapidly responding locations. There are three levels of warning: Flood Alert, Flood Warning and Severe Flood Warning, and a stand down message. The warnings can be updated to include relevant information to help inform those at risk. Working with our current provider Fujitsu, the system is under a programme of continuous improvement including expanding the 'opt-out' service to mobile phone numbers registered to at risk addresses, allowing mobile registration to the system for people 'on the move' and providing access to registration via third parties. The 'Future Flood Warning System' Our research shows that people want more choice on how they access and receive warnings. Many want a service tailored to their own risk, rather than that of their community. They also want more information about the forecast and the situation to that they can make decisions personal to their circumstances. Our future flood warning system will build upon the success of our existing service and will aim to: • provide our customers with a more flexible and personalised self-service approach which caters for the diverse range of user needs • alert people wherever they are, not just in properties • be flexible enough to respond to user feedback to make improvements and utilise new technology as it becomes available • provide real-time visualisation of system performance, to assist our flood response • capture greater levels of information from the recipients of our warnings • be efficient for operators of the system and utilise automation where relevant • take a risk based approach to resilience to provide the highest level of reliability when needed at a reduced cost

Creating and testing regulatory focus messages to enhance medication adherence.

PubMed

O'Connor, Ashley; Ladebue, Amy; Peterson, Jamie; Davis, Ryan; Jung Grant, Susan; McCreight, Marina; Lambert-Kerzner, Anne

2018-01-01

Objectives Strategies were explored to improve patient adherence to cardioprotective medications by borrowing from a motivational framework used in psychology, regulatory focus theory. The current study is part of a larger randomized control trial and was aimed at understanding what written educational messages, based on patients' regulatory focus tendency, resonated with each individual as a potential reminder to take medications. This study was also aimed at understanding why messages resonated with the patients. Methods Twenty veterans were tested for regulatory fitand presented with messages dependent on focus tendency. In-person semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect feedback of messages. An iterative analysis drawing primarily on matrix and reflexive team analyses was conducted. Result Six promotion and six prevention messages emerged, such as "team up with your provider to create a combination of medications to prevent illness" and "Live your best life - Take your medications". Five themes related to types of health messages that spoke to patients' regulatory fit were discovered: relatability; empowerment and control; philosophy on life; relationship with provider and medications; and vocabulary effect on the impact of messages. Discussion Motivational messages based on regulatory fit may be useful in improving patient medication adherence, leading to improved cardiovascular outcomes.

Supporting Parenting through Differentiated and Personalized Text-Messaging: Testing Effects on Learning during Kindergarten. CEPA Working Paper No. 16-18

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doss, Christopher; Fahle, Erin M.; Loeb, Susanna; York, Benjamin N.

2017-01-01

Recent studies show that texting-based interventions can produce educational benefits in children across a range of ages. We study the effects of a text-based program for kindergarten parents, distinguishing a general program from one that adds differentiation and personalization based on the child's developmental level. Children in the…

Can anti-speeding messages based on protection motivation theory influence reported speeding intentions?

PubMed

Glendon, A Ian; Walker, Britta L

2013-08-01

The study investigated the effects of anti-speeding messages based on protection motivation theory (PMT) components: severity, vulnerability, rewards, self-efficacy, response efficacy, and response cost, on reported speeding intentions. Eighty-three participants aged 18-25 years holding a current Australian driver's license completed a questionnaire measuring their reported typical and recent speeding behaviors. Comparisons were made between 18 anti-speeding messages used on Australian roads and 18 new anti-speeding messages developed from the PMT model. Participants reported their reactions to the 36 messages on the perceived effectiveness of the message for themselves and for the general population of drivers, and also the likelihood of themselves and other drivers driving within the speed limit after viewing each message. Overall the PMT model-derived anti-speeding messages were better than jurisdiction-use anti-speeding messages in influencing participants' reported intention to drive within the speed limit. Severity and vulnerability were the most effective PMT components for developing anti-speeding messages. Male participants reported significantly lower intention to drive within the speed limit than did female participants. However, males reported significantly higher intention to drive within the speed limit for PMT-derived messages compared with jurisdiction-based messages. Third-person effects were that males reported anti-speeding messages to be more effective for the general driving population than for themselves. Females reported the opposite effect - that all messages would be more effective for themselves than for the general driving population. Findings provided support for using a sound conceptual basis as an effective foundation for anti-speeding message development as well as for evaluating proposed anti-speeding messages on the target driver population. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Remote Asynchronous Message Service Gateway

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Shin-Ywan; Burleigh, Scott C.

2011-01-01

The Remote Asynchronous Message Service (RAMS) gateway is a special-purpose AMS application node that enables exchange of AMS messages between nodes residing in different AMS "continua," notionally in different geographical locations. JPL s implementation of RAMS gateway functionality is integrated with the ION (Interplanetary Overlay Network) implementation of the DTN (Delay-Tolerant Networking) bundle protocol, and with JPL s implementation of AMS itself. RAMS protocol data units are encapsulated in ION bundles and are forwarded to the neighboring RAMS gateways identified in the source gateway s AMS management information base. Each RAMS gateway has interfaces in two communication environments: the AMS message space it serves, and the RAMS network - the grid or tree of mutually aware RAMS gateways - that enables AMS messages produced in one message space to be forwarded to other message spaces of the same venture. Each gateway opens persistent, private RAMS network communication channels to the RAMS gateways of other message spaces for the same venture, in other continua. The interconnected RAMS gateways use these communication channels to forward message petition assertions and cancellations among themselves. Each RAMS gateway subscribes locally to all subjects that are of interest in any of the linked message spaces. On receiving its copy of a message on any of these subjects, the RAMS gateway node uses the RAMS network to forward the message to every other RAMS gateway whose message space contains at least one node that has subscribed to messages on that subject. On receiving a message via the RAMS network from some other RAMS gateway, the RAMS gateway node forwards the message to all subscribers in its own message space.

Task stressfulness moderates the effects of verbal person centeredness on cardiovascular reactivity: a dual-process account of the reactivity hypothesis.

PubMed

Bodie, Graham D

2012-01-01

This study sought to investigate the impact of person-centered comfort on cardiovascular reactivity and to test a recently developed dual-process theory of supportive message outcomes proposing that the impact of supportive communication is moderated by the motivation and ability to attend to message content. Participants (n = 179) completed a public speaking task that served to experimentally manipulate stress. During the preparation period, instant messages containing either low or high person-centered messages or containing no imbedded supportive message were sent. Results indicated that, in line with theoretical predictions, message content did influence mean arterial pressure and heart rate for participants exposed to moderate but not to low or high stress. Results are discussed in terms of the dual-process theory of supportive message outcomes, and the discussion offers both theoretical and practical implications of the research.

Two complementary personal medication management applications developed on a common platform: case report.

PubMed

Ross, Stephen E; Johnson, Kevin B; Siek, Katie A; Gordon, Jeffry S; Khan, Danish U; Haverhals, Leah M

2011-07-12

Adverse drug events are a major safety issue in ambulatory care. Improving medication self-management could reduce these adverse events. Researchers have developed medication applications for tethered personal health records (PHRs), but little has been reported about medication applications for interoperable PHRs. Our objective was to develop two complementary personal health applications on a common PHR platform: one to assist children with complex health needs (MyMediHealth), and one to assist older adults in care transitions (Colorado Care Tablet). The applications were developed using a user-centered design approach. The two applications shared a common PHR platform based on a service-oriented architecture. MyMediHealth employed Web and mobile phone user interfaces. Colorado Care Tablet employed a Web interface customized for a tablet PC. We created complementary medication management applications tailored to the needs of distinctly different user groups using common components. Challenges were addressed in multiple areas, including how to encode medication identities, how to incorporate knowledge bases for medication images and consumer health information, how to include supplementary dosing information, how to simplify user interfaces for older adults, and how to support mobile devices for children. These prototypes demonstrate the utility of abstracting PHR data and services (the PHR platform) from applications that can be tailored to meet the needs of diverse patients. Based on the challenges we faced, we provide recommendations on the structure of publicly available knowledge resources and the use of mobile messaging systems for PHR applications.

Some Features of Maritime Telex Service Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Barry

1995-01-01

This article analyzes four categories of English-language maritime telex service communication: (1) standard, system- generated messages; (2) standard procedures for transmitting messages; (3) nonstandard messages related to maritime mobile radio service (MMRS); and (4) nonstandard messages related to the organization, procedures, or equipment of…

A Text Message Delivered Smoking Cessation Intervention: The Initial Trial of TXT-2-Quit: Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Mobile technology offers the potential to deliver health-related interventions to individuals who would not otherwise present for in-person treatment. Text messaging (short message service, SMS), being the most ubiquitous form of mobile communication, is a promising method for reaching the most individuals. Objective The goal of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a smoking cessation intervention program delivered through text messaging. Methods Adult participants (N=60, age range 18-52 years) took part in a single individual smoking cessation counseling session, and were then randomly assigned to receive either daily non-smoking related text messages (control condition) or the TXT-2-Quit (TXT) intervention. TXT consisted of automated smoking cessation messages tailored to individual’s stage of smoking cessation, specialized messages provided on-demand based on user requests for additional support, and a peer-to-peer social support network. Generalized estimating equation analysis was used to assess the primary outcome (7-day point-prevalence abstinence) using a 2 (treatment groups)×3 (time points) repeated measures design across three time points: 8 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months. Results Smoking cessation results showed an overall significant group difference in 7-day point prevalence abstinence across all follow-up time points. Individuals given the TXT intervention, with higher odds of 7-day point prevalence abstinence for the TXT group compared to the Mojo group (OR=4.52, 95% CI=1.24, 16.53). However, individual comparisons at each time point did not show significant between-group differences, likely due to reduced statistical power. Intervention feasibility was greatly improved by switching from traditional face-to-face recruitment methods (4.7% yield) to an online/remote strategy (41.7% yield). Conclusions Although this study was designed to develop and provide initial testing of the TXT-2-Quit system, these initial findings provide promising evidence that a text-based intervention can be successfully implemented with a diverse group of adult smokers. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01166464; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01166464 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6IOE8XdE0). PMID:25098502

Marketing your equine practice.

PubMed

Magnus, Robert P

2009-12-01

The take-home message in marketing your equine practice is simple: understand your position in the target market and the buying behavior of your current and prospective customers. Time well spent on analysis and evaluation of options can maximize customer value in the services and products you offer. This allows you to capture profit and to attain your personal and professional goals as an equine practitioner.

Using Text Message Surveys to Evaluate a Mobile Sexual Health Question-and-Answer Service.

PubMed

Willoughby, Jessica Fitts; L'Engle, Kelly Ladin; Jackson, Kennon; Brickman, Jared

2018-01-01

Text message programs for sexual health are becoming increasingly popular as practitioners aim to meet youth on media they use frequently. Two-way mobile health (mHealth) interventions allow for feedback solicitation from participants. This study explores the use of a text message survey to assess demographics and program feedback from users of an adolescent sexual health text message question-and-answer service. Development and feasibility of the short-message service survey are discussed. The text message survey achieved a 43.9% response rate, which is comparable to response rates of surveys conducted via other methods. When compared to respondents who used the service and completed an online in-school questionnaire, text survey respondents were more likely to be female and older. They also reported higher service satisfaction. Results have implications for text message service providers and researchers. This article examines a community application of a new intervention strategy and research methodology.

Combined Quitline Counseling and Text Messaging for Smoking Cessation: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation.

PubMed

Boal, Ashley L; Abroms, Lorien C; Simmens, Samuel; Graham, Amanda L; Carpenter, Kelly M

2016-05-01

This study seeks to determine whether comprehensive quitline services combined with text messaging improve smoking cessation rates beyond those achieved by offering comprehensive quitline services alone. The study sample consisted of callers to the Alere Wellbeing, Inc, commercial quitline in 2012. A quasi-experimental design was implemented using propensity score matching to create the intervention and control groups. The intervention group consisted of those who were offered and accepted a text message intervention in addition to usual quitline services, while the control group consisted of those who were not offered the text message intervention. Analyses utilized baseline data collected at intake, program use data (eg, call history and text message use), and reports of smoking behaviors and program satisfaction collected 6 months after intake. Similar rates of 7-day abstinence were reported regardless of whether participants received combined multi-call quitline services plus text messaging (25.3%) or multi-call quitline services in isolation (25.5%), though those who received combined services reported higher treatment satisfaction (P < .05). Among those who received combined services, the number of text messages sent to the text message program predicted 7-day abstinence such that those who sent more text messages were less likely to report 7-day abstinence. Text messaging may not confer additional benefits over and above those received through multi-modal, multi-call quitline programs. Future research should investigate whether text messaging programs improve quit rates when combined with less intensive services such as single-call phone counseling. While the impact of quitline and text messaging services for smoking cessation have been examined in isolation, no study has explored the impact of combined services on smoking outcomes. This study examines the role of text messaging in combination with comprehensive quitline services including multi-call phone counseling, access to an interactive website and nicotine replacement therapy. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Text Messaging for Enhancement of Testing and Treatment for Tuberculosis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and Syphilis: A Survey of Attitudes Toward Cellular Phones and Healthcare

PubMed Central

Person, Anna K.; Blain, Michela L.M.; Jiang, Helen; Rasmussen, Petra W.

2011-01-01

Abstract Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors surrounding healthcare-related mobile phone use and text messaging among persons at risk for or infected with tuberculosis (TB) or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Methods: An anonymous survey was conducted in three groups of subjects: (1) HIV-infected persons attending an HIV clinic; (2) persons with latent TB infection at a public health clinic; and (3) persons presenting for TB, HIV, and syphilis screening at a community screening site. Results: Three hundred fifteen (n  = 315) persons responded to the survey, of whom 241 (76.5%) owned a cell phone. Cell phone owners were younger and more educated than nonowners. Transportation difficulty and forgetting appointments were cited as significant barriers by 34.2% and 39.5% of respondents, respectively. Fifty-six percent of subjects felt it would be acceptable to receive text message appointment reminders, and 33% felt that text message reminders to take medications would be acceptable. Younger age and cell phone ownership were significantly associated with acceptance of text message reminders. Black and Hispanic subjects were more likely to feel that text message reminders for appointments or medications were helpful than White subjects. Further, Black and Hispanic subjects, as well as subjects with lower educational attainment, were more receptive to healthcare-related educational text messages. Conclusions: Cell phones and text messaging were prevalent among our subjects attending HIV and TB clinics, and subjects were generally receptive to text messaging for healthcare-related communication. Interventions that explore the potential for text messaging to improve clinic attendance, medication adherence, and health knowledge should be explored. PMID:21457085

Personalized Messages That Promote Science Learning in Virtual Environments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moreno, Roxana; Mayer, Richard E.

2004-01-01

College students learned how to design the roots, stem, and leaves of plants to survive in five different virtual reality environments through an agent-based multimedia educational game. For each student, the agent used personalized speech (e.g., including I and you) or nonpersonalized speech (e.g., 3rd-person monologue), and the game was…

Exploring the use of mobile phone technology for the enhancement of the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV program in Nyanza, Kenya: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Jennings, Larissa; Ong'ech, John; Simiyu, Rogers; Sirengo, Martin; Kassaye, Seble

2013-12-05

Community-based mobile phone programs can complement gaps in clinical services for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in areas with poor infrastructure and personnel shortages. However, community and health worker perceptions on optimal mobile phone communication for PMTCT are underexplored. This study examined what specific content and forms of mobile communication are acceptable to support PMTCT. Qualitative methods using focus groups and in-depth interviews were conducted in two district hospitals in Nyanza Province, Kenya. A total of 45 participants were purposefully selected, including HIV-positive women enrolled in PMTCT, their male partners, community health workers, and nurses. Semi-structured discussion guides were used to elicit participants' current mobile phone uses for PMTCT and their perceived benefits and challenges. We also examined participants' views on platform design and gender-tailored short message service (SMS) messages designed to improve PMTCT communication and male involvement. Most participants had access to a mobile phone and prior experience receiving and sending SMS, although phone sharing was common among couples. Mobile phones were used for several health-related purposes, primarily as voice calls rather than texts. The perceived benefits of mobile phones for PMTCT included linking with health workers, protecting confidentiality, and receiving information and reminders. Men and women considered the gender-tailored SMS as a catalyst for improving PMTCT male involvement and couples' communication. However, informative messaging relayed safely to the intended recipient was critical. In addition, health workers emphasized the continual need for in-person counseling coupled with, rather than replaced by, mobile phone reinforcement. For all participants, integrated and neutral text messaging provided antenatally and postnatally was most preferred, although not all topics or text formats were equally acceptable. Given the ubiquity of mobile phones in Kenya and current health-related uses of mobile phones, a PMTCT mobile communications platform holds considerable potential. This pre-intervention assessment of community and health worker preferences yielded valuable information on the complexities of design and implementation. An effective PMTCT mobile platform engaging men and women will need to address contexts of non-disclosure, phone sharing, and linkages with existing community and facility-based services.

PASTE: patient-centered SMS text tagging in a medication management system.

PubMed

Stenner, Shane P; Johnson, Kevin B; Denny, Joshua C

2012-01-01

To evaluate the performance of a system that extracts medication information and administration-related actions from patient short message service (SMS) messages. Mobile technologies provide a platform for electronic patient-centered medication management. MyMediHealth (MMH) is a medication management system that includes a medication scheduler, a medication administration record, and a reminder engine that sends text messages to cell phones. The object of this work was to extend MMH to allow two-way interaction using mobile phone-based SMS technology. Unprompted text-message communication with patients using natural language could engage patients in their healthcare, but presents unique natural language processing challenges. The authors developed a new functional component of MMH, the Patient-centered Automated SMS Tagging Engine (PASTE). The PASTE web service uses natural language processing methods, custom lexicons, and existing knowledge sources to extract and tag medication information from patient text messages. A pilot evaluation of PASTE was completed using 130 medication messages anonymously submitted by 16 volunteers via a website. System output was compared with manually tagged messages. Verified medication names, medication terms, and action terms reached high F-measures of 91.3%, 94.7%, and 90.4%, respectively. The overall medication name F-measure was 79.8%, and the medication action term F-measure was 90%. Other studies have demonstrated systems that successfully extract medication information from clinical documents using semantic tagging, regular expression-based approaches, or a combination of both approaches. This evaluation demonstrates the feasibility of extracting medication information from patient-generated medication messages.

Social Inference Through Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oulasvirta, Antti

Awareness cues are computer-mediated, real-time indicators of people’s undertakings, whereabouts, and intentions. Already in the mid-1970 s, UNIX users could use commands such as “finger” and “talk” to find out who was online and to chat. The small icons in instant messaging (IM) applications that indicate coconversants’ presence in the discussion space are the successors of “finger” output. Similar indicators can be found in online communities, media-sharing services, Internet relay chat (IRC), and location-based messaging applications. But presence and availability indicators are only the tip of the iceberg. Technological progress has enabled richer, more accurate, and more intimate indicators. For example, there are mobile services that allow friends to query and follow each other’s locations. Remote monitoring systems developed for health care allow relatives and doctors to assess the wellbeing of homebound patients (see, e.g., Tang and Venables 2000). But users also utilize cues that have not been deliberately designed for this purpose. For example, online gamers pay attention to other characters’ behavior to infer what the other players are like “in real life.” There is a common denominator underlying these examples: shared activities rely on the technology’s representation of the remote person. The other human being is not physically present but present only through a narrow technological channel.

Assessing Mobile Phone Access and Perceptions for Texting-Based mHealth Interventions Among Expectant Mothers and Child Caregivers in Remote Regions of Northern Kenya: A Survey-Based Descriptive Study.

PubMed

Kazi, Abdul Momin; Carmichael, Jason-Louis; Hapanna, Galgallo Waqo; Wangoo, Patrick Gikaria; Karanja, Sarah; Wanyama, Denis; Muhula, Samuel Opondo; Kyomuhangi, Lennie Bazira; Loolpapit, Mores; Wangalwa, Gilbert Bwire; Kinagwi, Koki; Lester, Richard Todd

2017-01-30

With a dramatic increase in mobile phone use in low- and middle-income countries, mobile health (mHealth) has great potential to connect health care services directly to participants enrolled and improve engagement of care. Rural and remote global settings may pose both significant challenges and opportunities. The objective of our study was to understand the demographics, phone usage and ownership characteristics, and feasibility among patients in rural and remote areas of Kenya of having text messaging (short messaging service, SMS)-based mHealth intervention for improvements in antenatal care attendance and routine immunization among children in Northern Kenya. A survey-based descriptive study was conducted between October 2014 and February 2015 at 8 health facilities in Northern Kenya as part of a program to scale up an mHealth service in rural and remote regions. The study was conducted at 6 government health facilities in Isiolo, Marsabit, and Samburu counties in remote and northern arid lands (NAL). Two less remote health facilities in Laikipia and Meru counties in more populated central highlands were included as comparison sites. A total of 284 participants were surveyed; 63.4% (180/284) were from NAL clinics, whereas 36.6% (104/284) were from adjacent central highland clinics. In the NAL, almost half (48.8%, 88/180) reported no formal education and 24.4% (44/180) self-identified as nomads. The majority of participants from both regions had access to mobile phone: 99.0% (103/104) of participants from central highlands and 82.1% (147/180) of participants from NAL. Among those who had access to a phone, there were significant differences in network challenges and technology literacy between the 2 regions. However, there was no significant difference in the proportion of participants from NAL and central highlands who indicated that they would like to receive a weekly SMS text message from their health care provider (90.0% vs 95.0%; P=.52). Overall, 92.0% (230/250) of participants who had access to a telephone said that they would like to receive a weekly SMS text message from their health care provider. Most phone users already spent the equivalent of 626 SMS text messages on mobile credit for personal use. Despite the remoteness of northern Kenya's NAL, the results indicate that the majority of pregnant women or care givers attending the maternal, newborn, and child health clinics have access to mobile phone and would like to receive text messages from their health care provider. mHealth programs, if designed appropriately for these settings, may be an innovative way for engaging women in care for improved maternal and newborn child health outcomes in order to achieve sustainable development goals. ©Abdul Momin Kazi, Jason-Louis Carmichael, Galgallo Waqo Hapanna, Patrick Gikaria Wangoo, Sarah Karanja, Denis Wanyama, Samuel Opondo Muhula, Lennie Bazira Kyomuhangi, Mores Loolpapit, Gilbert Bwire Wangalwa, Koki Kinagwi, Richard Todd Lester. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 30.01.2017.

Sending and Receiving Text Messages with Sexual Content: Relations with Early Sexual Activity and Borderline Personality Features in Late Adolescence

PubMed Central

Brinkley, Dawn Y.; Ackerman, Robert A.; Ehrenreich, Samuel E.; Underwood, Marion K.

2017-01-01

This research examined adolescents’ written text messages with sexual content to investigate how sexting relates to sexual activity and borderline personality features. Participants (N = 181, 85 girls) completed a measure of borderline personality features prior to 10th grade and were subsequently given smartphones configured to capture the content of their text messages. Four days of text messaging were micro-coded for content related to sex. Following 12th grade, participants reported on their sexual activity and again completed a measure of borderline personality features. Results showed that engaging in sexting at age 16 was associated with reporting an early sexual debut, having sexual intercourse experience, having multiple sex partners, and engaging in drug use in combination with sexual activity two years later. Girls engaging in sex talk were more likely to have had sexual intercourse by age 18. Text messaging about hypothetical sex in grade 10 also predicted borderline personality features at age 18. These findings suggest that sending text messages with sexual content poses risks for adolescents. Programs to prevent risky sexual activity and to promote psychological health could be enhanced by teaching adolescents to use digital communication responsibly. PMID:28824224

Sending and Receiving Text Messages with Sexual Content: Relations with Early Sexual Activity and Borderline Personality Features in Late Adolescence.

PubMed

Brinkley, Dawn Y; Ackerman, Robert A; Ehrenreich, Samuel E; Underwood, Marion K

2017-05-01

This research examined adolescents' written text messages with sexual content to investigate how sexting relates to sexual activity and borderline personality features. Participants (N = 181, 85 girls) completed a measure of borderline personality features prior to 10 th grade and were subsequently given smartphones configured to capture the content of their text messages. Four days of text messaging were micro-coded for content related to sex. Following 12 th grade, participants reported on their sexual activity and again completed a measure of borderline personality features. Results showed that engaging in sexting at age 16 was associated with reporting an early sexual debut, having sexual intercourse experience, having multiple sex partners, and engaging in drug use in combination with sexual activity two years later. Girls engaging in sex talk were more likely to have had sexual intercourse by age 18. Text messaging about hypothetical sex in grade 10 also predicted borderline personality features at age 18. These findings suggest that sending text messages with sexual content poses risks for adolescents. Programs to prevent risky sexual activity and to promote psychological health could be enhanced by teaching adolescents to use digital communication responsibly.

Design and implementation considerations of a MSAT packet data network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karam, Fouad G.; Hearn, Terry; Rohr, Doug; Guibord, Arthur F.

1993-01-01

The Mobile Data System, which is intended to provide for packet switched data services is currently under development. The system is based on a star network topology consisting of a centralized Data Hub (DH) serving a large number of mobile terminals. Through the Data Hub, end-to-end connections can be established between terrestrial users on public or private data networks and mobile users. The MDS network will be capable of offering a variety of services some of which are based on the standard X.25 network interface protocol, and others optimized for short messages and broadcast messages. A description of these services and the trade-offs in the DH design are presented.

A framework for implementing data services in multi-service mobile satellite systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ali, Mohammed O.; Leung, Victor C. M.; Spolsky, Andrew I.

1988-01-01

Mobile satellite systems being planned for introduction in the early 1990s are expected to be invariably of the multi-service type. Mobile Telephone Service (MTS), Mobile Radio Service (MRS), and Mobile Data Service (MDS) are the major classifications used to categorize the many user applications to be supported. The MTS and MRS services encompass circuit-switched voice communication applications, and may be efficiently implemented using a centralized Demand-Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) scheme. Applications under the MDS category are, on the other hand, message-oriented and expected to vary widely in characteristics; from simplex mode short messaging applications to long duration, full-duplex interactive data communication and large file transfer applications. For some applications under this service category, the conventional circuit-based DAMA scheme may prove highly inefficient due to the long time required to set up and establish communication links relative to the actual message transmission time. It is proposed that by defining a set of basic bearer services to be supported in MDS and optimizing their transmission and access schemes independent of the MTS and MRS services, the MDS applications can be more efficiently integrated into the multi-service design of mobile satellite systems.

A framework for implementing data services in multi-service mobile satellite systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Mohammed O.; Leung, Victor C. M.; Spolsky, Andrew I.

1988-05-01

Mobile satellite systems being planned for introduction in the early 1990s are expected to be invariably of the multi-service type. Mobile Telephone Service (MTS), Mobile Radio Service (MRS), and Mobile Data Service (MDS) are the major classifications used to categorize the many user applications to be supported. The MTS and MRS services encompass circuit-switched voice communication applications, and may be efficiently implemented using a centralized Demand-Assigned Multiple Access (DAMA) scheme. Applications under the MDS category are, on the other hand, message-oriented and expected to vary widely in characteristics; from simplex mode short messaging applications to long duration, full-duplex interactive data communication and large file transfer applications. For some applications under this service category, the conventional circuit-based DAMA scheme may prove highly inefficient due to the long time required to set up and establish communication links relative to the actual message transmission time. It is proposed that by defining a set of basic bearer services to be supported in MDS and optimizing their transmission and access schemes independent of the MTS and MRS services, the MDS applications can be more efficiently integrated into the multi-service design of mobile satellite systems.

Targeting HIV prevention messaging to a new generation of gay, bisexual, and other young men who have sex with men.

PubMed

Kingdon, Molly J; Storholm, Erik David; Halkitis, Perry N; Jones, Donovan C; Moeller, Robert W; Siconolfi, Daniel; Solomon, Todd M

2013-01-01

HIV prevention messaging has been shown to reduce or delay high-risk sexual behaviors in young men who have sex with men (YMSM). Since the onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a new generation of YMSM has come of age during an evolution in communication modalities. Because both these communication technologies and this new generation remain understudied, the authors investigated the manner in which YMSM interact with HIV prevention messaging. In particular, the authors examined 6 venues in which YMSM are exposed to, pay attention to, and access HIV prevention information: the Internet, bars/dance clubs, print media, clinics/doctors' offices, community centers/agencies, and educational classes. Data were drawn from a community-based sample of 481 racially and ethnically diverse YMSM from New York City. Significant differences in exposure to HIV prevention messaging venues emerged with respect to age, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Attention paid to HIV prevention messages in various venues differed by age and sexual orientation. Across all venues, multivariate modeling indicated YMSM were more likely to access HIV messaging from the same venues at which they paid attention, with some variability explained by person characteristics (age and perceived family socioeconomic status). This suggests that the one-size-fits-all approach does not hold true, and both the venue and person characteristics must be considered when generating and disseminating HIV prevention messaging.

Scalable and Resilient Middleware to Handle Information Exchange during Environment Crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tao, R.; Poslad, S.; Moßgraber, J.; Middleton, S.; Hammitzsch, M.

2012-04-01

The EU FP7 TRIDEC project focuses on enabling real-time, intelligent, information management of collaborative, complex, critical decision processes for earth management. A key challenge is to promote a communication infrastructure to facilitate interoperable environment information services during environment events and crises such as tsunamis and drilling, during which increasing volumes and dimensionality of disparate information sources, including sensor-based and human-based ones, can result, and need to be managed. Such a system needs to support: scalable, distributed messaging; asynchronous messaging; open messaging to handling changing clients such as new and retired automated system and human information sources becoming online or offline; flexible data filtering, and heterogeneous access networks (e.g., GSM, WLAN and LAN). In addition, the system needs to be resilient to handle the ICT system failures, e.g. failure, degradation and overloads, during environment events. There are several system middleware choices for TRIDEC based upon a Service-oriented-architecture (SOA), Event-driven-Architecture (EDA), Cloud Computing, and Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). In an SOA, everything is a service (e.g. data access, processing and exchange); clients can request on demand or subscribe to services registered by providers; more often interaction is synchronous. In an EDA system, events that represent significant changes in state can be processed simply, or as streams or more complexly. Cloud computing is a virtualization, interoperable and elastic resource allocation model. An ESB, a fundamental component for enterprise messaging, supports synchronous and asynchronous message exchange models and has inbuilt resilience against ICT failure. Our middleware proposal is an ESB based hybrid architecture model: an SOA extension supports more synchronous workflows; EDA assists the ESB to handle more complex event processing; Cloud computing can be used to increase and decrease the ESB resources on demand. To reify this hybrid ESB centric architecture, we will adopt two complementary approaches: an open source one for scalability and resilience improvement while a commercial one can be used for ultra-speed messaging, whilst we can bridge between these two to support interoperability. In TRIDEC, to manage such a hybrid messaging system, overlay and underlay management techniques will be adopted. The managers (both global and local) will collect, store and update status information (e.g. CPU utilization, free space, number of clients) and balance the usage, throughput, and delays to improve resilience and scalability. The expected resilience improvement includes dynamic failover, self-healing, pre-emptive load balancing, and bottleneck prediction while the expected improvement for scalability includes capacity estimation, Http Bridge, and automatic configuration and reconfiguration (e.g. add or delete clients and servers).

Use and acceptance of electronic communication by patients with multiple sclerosis: a multicenter questionnaire study.

PubMed

Haase, Rocco; Schultheiss, Thorsten; Kempcke, Raimar; Thomas, Katja; Ziemssen, Tjalf

2012-10-15

The number of multiple sclerosis (MS) information websites, online communities, and Web-based health education programs has been increasing. However, MS patients' willingness to use new ways of communication, such as websites, mobile phone application, short message service, or email with their physician, remains unknown. We designed a questionnaire to evaluate the a priori use of electronic communication methods by MS patients and to assess their acceptance of such tools for communication with their health care providers. We received complete data from 586 MS patients aged between 17 and 73 years. Respondents were surveyed in outpatient clinics across Germany using a novel paper-and-pencil questionnaire. In addition to demographics, the survey items queried frequency of use of, familiarity with, and comfort with using computers, websites, email, and mobile phones. About 90% of all MS patients used a personal computer (534/586) and the Internet (527/586) at least once a week, 87.0% (510/586) communicated by email, and 85.6% (488/570) communicated by mobile phone. When asked about their comfort with using electronic communication methods for communication with health care providers, 20.5% (120/586) accepted communication by mobile Internet application or short message service via mobile phone, 41.0% (240/586) by websites, 54.3% (318/586) by email service, and 67.8% (397/586) by at least one type of electronic communication. The level of a priori use was the best predictor for the acceptance of electronic communication with health care providers. Patients who reported already searching online for health information (odds ratio 2.4, P < .001) and who had already communicated with a physician through a website (odds ratio 3.3, P = .03) reported higher acceptance for Web-based communication. Patients who already scheduled appointments with their mobile phones (odds ratio 2.1, P = .002) were more likely to accept the use of mobile phone applications or short message service for communicating with their physician. The majority of MS patients seen at specialist centers already use modern communication technology regularly. New forms of electronic communication appear to have high levels of acceptance for exchanging information about MS between patients and health care providers. Such methods should be integrated into eHealth services such as electronic health records and patient relationship management systems.

Message framing and defensive processing: a cultural examination.

PubMed

Ko, Deborah M; Kim, Heejung S

2010-01-01

Past research has shown that health messages on safer sexual practices that focus on relational consequences are more persuasive than messages that focus on personal consequences. However, we theorize that it is defensiveness against personal risk framing that threatens the self among people from more individualistic cultures. Two studies tested this idea. Study 1 showed that European Americans were less persuaded by personal framing than by relational framing but that this pattern was not found for Asian Americans, who are more collectivistic. Study 2 showed that these defensive patterns were eliminated among European American participants when a person's self-image was affirmed. These results suggest defensive processes as the mechanism behind the differences in message framing effectiveness and motivate a closer look at cultural patterns.

The recording quizboard: a device for evaluating interpretive services.

Treesearch

J. Alan Wagar

1972-01-01

Describes design and use of recording quizboard which records right and wrong answers to questions based on visitor center exhibits. This helps determine how well exhibit messages are reaching visitors. Initial results indicate that taped messages are more effective than those a visitor must read.

Basic Functional Capabilities for a Military Message Processing Service

DTIC Science & Technology

1974-09-01

AD-AiI1 166 BASIC FUNCTIONA’. CAPABILITIES FOR A MILITARY MESSAGE PROCESSING SERVICE Ronald Tugender, et al University of Southern California...Itte) S. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED BASIC FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES FOR A Research Report MILITARY MESSAGE PROCESSING SERVICE 6. PERFORMING ONG...WOROD (Conionwo m trevre aide If tneeoooy arm idmentify by egekA INber) automated message processing , command and control, writer-to-reader service

Can anonymous posters on medical forums be reidentified?

PubMed

Bobicev, Victoria; Sokolova, Marina; El Emam, Khaled; Jafer, Yasser; Dewar, Brian; Jonker, Elizabeth; Matwin, Stan

2013-10-03

Participants in medical forums often reveal personal health information about themselves in their online postings. To feel comfortable revealing sensitive personal health information, some participants may hide their identity by posting anonymously. They can do this by using fake identities, nicknames, or pseudonyms that cannot readily be traced back to them. However, individual writing styles have unique features and it may be possible to determine the true identity of an anonymous user through author attribution analysis. Although there has been previous work on the authorship attribution problem, there has been a dearth of research on automated authorship attribution on medical forums. The focus of the paper is to demonstrate that character-based author attribution works better than word-based methods in medical forums. The goal was to build a system that accurately attributes authorship of messages posted on medical forums. The Authorship Attributor system uses text analysis techniques to crawl medical forums and automatically correlate messages written by the same authors. Authorship Attributor processes unstructured texts regardless of the document type, context, and content. The messages were labeled by nicknames of the forum participants. We evaluated the system's performance through its accuracy on 6000 messages gathered from 2 medical forums on an in vitro fertilization (IVF) support website. Given 2 lists of candidate authors (30 and 50 candidates, respectively), we obtained an F score accuracy in detecting authors of 75% to 80% on messages containing 100 to 150 words on average, and 97.9% on longer messages containing at least 300 words. Authorship can be successfully detected in short free-form messages posted on medical forums. This raises a concern about the meaningfulness of anonymous posting on such medical forums. Authorship attribution tools can be used to warn consumers wishing to post anonymously about the likelihood of their identity being determined.

Communicating with the workforce during emergencies: developing an employee text messaging program in a local public health setting.

PubMed

Karasz, Hilary N; Bogan, Sharon; Bosslet, Lindsay

2014-01-01

Short message service (SMS) text messaging can be useful for communicating information to public health employees and improving workforce situational awareness during emergencies. We sought to understand how the 1,500 employees at Public Health--Seattle & King County, Washington, perceived barriers to and benefits of participation in a voluntary, employer-based SMS program. Based on employee feedback, we developed the system, marketed it, and invited employees to opt in. The system was tested during an ice storm in January 2012. Employee concerns about opting into an SMS program included possible work encroachment during non-work time and receiving excessive irrelevant messages. Employees who received messages during the weather event reported high levels of satisfaction and perceived utility from the program. We conclude that text messaging is a feasible form of communication with employees during emergencies. Care should be taken to design and deploy a program that maximizes employee satisfaction.

Fundamentals for Future Mobile-Health (mHealth): A Systematic Review of Mobile Phone and Web-Based Text Messaging in Mental Health

PubMed Central

Baca-García, Enrique; Brandt, Sara; Walter, Michel; Courtet, Philippe

2016-01-01

Background Mobile phone text messages (short message service, SMS) are used pervasively as a form of communication. Almost 100% of the population uses text messaging worldwide and this technology is being suggested as a promising tool in psychiatry. Text messages can be sent either from a classic mobile phone or a web-based application. Reviews are needed to better understand how text messaging can be used in mental health care and other fields of medicine. Objective The objective of the study was to review the literature regarding the use of mobile phone text messaging in mental health care. Methods We conducted a thorough literature review of studies involving text messaging in health care management. Searches included PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science databases on May 25, 2015. Studies reporting the use of text messaging as a tool in managing patients with mental health disorders were included. Given the heterogeneity of studies, this review was summarized using a descriptive approach. Results From 677 initial citations, 36 studies were included in the review. Text messaging was used in a wide range of mental health situations, notably substance abuse (31%), schizophrenia (22%), and affective disorders (17%). We identified four ways in which text messages were used: reminders (14%), information (17%), supportive messages (42%), and self-monitoring procedures (42%). Applications were sometimes combined. Conclusions We report growing interest in text messaging since 2006. Text messages have been proposed as a health care tool in a wide spectrum of psychiatric disorders including substance abuse, schizophrenia, affective disorders, and suicide prevention. Most papers described pilot studies, while some randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were also reported. Overall, a positive attitude toward text messages was reported. RCTs reported improved treatment adherence and symptom surveillance. Other positive points included an increase in appointment attendance and in satisfaction with management and health care services. Insight into message content, preventative strategies, and innovative approaches derived from the mental health field may be applicable in other medical specialties. PMID:27287668

Fundamentals for Future Mobile-Health (mHealth): A Systematic Review of Mobile Phone and Web-Based Text Messaging in Mental Health.

PubMed

Berrouiguet, Sofian; Baca-García, Enrique; Brandt, Sara; Walter, Michel; Courtet, Philippe

2016-06-10

Mobile phone text messages (short message service, SMS) are used pervasively as a form of communication. Almost 100% of the population uses text messaging worldwide and this technology is being suggested as a promising tool in psychiatry. Text messages can be sent either from a classic mobile phone or a web-based application. Reviews are needed to better understand how text messaging can be used in mental health care and other fields of medicine. The objective of the study was to review the literature regarding the use of mobile phone text messaging in mental health care. We conducted a thorough literature review of studies involving text messaging in health care management. Searches included PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Scopus, Embase and Web of Science databases on May 25, 2015. Studies reporting the use of text messaging as a tool in managing patients with mental health disorders were included. Given the heterogeneity of studies, this review was summarized using a descriptive approach. From 677 initial citations, 36 studies were included in the review. Text messaging was used in a wide range of mental health situations, notably substance abuse (31%), schizophrenia (22%), and affective disorders (17%). We identified four ways in which text messages were used: reminders (14%), information (17%), supportive messages (42%), and self-monitoring procedures (42%). Applications were sometimes combined. We report growing interest in text messaging since 2006. Text messages have been proposed as a health care tool in a wide spectrum of psychiatric disorders including substance abuse, schizophrenia, affective disorders, and suicide prevention. Most papers described pilot studies, while some randomized clinical trials (RCTs) were also reported. Overall, a positive attitude toward text messages was reported. RCTs reported improved treatment adherence and symptom surveillance. Other positive points included an increase in appointment attendance and in satisfaction with management and health care services. Insight into message content, preventative strategies, and innovative approaches derived from the mental health field may be applicable in other medical specialties.

Risk analysis of information security in a mobile instant messaging and presence system for healthcare.

PubMed

Bønes, Erlend; Hasvold, Per; Henriksen, Eva; Strandenaes, Thomas

2007-09-01

Instant messaging (IM) is suited for immediate communication because messages are delivered almost in real time. Results from studies of IM use in enterprise work settings make us believe that IM based services may prove useful also within the healthcare sector. However, today's public instant messaging services do not have the level of information security required for adoption of IM in healthcare. We proposed MedIMob, our own architecture for a secure enterprise IM service for use in healthcare. MedIMob supports IM clients on mobile devices in addition to desktop based clients. Security threats were identified in a risk analysis of the MedIMob architecture. The risk analysis process consists of context identification, threat identification, analysis of consequences and likelihood, risk evaluation, and proposals for risk treatment. The risk analysis revealed a number of potential threats to the information security of a service like this. Many of the identified threats are general when dealing with mobile devices and sensitive data; others are threats which are more specific to our service and architecture. Individual threats identified in the risks analysis are discussed and possible counter measures presented. The risk analysis showed that most of the proposed risk treatment measures must be implemented to obtain an acceptable risk level; among others blocking much of the additional functionality of the smartphone. To conclude on the usefulness of this IM service, it will be evaluated in a trial study of the human-computer interaction. Further work also includes an improved design of the proposed MedIMob architecture. 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd

What Are Health-Related Users Tweeting? A Qualitative Content Analysis of Health-Related Users and Their Messages on Twitter

PubMed Central

DeCamp, Matthew; Dredze, Mark; Chisolm, Margaret S; Berger, Zackary D

2014-01-01

Background Twitter is home to many health professionals who send messages about a variety of health-related topics. Amid concerns about physicians posting inappropriate content online, more in-depth knowledge about these messages is needed to understand health professionals’ behavior on Twitter. Objective Our goal was to characterize the content of Twitter messages, specifically focusing on health professionals and their tweets relating to health. Methods We performed an in-depth content analysis of 700 tweets. Qualitative content analysis was conducted on tweets by health users on Twitter. The primary objective was to describe the general type of content (ie, health-related versus non-health related) on Twitter authored by health professionals and further to describe health-related tweets on the basis of the type of statement made. Specific attention was given to whether a tweet was personal (as opposed to professional) or made a claim that users would expect to be supported by some level of medical evidence (ie, a “testable” claim). A secondary objective was to compare content types among different users, including patients, physicians, nurses, health care organizations, and others. Results Health-related users are posting a wide range of content on Twitter. Among health-related tweets, 53.2% (184/346) contained a testable claim. Of health-related tweets by providers, 17.6% (61/346) were personal in nature; 61% (59/96) made testable statements. While organizations and businesses use Twitter to promote their services and products, patient advocates are using this tool to share their personal experiences with health. Conclusions Twitter users in health-related fields tweet about both testable claims and personal experiences. Future work should assess the relationship between testable tweets and the actual level of evidence supporting them, including how Twitter users—especially patients—interpret the content of tweets posted by health providers. PMID:25591063

What are health-related users tweeting? A qualitative content analysis of health-related users and their messages on twitter.

PubMed

Lee, Joy L; DeCamp, Matthew; Dredze, Mark; Chisolm, Margaret S; Berger, Zackary D

2014-10-15

Twitter is home to many health professionals who send messages about a variety of health-related topics. Amid concerns about physicians posting inappropriate content online, more in-depth knowledge about these messages is needed to understand health professionals' behavior on Twitter. Our goal was to characterize the content of Twitter messages, specifically focusing on health professionals and their tweets relating to health. We performed an in-depth content analysis of 700 tweets. Qualitative content analysis was conducted on tweets by health users on Twitter. The primary objective was to describe the general type of content (ie, health-related versus non-health related) on Twitter authored by health professionals and further to describe health-related tweets on the basis of the type of statement made. Specific attention was given to whether a tweet was personal (as opposed to professional) or made a claim that users would expect to be supported by some level of medical evidence (ie, a "testable" claim). A secondary objective was to compare content types among different users, including patients, physicians, nurses, health care organizations, and others. Health-related users are posting a wide range of content on Twitter. Among health-related tweets, 53.2% (184/346) contained a testable claim. Of health-related tweets by providers, 17.6% (61/346) were personal in nature; 61% (59/96) made testable statements. While organizations and businesses use Twitter to promote their services and products, patient advocates are using this tool to share their personal experiences with health. Twitter users in health-related fields tweet about both testable claims and personal experiences. Future work should assess the relationship between testable tweets and the actual level of evidence supporting them, including how Twitter users-especially patients-interpret the content of tweets posted by health providers.

Audience Design through Social Interaction during Group Discussion

PubMed Central

Rogers, Shane L.; Fay, Nicolas; Maybery, Murray

2013-01-01

This paper contrasts two accounts of audience design during multiparty communication: audience design as a strategic individual-level message adjustment or as a non-strategic interaction-level message adjustment. Using a non-interactive communication task, Experiment 1 showed that people distinguish between messages designed for oneself and messages designed for another person; consistent with strategic message design, messages designed for another person/s were longer (number of words) than those designed for oneself. However, audience size did not affect message length (messages designed for different sized audiences were similar in length). Using an interactive communication task Experiment 2 showed that as group size increased so too did communicative effort (number of words exchanged between interlocutors). Consistent with a non-strategic account, as group members were added more social interaction was necessary to coordinate the group's collective situation model. Experiment 3 validates and extends the production measures used in Experiment 1 and 2 using a comprehension task. Taken together, our results indicate that audience design arises as a non-strategic outcome of social interaction during group discussion. PMID:23437343

How language affects peer responsiveness in an online cancer support group: implications for treatment design and facilitation.

PubMed

Lewallen, Andrea C; Owen, Jason E; Bantum, Erin O'Carroll; Stanton, Annette L

2014-07-01

Little is known about how positive group interactions develop in online support groups. Previous research suggests that message content, self-disclosure, and emotional expression may be central to this process. The purpose of this study was to identify linguistic and qualitative characteristics of participants' messages that predict how other participants respond in an asynchronous discussion board for cancer-related distress. 525 discussion board messages posted by 116 participants in the health-space.net trial were collected. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (2001) was used to identify linguistic markers of emotional expression and pronoun use. Message topics were identified using qualitative analysis. Logistic regression and chi-square analyses were used to evaluate whether linguistic characteristics and message topics predicted receiving a response from other survivors in the online group. Messages were more likely to receive a reply if they had higher word count, OR=1.30, p=0.001, or fewer second-person pronouns, OR=0.923, p=0.040. Messages with high levels of positive emotion were less likely to receive a reply, OR=0.94, p=0.03. Common message topics related to self-disclosure (51%), the support group (38.5%), medical experiences (30.9%), and experiences with the website (30.1%). Several message topics were associated with greater likelihood of a reply: self-disclosure (p<0.001), medical experiences (p=0.01), relationship issues (p=0.05), and introductory posts (p<0.01). Informing participants how to introduce themselves to the group (i.e., detailed and self-focused messages discussing personal issues such as the effects of illness on life and relationships) could promote cohesion and enhance overall engagement with Internet-based support groups or interventions. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Canary in the Coal Mine Tweets: Social Media Reveals Public Perceptions of Non-Medical Use of Opioids.

PubMed

Chan, Brian; Lopez, Andrea; Sarkar, Urmimala

2015-01-01

Non-medical prescription opioid use is a growing public health concern. Social media is an emerging tool to understand health attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. We retrieved a sample of publicly available Twitter messages in early 2014, using common opioid medication names and slang search terms. We used content analysis to code messages by user, context of message (personal vs general experiences), and key content themes. We reviewed 540 messages, of which 375 (69%) messages were related to opioid behaviors. Of these, 316 (84%) originated from individual user accounts; 125 messages expressed personal experience with opioids. The majority of personal messages referenced using opioids to obtain a "high", use for sleep, or other non-intended use (87,70%). General attitudes regarding opioid use included positive sentiment (52, 27%), comments on others peoples opioid use (57, 30%), and messages containing public health information or links (48, 25%). In a sample of social media messages mentioning opioid medications, the most common theme amongst English users related to various forms of opioid misuse. Social media can provide insights into the types of misuse of opioids that might aid public health efforts to reduce non-medical opioid use.

Moving diabetes management from clinic to community: development of a prototype based on automated voice messaging.

PubMed

Piette, J D

1997-01-01

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it provides a review of the literature supporting the development of a new service to help patients with diabetes and their providers manage their care. This service, automated voice messaging (AVM) with nurse follow-up, allows for systematic and intensive patient monitoring and diabetes education as well as a means of focusing clinical resources where they are most needed. Second, it provides a description of a prototype AVM-based diabetes management service that has been developed as part of two ongoing, randomized, controlled trials to test the efficacy of AVM care for patients with Type 2 diabetes. Preliminary findings from implementing this service in two large public healthcare systems suggest that AVM-supported care is feasible, desirable by clinicians and patients with diabetes, and may identify serious health problems that otherwise would go unnoted through standard means of clinic-based patient care.

Cooperative runtime monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hallé, Sylvain

2013-11-01

Requirements on message-based interactions can be formalised as an interface contract that specifies constraints on the sequence of possible messages that can be exchanged by multiple parties. At runtime, each peer can monitor incoming messages and check that the contract is correctly being followed by their respective senders. We introduce cooperative runtime monitoring, where a recipient 'delegates' its monitoring task to the sender, which is required to provide evidence that the message it sends complies with the contract. In turn, this evidence can be quickly checked by the recipient, which is then guaranteed of the sender's compliance to the contract without doing the monitoring computation by itself. A particular application of this concept is shown on web services, where service providers can monitor and enforce contract compliance of third-party clients at a small cost on the server side, while avoiding to certify or digitally sign them.

47 CFR 36.214 - Long distance message revenue-Account 5100.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... relative number of minutes-of-use in the study area. Effective July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2012, all study areas shall apportion Wideband Message Service revenues among the jurisdictions using the relative... are directly assigned based on their subsidiary record categories or on the basis of analysis and...

An experimental test of the persuasive effect of source similarity in narrative and nonnarrative health blogs.

PubMed

Lu, Amy Shirong

2013-07-25

Blogs, or websites containing online personal journals, are a form of popular personal communication with immense potential for health promotion. Narratives are stories with a beginning, middle, and end that provide information about the characters and plot. Source similarity refers to the degree to which the message source and each recipient are alike with respect to certain attributes. Narratives and source similarity have seldom been examined in tandem as strategies for health persuasion. Personal health blogs provide a suitable platform for such an investigation. This study examined the persuasive effects of message type and source similarity on participants' intentions to adopt a specific health behavior (running for exercise). A total of 150 participants were randomly assigned to conditions (n=25 per condition) in a completely crossed, 2 (message type: narrative and nonnarrative) × 3 (source similarity: no similarity, non-health-related similarity, and health-related similarity) between-subjects experiment. First, in an online questionnaire, participants provided personal information in 42 categories and rated the relatedness of each category to running and then completed pretest measures of the dependent variables. Based on their responses, 150 personal health blogs were created. Two weeks later, the initial participants read the blog created with their personal characteristics and completed a questionnaire online. The source similarity effect was stronger in nonnarrative than narrative blogs. When the blogs were nonnarrative, those with health-related similarities were more persuasive than those with non-health-related similarities. Narrative blogs generated more positive thoughts and stronger blogger identification than nonnarrative blogs. Health-related source similarity is key for persuasive health communication, especially when the messages are nonnarrative.

An Experimental Test of the Persuasive Effect of Source Similarity in Narrative and Nonnarrative Health Blogs

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Blogs, or websites containing online personal journals, are a form of popular personal communication with immense potential for health promotion. Objective Narratives are stories with a beginning, middle, and end that provide information about the characters and plot. Source similarity refers to the degree to which the message source and each recipient are alike with respect to certain attributes. Narratives and source similarity have seldom been examined in tandem as strategies for health persuasion. Personal health blogs provide a suitable platform for such an investigation. This study examined the persuasive effects of message type and source similarity on participants’ intentions to adopt a specific health behavior (running for exercise). Methods A total of 150 participants were randomly assigned to conditions (n=25 per condition) in a completely crossed, 2 (message type: narrative and nonnarrative) × 3 (source similarity: no similarity, non-health-related similarity, and health-related similarity) between-subjects experiment. First, in an online questionnaire, participants provided personal information in 42 categories and rated the relatedness of each category to running and then completed pretest measures of the dependent variables. Based on their responses, 150 personal health blogs were created. Two weeks later, the initial participants read the blog created with their personal characteristics and completed a questionnaire online. Results The source similarity effect was stronger in nonnarrative than narrative blogs. When the blogs were nonnarrative, those with health-related similarities were more persuasive than those with non-health-related similarities. Narrative blogs generated more positive thoughts and stronger blogger identification than nonnarrative blogs. Conclusions Health-related source similarity is key for persuasive health communication, especially when the messages are nonnarrative. PMID:23887135

Evaluation of Alcohol-Related Personalized Normative Feedback With and Without an Injunctive Message

PubMed Central

Steers, Mai-Ly N.; Coffman, Amelia D.; Wickham, Robert E.; Bryan, Jennifer L.; Caraway, Lisa; Neighbors, Clayton

2016-01-01

Objective: Personalized normative feedback (PNF) has been used extensively to reduce alcohol consumption, particularly among heavy drinkers. However, the majority of PNF studies have used only descriptive norms (real or perceived pervasiveness of a given behavior). The purpose of the current study was to explore the efficacy of PNF both with and without an injunctive message indicating approval or disapproval based on the participants’ standing relative to other students’ drinking levels. This randomized trial evaluated two brief web-based alcohol intervention conditions (descriptive-norms-feedback–only condition versus a descriptive-plus-injunctive-message condition relative to an assessment-only control condition). Method: Participants included 176 students who had reported at least one heavy drinking episode in the past month. Participants completed baseline and follow-up assessments of perceived norms and drinking. Follow-up assessments were completed at 2 weeks post-intervention by 165 (94%) participants. Results: Analyses were conducted using zero-inflated negative binomial regression models. As expected, the descriptive-norms–only condition was effective in reducing drinking among heavier baseline drinkers at follow-up relative to the control condition. However, contrary to expectations, the descriptive-plus-injunctive-message condition did not predict less drinking at follow-up. Conclusions: This study was unique in using an injunctive message as an adjunct to descriptive-norms feedback within the context of drinking. Findings highlight the need for additional research into the role of defensiveness, which may serve as an impediment to using injunctive norms/messages in interventions for problematic substance use and other potentially stigmatizing behaviors. PMID:26997192

Development of a personalized bidirectional text messaging tool for HIV adherence assessment and intervention among substance abusers.

PubMed

Ingersoll, Karen; Dillingham, Rebecca; Reynolds, George; Hettema, Jennifer; Freeman, Jason; Hosseinbor, Sharzad; Winstead-Derlega, Chris

2014-01-01

We describe the development of a two-way text messaging intervention tool for substance users who are non-adherent with HIV medications, and examine message flow data for feasibility and acceptability. The assessment and intervention tool, TxText, is fully automated, sending participants mood, substance use, and medication adherence queries by text message. Participants respond, the tool recognizes the category of response, and sends the personalized intervention message that participants designed in return. In 10months, the tool sent 16,547 messages (half initial, half follow-up) to 31 participants assigned to the TxText condition, who sent 6711 messages in response to the initial messages. Response rates to substance use (n=2370), medication (n=2918) and mood (n=4639) queries were 67, 69, and 64%, respectively. Responses indicating medication adherence, abstinence from substances, and good moods were more common than negative responses. The TxText tool can send messages daily over a 3month period, receive responses, and decode them to deliver personalized affirming or intervention messages. While we await the outcomes of a pilot randomized trial, the process analysis shows that TxText is acceptable and feasible for substance abusers with HIV, and may serve as a complement to HIV medical care. © 2013.

Development of a Personalized Bidirectional Text Messaging Tool for HIV Adherence Assessment and Intervention among Substance Abusers

PubMed Central

Ingersoll, Karen; Dillingham, Rebecca; Reynolds, George; Hettema, Jennifer; Freeman, Jason; Hosseinbor, Sharzad; Winstead-Derlega, Chris

2013-01-01

We describe the development of a two-way text messaging intervention tool for substance users who are non-adherent with HIV medications, and examine message flow data for feasibility and acceptability. The assessment and intervention tool, TxText, is fully automated, sending participants mood, substance use, and medication adherence queries by text message. Participants respond, the tool recognizes the category of response, and sends the personalized intervention message that participants designed in return. In 10 months, the tool sent 16,547 messages (half initial, half follow-up) to 31 participants assigned to the TxText condition, who sent 6711 messages in response to the initial messages. Response rates to substance use (n=2370), medication (n=2918) and mood (n=4639) queries were 67%, 69%, and 64%, respectively. Responses indicating medication adherence, abstinence from substances, and good moods were more common than negative responses. The TxText tool can send messages daily over a 3 month period, receive responses, and decode them to deliver personalized affirming or intervention messages. While we await the outcomes of a pilot randomized trial, the process analysis shows that TxText is acceptable and feasible for substance abusers with HIV, and may serve as a complement to HIV medical care. PMID:24029625

Unified Charging and Billing Solution. Unified - Next Generation of Charging Systems in Mobile Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donhefner, Daniel

The mobile market evolves from commodity voice and simple messaging services to value-added data and multimedia services. This not only implies to move from pure telecom to IT/IP- environment, but to exploit their markets with innovative and differentiated offerings to keep the churn rate low and attract new customers. Communication Service Providers (CSP) must focus increasingly on meeting individual needs and higher expectations of their subscribers. They expect service packages that can be tailored to meet the specific demands of their personal situation, preferences and lifestyle. This requires a flexible customer-centric approach instead of the legacy historical grown and diversed system architecture and organizations of CSPs.

Software Architecture Evolution

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-12-01

system’s major components occurring via a Java Message Service message bus [69]. This architecture was designed to promote loose coupling of soft- ware...play reconfiguration of the system. The components were Java -based and platform-independent; the interfaces by which they communicated were based on...The MPCS database, a MySQL database used for storing telemetry as well as some other information, such as logs and commanding data [68]. This

31 CFR 542.511 - Exportation of certain services incident to Internet-based communications authorized.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... incident to Internet-based communications authorized. 542.511 Section 542.511 Money and Finance: Treasury....511 Exportation of certain services incident to Internet-based communications authorized. (a) To the... Internet, such as instant messaging, chat and email, social networking, sharing of photos and movies, web...

Development of Virtual Resource Based IoT Proxy for Bridging Heterogeneous Web Services in IoT Networks.

PubMed

Jin, Wenquan; Kim, DoHyeun

2018-05-26

The Internet of Things is comprised of heterogeneous devices, applications, and platforms using multiple communication technologies to connect the Internet for providing seamless services ubiquitously. With the requirement of developing Internet of Things products, many protocols, program libraries, frameworks, and standard specifications have been proposed. Therefore, providing a consistent interface to access services from those environments is difficult. Moreover, bridging the existing web services to sensor and actuator networks is also important for providing Internet of Things services in various industry domains. In this paper, an Internet of Things proxy is proposed that is based on virtual resources to bridge heterogeneous web services from the Internet to the Internet of Things network. The proxy enables clients to have transparent access to Internet of Things devices and web services in the network. The proxy is comprised of server and client to forward messages for different communication environments using the virtual resources which include the server for the message sender and the client for the message receiver. We design the proxy for the Open Connectivity Foundation network where the virtual resources are discovered by the clients as Open Connectivity Foundation resources. The virtual resources represent the resources which expose services in the Internet by web service providers. Although the services are provided by web service providers from the Internet, the client can access services using the consistent communication protocol in the Open Connectivity Foundation network. For discovering the resources to access services, the client also uses the consistent discovery interface to discover the Open Connectivity Foundation devices and virtual resources.

Mobile Phone Interventions for the Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease.

PubMed

Park, Linda G; Beatty, Alexis; Stafford, Zoey; Whooley, Mary A

2016-01-01

Mobile health in the form of text messaging and mobile applications provides an innovative and effective approach to promote prevention and management of cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, the magnitude of these effects is unclear. Through a comprehensive search of databases from 2002-2016, we conducted a quantitative systematic review. The selected studies were critically evaluated to extract and summarize pertinent characteristics and outcomes. A large majority of studies (22 of 28, 79%) demonstrated text messaging, mobile applications, and telemonitoring via mobile phones were effective in improving outcomes. Some key factors associated with successful interventions included personalized messages with tailored advice, greater engagement (2-way text messaging, higher frequency of messages), and use of multiple modalities. Overall, text messaging appears more effective than smartphone-based interventions. Incorporating principles of behavioral activation will help promote and sustain healthy lifestyle behaviors in patients with CVD that result in improved clinical outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mobile Phone Interventions for the Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

PubMed Central

Park, Linda G.; Beatty, Alexis; Stafford, Zoey; Whooley, Mary A.

2016-01-01

Mobile health in the form of text messaging and mobile applications provides an innovative and effective approach to promote prevention and management of cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, the magnitude of these effects is unclear. Through a comprehensive search of databases from 2002–2016, we conducted a quantitative systematic review. The selected studies were critically evaluated to extract and summarize pertinent characteristics and outcomes. A large majority of studies (22 of 28, 79%) demonstrated text messaging, mobile applications, and telemonitoring via mobile phones were effective in improving outcomes. Some key factors associated with successful interventions included personalized messages with tailored advice, greater engagement (2-way text messaging, higher frequency of messages), and use of multiple modalities. Overall, text messaging appears more effective than smartphone-based interventions. Incorporating principles of behavioral activation will help promote and sustain healthy lifestyle behaviors in patients with CVD that result in improved clinical outcomes. PMID:27001245

PASTE: patient-centered SMS text tagging in a medication management system

PubMed Central

Johnson, Kevin B; Denny, Joshua C

2011-01-01

Objective To evaluate the performance of a system that extracts medication information and administration-related actions from patient short message service (SMS) messages. Design Mobile technologies provide a platform for electronic patient-centered medication management. MyMediHealth (MMH) is a medication management system that includes a medication scheduler, a medication administration record, and a reminder engine that sends text messages to cell phones. The object of this work was to extend MMH to allow two-way interaction using mobile phone-based SMS technology. Unprompted text-message communication with patients using natural language could engage patients in their healthcare, but presents unique natural language processing challenges. The authors developed a new functional component of MMH, the Patient-centered Automated SMS Tagging Engine (PASTE). The PASTE web service uses natural language processing methods, custom lexicons, and existing knowledge sources to extract and tag medication information from patient text messages. Measurements A pilot evaluation of PASTE was completed using 130 medication messages anonymously submitted by 16 volunteers via a website. System output was compared with manually tagged messages. Results Verified medication names, medication terms, and action terms reached high F-measures of 91.3%, 94.7%, and 90.4%, respectively. The overall medication name F-measure was 79.8%, and the medication action term F-measure was 90%. Conclusion Other studies have demonstrated systems that successfully extract medication information from clinical documents using semantic tagging, regular expression-based approaches, or a combination of both approaches. This evaluation demonstrates the feasibility of extracting medication information from patient-generated medication messages. PMID:21984605

Short Text Messages to Encourage Adherence to Medication and Follow-up for People With Psychosis (Mobile.Net): Randomized Controlled Trial in Finland

PubMed Central

Kannisto, Kati Anneli; Vahlberg, Tero; Hätönen, Heli; Adams, Clive E

2017-01-01

Background A text messaging service (short message service [SMS]) has the potential to target large groups of people with long-term illnesses such as serious mental disorders, who may have difficulty with treatment adherence. Robust research on the impact of mobile technology interventions for these patients remains scarce. Objective The main objective of our study was to investigate the impact of individually tailored short text messages on the rate of psychiatric hospital readmissions, health care service use, and clinical outcomes. In addition, we analyzed treatment costs. Methods Between September 2011 and November 2012, we randomly assigned 1139 people to a tailored text message intervention (n=569) or usual care (n=570). Participants received semiautomated text messages for up to 12 months or usual care. The primary outcome, based on routinely collected health register data, was patient readmission into a psychiatric hospital during a 12-month follow-up period. Secondary outcomes were related to other service use, coercion, medication, adverse events, satisfaction, social functioning, quality of life, and economic factors (cost analysis). Results There was 98.24% (1119/1139) follow-up at 12 months. Tailored mobile telephone text messages did not reduce the rate of hospital admissions (242/563, 43.0% of the SMS group vs 216/556, 38.8% of the control group; relative risk 1.11; 95% CI 0.92-1.33; P=.28), time between hospitalizations (mean difference 7.0 days 95% CI –8.0 to 24.0; P=.37), time spent in a psychiatric hospital during the year (mean difference 2.0 days 95% CI –2.0 to 7.0; P=.35), or other service outcomes. People who received text messages were less disabled, based on Global Assessment Scale scores at the time of their readmission, than those who did not receive text messages (odds ratio 0.68; 95% CI 0.47-0.97; P=.04). The costs of treatment were higher for people in the SMS group than in the control group (mean €10,103 vs €9210, respectively, P<.001). Conclusions High-grade routinely collected data can provide clear outcomes for pragmatic randomized trials. SMS messaging tailored with the input of each individual patient did not decrease the rate of psychiatric hospital visits after the 12 months of follow-up. Although there may have been other, more subtle effects, the results of these were not evident in outcomes of agreed importance to clinicians, policymakers, and patients and their families. Trial Registration International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 27704027; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN27704027 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6rVzZrbuz). PMID:28701292

Personal Involvement of Young People in HIV Prevention Campaign Messages: The Role of Message Format, Culture, and Gender

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geary, Cynthia Waszak; Burke, Holly M.; Johnson, Laura; Liku, Jennifer; Castelnau, Laure; Neupane, Shailes; Niang, Cheikh

2008-01-01

To examine young people's reactions to and understanding of HIV prevention messages developed for MTV's global HIV prevention campaign Staying Alive, videotaped campaign materials were shown to focus group discussion (FGD) participants living in urban areas of Brazil, Kenya, Nepal, and Senegal. Responses related to "personal involvement"…

MessageSpace: a messaging system for health research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escobar, Rodrigo D.; Akopian, David; Parra-Medina, Deborah; Esparza, Laura

2013-03-01

Mobile Health (mHealth) has emerged as a promising direction for delivery of healthcare services via mobile communication devices such as cell phones. Examples include texting-based interventions for chronic disease monitoring, diabetes management, control of hypertension, smoking cessation, monitoring medication adherence, appointment keeping and medical test result delivery; as well as improving patient-provider communication, health information communication, data collection and access to health records. While existing messaging systems very well support bulk messaging and some polling applications, they are not designed for data collection and processing of health research oriented studies. For that reason known studies based on text-messaging campaigns have been constrained in participant numbers. In order to empower healthcare promotion and education research, this paper presents a system dedicated for healthcare research. It is designed for convenient communication with various study groups, feedback collection and automated processing.

Community perceptions of behaviour change communication interventions of the maternal neonatal and child health programme in rural Bangladesh: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Rahman, Atiya; Leppard, Margaret; Rashid, Sarawat; Jahan, Nauruj; Nasreen, Hashima E

2016-08-16

This qualitative study explored community perceptions of the components of the behaviour change communication (BCC) intervention of the BRAC Improving Maternal, Neonatal and Child Survival (IMNCS) programme in rural Bangladesh. Semi-structured interviews, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and informal group discussions were conducted to elicit community views on interpersonal communication (IPC), printed materials, entertainment education (EE) and mass media, specifically (a) acceptance of and challenges presented by different forms of media, (b) comprehensibility of terms; printed materials and entertainment education and (c) reported influence of BCC messages. IMNCS BCC interventions are well accepted by the community people. IPC is considered an essential aspect of everyday life and community members appreciate personal interaction with the BRAC community health workers. Printed materials assisted in comprehension and memorization of messages particularly when explained by community health workers (CHW) during IPC. Enactment of maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH) narratives and traditional musical performances in EE helped to give deep insight into life's challenges and the decision making that is inherent in pregnancy, childbirth and childcare. EE also improved memorization of the messages. Some limitations were identified in design of illustrations which hampered message comprehension. Some respondents were unable to differentiate between pregnancy, delivery and postpartum danger signs. Furthermore some women were afraid to view the illustrations of danger signs as they believed seeing that might be associated with the development of these complications in their own lives. Despite these barriers, participants stated that the IMNCS BCC interventions had influenced them to take health promoting decisions and seek MNCH services. Community based maternal and newborn programmes should revise BCC interventions to strengthen IPC, using rigorously tested print materials as aids and stand-alone media. Messages about birth preparedness (especially savings), recognition of danger signs and immediate self-referral to biomedical health services should be carefully aligned and effectively delivered to women, men and older members of the community. Messaging should utilize gendered storyline and address the seasonal cycles of conception, birth, antenatal, post-natal care and childhood illnesses. Future research should identify how best to combine IPC, printed materials, traditional cultural forms, and incorporate use of social media and mass media in different field situations.

Perceptions and use of e-mail among Universiti Utara Malaysia staff: A pilot study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohamed, Shafinah Farvin Packeer; Ku-Mahamud, Ku Ruhana; Ramli, Razamin; Abdullah, Kamarudin

2017-10-01

The use of e-mail has become common either for work purposes or personal usage. Despite its usefulness, complain about the overwhelming messages received which cause the users to have problem in managing those messages. Similar situation occurred among Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) staff. Thus, a pilot study was conducted to investigate its staff's perception and use of e-mail in order to improve the e-mail service provided to them. This paper discusses the findings from the pilot study, which involves 41 UUM staff. Self-administered questionnaires were used to gather the data, while descriptive statistical analysis was used for data analysis. The findings of the study reveal that UUM staff appreciate the e-mail service. However they faced problems like limited storage size and overwhelming e-mails. They think that UUM e-mail is being abused by the repeating advertisements and news sent to them. The output of this study can be used as a guideline by the UUM management in revising its e-mail policy to serve better quality of e-mail service.

The Role of Values, Moral Norms, and Descriptive Norms in Building Occupant Responses to an Energy-Efficiency Pilot Program and to Framing of Related Messages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arpan, Laura M.; Barooah, Prabir; Subramany, Rahul

2015-01-01

This study examined building occupants' responses associated with an occupant-based energy-efficiency pilot in a university building. The influence of occupants' values and norms as well as effects of two educational message frames (descriptive vs. moral norms cues) on program support were tested. Occupants' personal moral norm to conserve energy…

Understanding the “black box” of a health-promotion program: Keys to enable health among older persons aging in the context of migration

PubMed Central

Barenfeld, Emmelie; Gustafsson, Susanne; Wallin, Lars; Dahlin-Ivanoff, Synneve

2015-01-01

Although the need to make health services more accessible to persons who have migrated has been identified, knowledge about health-promotion programs (HPPs) from the perspective of older persons born abroad is lacking. This study explores the design experiences and content implemented in an adapted version of a group-based HPP developed in a researcher–community partnership. Fourteen persons aged 70–83 years or older who had migrated to Sweden from Finland or the Balkan Peninsula were included. A grounded theory approach guided the data collection and analysis. The findings showed how participants and personnel jointly helped raise awareness. The participants experienced three key processes that could open doors to awareness: enabling community, providing opportunities to understand and be understood, and confirming human values and abilities. Depending on how the HPP content and design are being shaped by the group, the key processes could both inhibit or encourage opening doors to awareness. Therefore, this study provides key insights into how to enable health by deepening the understanding of how the exchange of health-promoting messages is experienced to be facilitated or hindered. This study adds to the scientific knowledge base of how the design and content of HPP may support and recognize the capabilities of persons aging in the context of migration. PMID:26654636

Understanding the "black box" of a health-promotion program: Keys to enable health among older persons aging in the context of migration.

PubMed

Barenfeld, Emmelie; Gustafsson, Susanne; Wallin, Lars; Dahlin-Ivanoff, Synneve

2015-01-01

Although the need to make health services more accessible to persons who have migrated has been identified, knowledge about health-promotion programs (HPPs) from the perspective of older persons born abroad is lacking. This study explores the design experiences and content implemented in an adapted version of a group-based HPP developed in a researcher-community partnership. Fourteen persons aged 70-83 years or older who had migrated to Sweden from Finland or the Balkan Peninsula were included. A grounded theory approach guided the data collection and analysis. The findings showed how participants and personnel jointly helped raise awareness. The participants experienced three key processes that could open doors to awareness: enabling community, providing opportunities to understand and be understood, and confirming human values and abilities. Depending on how the HPP content and design are being shaped by the group, the key processes could both inhibit or encourage opening doors to awareness. Therefore, this study provides key insights into how to enable health by deepening the understanding of how the exchange of health-promoting messages is experienced to be facilitated or hindered. This study adds to the scientific knowledge base of how the design and content of HPP may support and recognize the capabilities of persons aging in the context of migration.

Effects of messages emphasizing environmental determinants of obesity on intentions to engage in diet and exercise behaviors.

PubMed

Niederdeppe, Jeff; Roh, Sungjong; Shapiro, Michael A; Kim, Hye Kyung

2013-12-12

Reducing rates of obesity will require interventions that influence both individual decisions and environmental factors through changes in public policy. Previous work indicates that messages emphasizing environmental determinants increases support for public policies, but some suspect this strategy may undermine motivation to engage in diet and exercise. Study 1 involved 485 adults recruited from a shopping mall in New York. Study 2 involved 718 adult members of a Web-based national panel of US adults. Respondents in both studies were randomly assigned to read a story that emphasized environmental determinants of health or a control condition. The stories varied in the extent to which they described the story character as taking personal responsibility for weight management. Logistic regression and ordered logit models were used to test for differences in intentions to engage in diet and exercise behaviors based on which story the participant read. Analyses were also performed separately by participants' weight status. In both studies, messages that acknowledged personal responsibility while emphasizing environmental causes of obesity increased intentions to engage in healthy behavior for at least 1 weight status group. Emphasizing factors outside of personal control appears to enhance rather than undermine motivations to engage in healthy diet and exercise behavior.

Living in the Past, Present, and Future: Measuring Temporal Orientation With Language.

PubMed

Park, Gregory; Schwartz, H Andrew; Sap, Maarten; Kern, Margaret L; Weingarten, Evan; Eichstaedt, Johannes C; Berger, Jonah; Stillwell, David J; Kosinski, Michal; Ungar, Lyle H; Seligman, Martin E P

2017-04-01

Temporal orientation refers to individual differences in the relative emphasis one places on the past, present, or future, and it is related to academic, financial, and health outcomes. We propose and evaluate a method for automatically measuring temporal orientation through language expressed on social media. Judges rated the temporal orientation of 4,302 social media messages. We trained a classifier based on these ratings, which could accurately predict the temporal orientation of new messages in a separate validation set (accuracy/mean sensitivity = .72; mean specificity = .77). We used the classifier to automatically classify 1.3 million messages written by 5,372 participants (50% female; ages 13-48). Finally, we tested whether individual differences in past, present, and future orientation differentially related to gender, age, Big Five personality, satisfaction with life, and depressive symptoms. Temporal orientations exhibit several expected correlations with age, gender, and Big Five personality. More future-oriented people were older, more likely to be female, more conscientious, less impulsive, less depressed, and more satisfied with life; present orientation showed the opposite pattern. Language-based assessments can complement and extend existing measures of temporal orientation, providing an alternative approach and additional insights into language and personality relationships. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effects of Messages Emphasizing Environmental Determinants of Obesity on Intentions to Engage in Diet and Exercise Behaviors

PubMed Central

Roh, Sungjong; Shapiro, Michael A.; Kim, Hye Kyung

2013-01-01

Introduction Reducing rates of obesity will require interventions that influence both individual decisions and environmental factors through changes in public policy. Previous work indicates that messages emphasizing environmental determinants increases support for public policies, but some suspect this strategy may undermine motivation to engage in diet and exercise. Methods Study 1 involved 485 adults recruited from a shopping mall in New York. Study 2 involved 718 adult members of a Web-based national panel of US adults. Respondents in both studies were randomly assigned to read a story that emphasized environmental determinants of health or a control condition. The stories varied in the extent to which they described the story character as taking personal responsibility for weight management. Logistic regression and ordered logit models were used to test for differences in intentions to engage in diet and exercise behaviors based on which story the participant read. Analyses were also performed separately by participants’ weight status. Results In both studies, messages that acknowledged personal responsibility while emphasizing environmental causes of obesity increased intentions to engage in healthy behavior for at least 1 weight status group. Conclusion Emphasizing factors outside of personal control appears to enhance rather than undermine motivations to engage in healthy diet and exercise behavior. PMID:24331282

Evaluating Personalized Risk Messages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinstein, Neil D.; And Others

1992-01-01

An experiment with 766 homeowners compared 3 strategies for delivering radon test results to homeowners. Small improvements in consumer satisfaction were found for personalized messages (a telephone call or personal letter) over a form letter. No detectable improvement was found in recall of advice or compliance for any strategy. (SLD)

Cyberbullying: The New Era of Bullying

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wade, Ann; Beran, Tanya

2011-01-01

Bullying involves a powerful person intentionally harming a less powerful person repeatedly. With advances in technology, students are finding new methods of bullying, including sending harassing emails, instant messages, text messages, and personal pictures to others. Although school bullying has been studied since the 1970s, relatively little is…

A survey on electronic communication in pediatric clinics.

PubMed

Mooney, James

2012-01-01

Short message service (SMS) or text messaging is growing in use in personal, business, and more recently healthcare matters. If and how a tool used in adult healthcare may be transitioned to pediatric patients must be carefully studied to minimize potential harms. The current surveys were performed to examine approval for the use of SMS among both parents of pediatric patients as well as pediatric healthcare practitioners. A prospective, paper-based survey was distributed to parents of patients attending pediatric clinics in our large, urban medical center. An online survey was used to poll healthcare providers at all levels who provide care in those same clinics. Overall approval was positive for the use of SMS, with appointment reminders being felt to be the most likely use for the technology by healthcare practitioners. Parental approval was highest when they were able to see the answers their children provided, but parents also approved of the use of SMS when they could not. Among parents and healthcare providers at our large urban pediatric clinics, approval for SMS use was high for a large range of patient ages and clinical uses.

Increasing the effectiveness of messages promoting responsible undergraduate drinking: tailoring to personality and matching to context.

PubMed

York, Valerie K; Brannon, Laura A; Miller, Megan M

2012-01-01

This study addressed the serious problem of college student binge drinking by identifying factors that improve the effectiveness of messages encouraging responsible drinking presented through a website simulation. We tested schema matching (i.e., whether the message matches the person's self-schema type or not) and two types of context matching (i.e., whether the message matches the topic or values of the message context) to determine their relative influence on the effectiveness of the message. We expected that messages matched to any of these factors would be more effective than messages not matched. Schema matching reduced intentions to drink while staying in/home, but topic matching reduced intentions to drink when going out, suggesting that different factors are important for messages targeting drinking behavior in different locations. Significant interactions between topic matching and value matching on message evaluation variables indicated that the message should not match the message context too closely. That is, there appears to be a matching threshold: Increasing the number of factors the message matches does not increase message effectiveness, possibly because it makes the message too redundant with the surrounding content.

Mobile phone text messaging intervention to improve alertness and reduce sleepiness and fatigue during shiftwork among emergency medicine clinicians: study protocol for the SleepTrackTXT pilot randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Patterson, Paul Daniel; Moore, Charity G; Weaver, Matthew D; Buysse, Daniel J; Suffoletto, Brian P; Callaway, Clifton W; Yealy, Donald M

2014-06-21

Mental and physical fatigue while at work is common among emergency medical services (EMS) shift workers. Extended shifts (for example 24 hours) and excessive amounts of overtime work increase the likelihood of negative safety outcomes and pose a challenge for EMS fatigue-risk management. Text message-based interventions are a potentially high-impact, low-cost platform for sleep and fatigue assessment and distributing information to workers at risk of negative safety outcomes related to sleep behaviors and fatigue. We will conduct a pilot randomized trial with a convenience sample of adult EMS workers recruited from across the United States using a single study website. Participants will be allocated to one of two possible arms for a 90-day study period. The intervention arm will involve text message assessments of sleepiness, fatigue, and difficulty with concentration at the beginning, during, and end of scheduled shifts. Intervention subjects reporting high levels of sleepiness or fatigue will receive one of four randomly selected intervention messages promoting behavior change during shiftwork. Control subjects will receive assessment only text messages. We aim to determine the performance characteristics of a text messaging tool for the delivery of a sleep and fatigue intervention. We seek to determine if a text messaging program with tailored intervention messages is effective at reducing perceived sleepiness and/or fatigue among emergency medicine clinician shift workers. Additional aims include testing whether a theory-based behavioral intervention, delivered by text message, changes 'alertness behaviors'. The SleepTrackTXT pilot trial could provide evidence of compliance and effectiveness that would support rapid widespread expansion in one of two forms: 1) a stand-alone program in the form of a tailored/individualized sleep monitoring and fatigue reduction support service for EMS workers; or 2) an add-on to a multi-component fatigue risk management program led and maintained by employers or by safety and risk management services. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02063737, Registered on 10 January 2014.

Mobile phone text messaging intervention to improve alertness and reduce sleepiness and fatigue during shiftwork among emergency medicine clinicians: study protocol for the SleepTrackTXT pilot randomized controlled trial

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Mental and physical fatigue while at work is common among emergency medical services (EMS) shift workers. Extended shifts (for example 24 hours) and excessive amounts of overtime work increase the likelihood of negative safety outcomes and pose a challenge for EMS fatigue-risk management. Text message-based interventions are a potentially high-impact, low-cost platform for sleep and fatigue assessment and distributing information to workers at risk of negative safety outcomes related to sleep behaviors and fatigue. Methods/Design We will conduct a pilot randomized trial with a convenience sample of adult EMS workers recruited from across the United States using a single study website. Participants will be allocated to one of two possible arms for a 90-day study period. The intervention arm will involve text message assessments of sleepiness, fatigue, and difficulty with concentration at the beginning, during, and end of scheduled shifts. Intervention subjects reporting high levels of sleepiness or fatigue will receive one of four randomly selected intervention messages promoting behavior change during shiftwork. Control subjects will receive assessment only text messages. We aim to determine the performance characteristics of a text messaging tool for the delivery of a sleep and fatigue intervention. We seek to determine if a text messaging program with tailored intervention messages is effective at reducing perceived sleepiness and/or fatigue among emergency medicine clinician shift workers. Additional aims include testing whether a theory-based behavioral intervention, delivered by text message, changes ‘alertness behaviors’. Discussion The SleepTrackTXT pilot trial could provide evidence of compliance and effectiveness that would support rapid widespread expansion in one of two forms: 1) a stand-alone program in the form of a tailored/individualized sleep monitoring and fatigue reduction support service for EMS workers; or 2) an add-on to a multi-component fatigue risk management program led and maintained by employers or by safety and risk management services. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02063737, Registered on 10 January 2014 PMID:24952387

Digital mobile technology facilitates HIPAA-sensitive perioperative messaging, improves physician-patient communication, and streamlines patient care.

PubMed

Gordon, Chad R; Rezzadeh, Kameron S; Li, Andrew; Vardanian, Andrew; Zelken, Jonathan; Shores, Jamie T; Sacks, Justin M; Segovia, Andres L; Jarrahy, Reza

2015-01-01

Mobile device technology has revolutionized interpersonal communication, but the application of this technology to the physician-patient relationship remains limited due to concerns over patient confidentiality and the security of digital information. Nevertheless, there is a continued focus on improving communication between doctors and patients in all fields of medicine as a means of improving patient care. In this study, we implement a novel communications platform to demonstrate that instantaneously sharing perioperative information with surgical patients and members of their support networks can improve patient care and strengthen the physician-patient relationship. 423 consecutive patients scheduled to undergo elective surgical procedures were offered complimentary registration to a secure, web-based service designed to distribute perioperative updates to a group of recipients designated by each patient via Short Message Service (SMS) and/or email. Messages were created by attending surgeons and delivered instantaneously through the web-based platform. In the postoperative period, patients and their designated message recipients, as well as participating healthcare providers, were asked to complete a survey designed to assess their experience with the messaging system. Survey results were statistically analyzed to determine satisfaction rates. Of the qualifying 423 patients, 313 opted to enroll in the study. On average, patients selected a total of 3.5 recipients to receive perioperative updates. A total of 1,195 electronic messages were generated for distribution to designated recipients during the study period and delivered to recipients located around the world. There were no documented errors or failures in message delivery. Satisfaction surveys were completed by 190 users of the service (73 %). Respondents identified themselves as either patients (n = 48, 25.5 %), family/friends (n = 120, 63.8 %), or healthcare providers (n = 15, 12 %). Satisfaction with the service was high: 94.2 % of users "enjoyed this software" and and 94.2 % of family/friends "felt more connected to their loved ones during surgery." 92.5 % would "recommend their loved ones sign up for this service". Ninety percent of patients who completed the survey reported "an improved hospital experience". Digital communications platforms can facilitate the immediate transfer of HIPAA-compliant data to patients and their designees. Such systems can greatly improve the level of communication between physicians, patients, and patients' families and caregivers. All types of users, including healthcare professionals, patients, and their loved ones, recorded high levels of satisfaction. Based on these observations, we conclude that mobile digital communications platforms represent a way to harness the power of social media to enhance patient care.

Equal Telecommunications Access for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Virginians (TDD/Message Relay Programs). Report to the Governor and the General Assembly of Virginia. House Document No. 9.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virginia State Dept. for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Richmond.

The report addresses issues of telecommunications access for hearing and speech impaired persons in Virginia. Six analyses were performed: (1) Accessibility of service organizations--over 89% of sample organizations were not accessible by a telecommunications device for the deaf and existing TDDs were underutilized; (2) Telephone use by persons…

Sub-Saharan Africa Report, No. 2817.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-07-06

between the two countries. During his visit to Montevideo, he will deliver a personal message from the head of state, El Hadj Omar Bongo , to his...inception. The spokesman said that unless (Khaketla) could manage to attract the minimum affection from the people of Lesotho he would never have the...socialist countries would affect religion adversely. [Text] [MB180718 Maseru Domestic Service in English 0500 GMT 18 Jun 83] JONATHAN TOUR—The

Students' Experiences and Engagement with SMS for Learning in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brett, Paul

2011-01-01

This article presents an evaluation of students' experiences and engagement with Short Message Service (SMS) (text) messages. SMS was used to support learning through engaging students in formative assessment objective questions with feedback, as well as SMS-based collaborative learning tasks. The rationale was derived from a perceived benefit of…

The Canary in the Coal Mine Tweets: Social Media Reveals Public Perceptions of Non-Medical Use of Opioids

PubMed Central

Chan, Brian; Lopez, Andrea; Sarkar, Urmimala

2015-01-01

Objective Non-medical prescription opioid use is a growing public health concern. Social media is an emerging tool to understand health attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Methods We retrieved a sample of publicly available Twitter messages in early 2014, using common opioid medication names and slang search terms. We used content analysis to code messages by user, context of message (personal vs general experiences), and key content themes. Results We reviewed 540 messages, of which 375 (69%) messages were related to opioid behaviors. Of these, 316 (84%) originated from individual user accounts; 125 messages expressed personal experience with opioids. The majority of personal messages referenced using opioids to obtain a “high”, use for sleep, or other non-intended use (87,70%). General attitudes regarding opioid use included positive sentiment (52, 27%), comments on others peoples opioid use (57, 30%), and messages containing public health information or links (48, 25%). Conclusions In a sample of social media messages mentioning opioid medications, the most common theme amongst English users related to various forms of opioid misuse. Social media can provide insights into the types of misuse of opioids that might aid public health efforts to reduce non-medical opioid use. PMID:26252774

SmartVeh: Secure and Efficient Message Access Control and Authentication for Vehicular Cloud Computing.

PubMed

Huang, Qinlong; Yang, Yixian; Shi, Yuxiang

2018-02-24

With the growing number of vehicles and popularity of various services in vehicular cloud computing (VCC), message exchanging among vehicles under traffic conditions and in emergency situations is one of the most pressing demands, and has attracted significant attention. However, it is an important challenge to authenticate the legitimate sources of broadcast messages and achieve fine-grained message access control. In this work, we propose SmartVeh, a secure and efficient message access control and authentication scheme in VCC. A hierarchical, attribute-based encryption technique is utilized to achieve fine-grained and flexible message sharing, which ensures that vehicles whose persistent or dynamic attributes satisfy the access policies can access the broadcast message with equipped on-board units (OBUs). Message authentication is enforced by integrating an attribute-based signature, which achieves message authentication and maintains the anonymity of the vehicles. In order to reduce the computations of the OBUs in the vehicles, we outsource the heavy computations of encryption, decryption and signing to a cloud server and road-side units. The theoretical analysis and simulation results reveal that our secure and efficient scheme is suitable for VCC.

SmartVeh: Secure and Efficient Message Access Control and Authentication for Vehicular Cloud Computing

PubMed Central

Yang, Yixian; Shi, Yuxiang

2018-01-01

With the growing number of vehicles and popularity of various services in vehicular cloud computing (VCC), message exchanging among vehicles under traffic conditions and in emergency situations is one of the most pressing demands, and has attracted significant attention. However, it is an important challenge to authenticate the legitimate sources of broadcast messages and achieve fine-grained message access control. In this work, we propose SmartVeh, a secure and efficient message access control and authentication scheme in VCC. A hierarchical, attribute-based encryption technique is utilized to achieve fine-grained and flexible message sharing, which ensures that vehicles whose persistent or dynamic attributes satisfy the access policies can access the broadcast message with equipped on-board units (OBUs). Message authentication is enforced by integrating an attribute-based signature, which achieves message authentication and maintains the anonymity of the vehicles. In order to reduce the computations of the OBUs in the vehicles, we outsource the heavy computations of encryption, decryption and signing to a cloud server and road-side units. The theoretical analysis and simulation results reveal that our secure and efficient scheme is suitable for VCC. PMID:29495269

An Application of Discrete Mathematics to Coding Theory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Donohoe, L. Joyce

1992-01-01

Presents a public-key cryptosystem application to introduce students to several topics in discrete mathematics. A computer algorithms using recursive methods is presented to solve a problem in which one person wants to send a coded message to a second person while keeping the message secret from a third person. (MDH)

Concept-Based Grammatical Errors of Arab EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Quran, Majed

2010-01-01

Building up messages as a cognitive activity within the linguistic multi-level system is the result of the interaction between the various components of this system. Yet, this interactive process occurring in the language user's mind while encoding can vary from person to person. Likewise, it also differs in different recipients while decoding.…

Inpatient satisfaction and usage patterns of personalized smart bedside station system for patient-centered service at a tertiary university hospital.

PubMed

Ryu, Borim; Kim, Seok; Lee, Kee-Hyuck; Hwang, Hee; Yoo, Sooyoung

2016-11-01

Bedside stations, also known as bedside terminals, are in place to enhance the quality and experience of a hospital's healthcare service delivery. The purpose of this study was to identify information needs and overall satisfaction with the personalized patient bedside system, called Smart Bedside Station (SBS) system, embedded in a tertiary general university hospital. End-user responses on the satisfaction survey and system usage logs of the SBS system were collected and analyzed. For the user opinion survey, 156 nurses and 1914 patients, their family members, or caregivers participated during the evaluation period of 2013 to 2014 in this study. All working nurses in the SBS-installed ward were answered the paper-based evaluation, for complete enumeration survey. Inpatients were voluntary participated to deliver the online questionnaire on the SBS menu. We also explored system log data including page calls and usage time from December 2013 to 2015. Regarding the relationship of overall satisfaction of the SBS with patient's characteristics, patient's education status and degree of familiarity with the smart device were statistically significant. From the analysis of system logs, Personalized My Menu(28.0%) was the most frequently used menu item (except for TV and Internet entertainment service use of 62.7%),it provides individual health information, such as laboratory test results, hospital fee check, message logs, daily medication information, and meal information. Next frequently used menus were information support(4.9%) which deliver hospital guide and health information and convenience service ordering(4.4%) such as meal order, bed sheet change. Satisfaction survey results and log data results show that the personalized service enhances the user satisfaction during hospital admission. Our post-implementation experience and subsequent assessment of SBS system is capable of providing insights into improving the hospital information system and service contents for patient-centered services. Further research should be directed at developing sophisticated patient-centered services as a communication tool between the hospital and the patient. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

mHealth in Cardiovascular Health Care.

PubMed

Chow, Clara K; Ariyarathna, Nilshan; Islam, Sheikh Mohammed Shariful; Thiagalingam, Aravinda; Redfern, Julie

2016-08-01

Mobile health (mHealth) has been defined as medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices and personal digital assistants. Cardiovascular mHealth is, arguably, leading the mHealth space, through innovation, research and implementation, and especially in the areas of prevention, cardiac rehabilitation and education. mHealth includes simple strategies, such as the use of short message service (SMS) or text messages in successful short-term smoking-cessation, weight loss and diabetes management programs. The recent Australian Tobacco, Exercise and Diet Messages (TEXT ME) randomised clinical trial addressed multiple cardiovascular risk factors. mHealth can also involve more complex strategies, such as smart phone applications (apps), global positioning systems (GPS) and Bluetooth technologies. Although many apps could be considered suitable for primary prevention, they are largely unregulated and most are not evidence-based. Some have been well-developed, such as the Food Switch app and an iPhone electrocardiogram (ECG) system. The "explosion" of apps has driven initiatives such as the Mobile Applications Rating Scale (MARS). More recently, the use of sensors to monitor and provide feedback to patients and healthcare providers is being explored. With almost two billion people currently owning a Smartphone, and 50% of adults (globally) predicted to own one by 2018, mHealth provides the prospect of delivering efficient, affordable healthcare services to widespread populations both locally and globally. In particular, it has the potential to reduce socioeconomic disparity and alleviate the burden of cardiovascular disease. There is now a need to rethink traditional health service structures and bioengineering capacity, to ensure mHealth systems are also safe, secure and robust. Copyright © 2016 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Passing crisis and emergency risk communications: the effects of communication channel, information type, and repetition.

PubMed

Edworthy, Judy; Hellier, Elizabeth; Newbold, Lex; Titchener, Kirsteen

2015-05-01

Three experiments explore several factors which influence information transmission when warning messages are passed from person to person. In Experiment 1, messages were passed down chains of participants using five different modes of communication. Written communication channels resulted in more accurate message transmission than verbal. In addition, some elements of the message endured further down the chain than others. Experiment 2 largely replicated these effects and also demonstrated that simple repetition of a message eliminated differences between written and spoken communication. In a final field experiment, chains of participants passed information however they wanted to, with the proviso that half of the chains could not use telephones. Here, the lack of ability to use a telephone did not affect accuracy, but did slow down the speed of transmission from the recipient of the message to the last person in the chain. Implications of the findings for crisis and emergency risk communication are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Same same but different!? The differential influence of smilies and emoticons on person perception.

PubMed

Ganster, Tina; Eimler, Sabrina C; Krämer, Nicole C

2012-04-01

Emoticons (ASCII-based character strings) and smilies (pictograms) are widely used in computer-mediated communication as substitutes to compensate for the absence of nonverbal cues. Although their usage has been investigated in numerous studies, it remains open whether they provoke differential effects and whether they lead to person perception patterns similar to what is known from face-to-face interactions. Based on findings from research about person perception and nonverbal communication, we investigated the differential effects of smilies and emoticons with regard to recipients' mood, message evaluation, and person perception in an experimental online study (n=127) with a 2(smiley/emoticon) by 2(positive/negative) between-subjects design (with an additional control condition). Results generally support earlier findings, indicating that the valence of the cue (smiley or emoticon) affects the corresponding impression formation. Further, findings concerning the differential influence of both forms of cues show that there are no differences with regard to message interpretation, whereas smiling smilies have a stronger impact on personal mood than smiling emoticons. The perception of a writer's commitment was only altered by smilies, suggesting that they elicit a stronger impact than emoticons.

Effect of Reinforcement of Oral Health Education Message through Short Messaging Service in Mobile Phones: A Quasi-Experimental Trial

PubMed Central

Jadhav, Harish C.; Dodamani, Arun S.; Karibasappa, G. N.; Naik, Rahul G.; Khairnar, Mahesh R.; Deshmukh, Manjiri A.; Vishwakarma, Prashanth

2016-01-01

Objective. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of reinforcement of oral health education message through short messaging service (SMS) in mobile phones. Material and Methods. 400 subjects from two colleges (200 from each college) belonging to 18–20 years age group possessing mobile phones were randomly selected and baseline examination of oral hygiene and gingival status was carried out using Oral Hygiene Index (OHI) and Gingival Index (GI). Oral health education was provided to all the subjects. Oral health education message was reinforced through short messaging service (SMS) in mobile phones for the subjects belonging to the intervention group. There was no such reinforcement for the control group. Follow-up examinations were done at the end of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th month. After the 3rd month, subjects of the intervention group did not receive oral health education message through short messaging service (SMS) and were followed up after next three months. Compiled data was analyzed using SPSS version 16 statistical software. Result. Mean OHI and GI scores in intervention group were significantly (p < 0.01) less than those of control group after the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th month. Conclusion. Reinforcement of oral health education message through short messaging service (SMS) is effective media to improve oral health. PMID:26941793

For Fit's Sake: A Norms-Based Approach to Healthy Behaviors Through Influence of Presumed Media Influence.

PubMed

Ho, Shirley S; Lee, Edmund W J; Ng, Kaijie; Leong, Grace S H; Tham, Tiffany H M

2016-09-01

Based on the influence of presumed media influence (IPMI) model as the theoretical framework, this study examines how injunctive norms and personal norms mediate the influence of healthy lifestyle media messages on public intentions to engage in two types of healthy lifestyle behaviors-physical activity and healthy diet. Nationally representative data collected from 1,055 adults in Singapore demonstrate partial support for the key hypotheses that make up the extended IPMI model, highlighting the importance of a norms-based approach in health communication. Our results indicate that perceived media influence on others indirectly shaped public intentions to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors through personal norms and attitude, providing partial theoretical support for the extended IPMI model. Practical implications for health communicators in designing health campaigns media messages to motivate the public to engage in healthy lifestyle are discussed.

A framework for community ownership of a text messaging programme to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy and client-provider communication: a mixed methods study.

PubMed

Mbuagbaw, Lawrence; Bonono-Momnougui, Renee-Cecile; Thabane, Lehana; Kouanfack, Charles; Smieja, Marek; Ongolo-Zogo, Pierre

2014-09-26

Mobile phone text messaging has been shown to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy and to improve communication between patients and health care workers. It is unclear which strategies are most appropriate for scaling up text messaging programmes. We sought to investigate acceptability and readiness for ownership (community members designing, sending and receiving text messages) of a text message programme among a community of clients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Yaoundé, Cameroon and to develop a framework for implementation. We used the mixed-methods sequential exploratory design. In the qualitative strand we conducted 7 focus group discussions (57 participants) to elicit themes related to acceptability and readiness. In the quantitative strand we explored the generalizability of these themes in a survey of 420 clients. Qualitative and quantitative data were merged to generate meta-inferences. Both qualitative and quantitative strands showed high levels of acceptability and readiness despite low rates of participation in other community-led projects. In the qualitative strand, compared to the quantitative strand, more potential service users were willing to pay for a text messaging service, preferred participation of health personnel in managing the project and preferred that the project be based in the hospital rather than in the community. Some of the limitations identified to implementing a community-owned project were lack of management skills in the community, financial, technical and literacy challenges. Participants who were willing to pay were more likely to find the project acceptable and expressed positive feelings about community readiness to own a text messaging project. Community ownership of a text messaging programme is acceptable to the community of clients at the Yaoundé Central Hospital. Our framework for implementation includes components for community members who take on roles as services users (demonstrating clear benefits, allowing a trial period and ensuring high levels of confidentiality) or service providers (training in project management and securing sustainable funding). Such a project can be evaluated using participation rate, clinical outcomes, satisfaction with the service, cost and feedback from users.

Targeting adolescent risk-taking behaviors: the contributions of egocentrism and sensation-seeking.

PubMed

Greene, K; Krcmar, M; Walters, L H; Rubin, D L; Jerold; Hale, L

2000-08-01

Tremendous resources are spent each year developing programs and messages targeting adolescent risk behavior. Adolescents are often reasonably well educated about methods for health promotion such as preventing HIV infection, yet they fail to act accordingly. One widely used individual difference variable, sensation-seeking, has been incorporated in health message design to some extent, but it fails to take development into account. Research on adolescent egocentrism suggests adolescents experience personal fable which can lead to an exaggerated sense of invulnerability. The present study sampled adolescents and college students to examine relative contributions of egocentrism and sensation-seeking to risk-taking behavior. Results indicate a latent factor labeled risk-seeking (primarily indicated by disinhibition and risk-taking personality, and to a lesser degree by invulnerability, experience-seeking, boredom susceptibility, and thrill and adventure-seeking) indeed predicted a latent factor labeled delinquent behavior (primarily indicated by alcohol consumption and delinquency, and to a lesser degree by drug use, drinking and driving, and risky driving). Other results indicate consistently high personal fable combined with high sensation-seeking explained most risk-taking behavior. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright 2000 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents.

The efficacy of mobile phone-based text message interventions ('Happy Quit') for smoking cessation in China.

PubMed

Liao, Yanhui; Wu, Qiuxia; Tang, Jinsong; Zhang, Fengyu; Wang, Xuyi; Qi, Chang; He, Haoyu; Long, Jiang; Kelly, Brian C; Cohen, Joanna

2016-08-19

Considering the extreme shortage of smoking cessation services in China, and the acceptability, feasibility and efficacy of mobile phone-based text message interventions for quitting smoking in other countries, here we propose a study of "the efficacy of mobile phone-based text message interventions ('Happy Quit') for smoking cessation in China". The primary objective of this proposed project is to assess whether a program of widely accessed mobile phone-based text message interventions ('Happy Quit') will be effective at helping people in China who smoke, to quit. Based on the efficacy of previous studies in smoking cessation, we hypothesize that 'Happy Quit' will be an effective, feasible and affordable smoking cessation program in China. In this single-blind, randomized trial, undertaken in China, about 2000 smokers willing to make a quit attempt will be randomly allocated, using an independent telephone randomization system that includes a minimization algorithm balancing for sex (male, female), age (19-34 or >34 years), educational level (≤ or >12 years), and Fagerstrom score for nicotine addiction (≤5, >5), to 'Happy Quit', comprising motivational messages and behavioral-change support, or to a control group that receives text messages unrelated to quitting. Messages will be developed to be suitable for Chinese. A pilot study will be conducted before the intervention to modify the library of messages and interventions. The primary outcome will be self-reported continuous smoking abstinence. A secondary outcome will be point prevalence of abstinence. Abstinence will be assessed at six time points (4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks post-intervention). A third outcome will be reductions in number of cigarettes smoked per day. The results will provide valuable insights into bridging the gap between need and services received for smoking cessation interventions and tobacco use prevention in China. It will also serve as mHealth model for extending the public health significance of other interventions, such as mental health interventions. NCT02693626 (Registration data April 11, 2016).

Communicating with the Workforce During Emergencies: Developing an Employee Text Messaging Program in a Local Public Health Setting

PubMed Central

Bogan, Sharon; Bosslet, Lindsay

2014-01-01

Short message service (SMS) text messaging can be useful for communicating information to public health employees and improving workforce situational awareness during emergencies. We sought to understand how the 1,500 employees at Public Health – Seattle & King County, Washington, perceived barriers to and benefits of participation in a voluntary, employer-based SMS program. Based on employee feedback, we developed the system, marketed it, and invited employees to opt in. The system was tested during an ice storm in January 2012. Employee concerns about opting into an SMS program included possible work encroachment during non-work time and receiving excessive irrelevant messages. Employees who received messages during the weather event reported high levels of satisfaction and perceived utility from the program. We conclude that text messaging is a feasible form of communication with employees during emergencies. Care should be taken to design and deploy a program that maximizes employee satisfaction. PMID:25355976

Flow of Emotional Messages in Artificial Social Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chmiel, Anna; Hołyst, Janusz A.

Models of message flows in an artificial group of users communicating via the Internet are introduced and investigated using numerical simulations. We assumed that messages possess an emotional character with a positive valence and that the willingness to send the next affective message to a given person increases with the number of messages received from this person. As a result, the weights of links between group members evolve over time. Memory effects are introduced, taking into account that the preferential selection of message receivers depends on the communication intensity during the recent period only. We also model the phenomenon of secondary social sharing when the reception of an emotional e-mail triggers the distribution of several emotional e-mails to other people.

Software Project Management and Measurement on the World-Wide-Web (WWW)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callahan, John; Ramakrishnan, Sudhaka

1996-01-01

We briefly describe a system for forms-based, work-flow management that helps members of a software development team overcome geographical barriers to collaboration. Our system, called the Web Integrated Software Environment (WISE), is implemented as a World-Wide-Web service that allows for management and measurement of software development projects based on dynamic analysis of change activity in the workflow. WISE tracks issues in a software development process, provides informal communication between the users with different roles, supports to-do lists, and helps in software process improvement. WISE minimizes the time devoted to metrics collection and analysis by providing implicit delivery of messages between users based on the content of project documents. The use of a database in WISE is hidden from the users who view WISE as maintaining a personal 'to-do list' of tasks related to the many projects on which they may play different roles.

Targeting smokers with empathy appeal antismoking public service announcements: a field experiment.

PubMed

Shen, Lijiang

2015-01-01

A field experiment study (N = 189) was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of empathy appeal antismoking messages and their potential advantage over fear appeal messages. Data from 12 antismoking public service announcements showed that (a) smokers resist antismoking messages and (b) overall empathy appeal was equally effective as fear appeal messages. There was also evidence for moderators. First, empathy messages were more effective to women than to men. Second, fear appeal messages were more effective to occasional smokers than were empathy messages. Third, empathy messages were more effective to regular smokers than were fear appeal messages. Implications for audience segmentation and message targeting in public health antismoking efforts are discussed.

Bereaved Adults' Evaluations of Grief Management Messages: Effects of Message Person Centeredness, Recipient Individual Differences, and Contextual Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rack, Jessica; Burleson, Brant; Bodie, Graham; Holmstrom, Amanda; Servaty-Seib, Heather

2008-01-01

This study identifies grief management strategies that bereaved adults evaluate as more and less helpful, assesses whether the person centeredness of these strategies explains their helpfulness, and determines whether strategy helpfulness varies as a function of demographic, personality, and situational factors. Participants (105 bereaved young…

Persuasion to use personal protective equipment in constructing subway stations: application of social marketing.

PubMed

Shamsi, Mahmoud; Pariani, Abbas; Shams, Mohsen; Soleymani-nejad, Marzieh

2016-04-01

To study the effects of an intervention based on social marketing to persuade workers to use personal protective equipment (PPE) in constructing subway stations in Isfahan, Iran. This was a quasi-experimental study. Two stations were selected as intervention and control groups. Intervention was designed based on results of a formative research. A free package containing a safety helmet with a tailored message affixed to it, mask and gloves and an educational pamphlet was delivered to the intervention group. After 6 weeks, behaviours in the intervention and control stations were measured using an observational checklist. After the intervention, the percentage of workers who used PPE at the intervention station increased significantly. OR for helmet and mask usage was 7.009 and 2.235, respectively, in the intervention group. Social marketing can be used to persuade workers to use PPE in the workplace. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

78 FR 2678 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request (60-Day FRN): The National Cancer Institute (NCI...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-14

... text message smoking cessation intervention designed for young adult smokers ages 18-29. The SmokefreeTXT program is a component of a larger series of eHealth/mHealth tobacco cessation intervention... using the bidirectional aspect of text- messaging service and a series of web-based surveys. All web...

Consumer e-health education in HIV/AIDS: a pilot study of a web-based video workshop

PubMed Central

O'Grady, Laura A

2006-01-01

Background Members of the HIV/AIDS community are known to use web-based tools to support learning about treatment issues. Initial research indicated components such as message forums or web-based documentation were effectively used by persons with HIV/AIDS. Video has also shown promise as a technology to aid consumer health education. However, no research has been published thus far investigating the impact of web-based environments combining these components in an educational workshop format. Methods In this qualitative study HIV/AIDS community members provided feedback on an integrated web-based consumer health education environment. Participants were recruited through organizations that serve the HIV/AIDS community located in Toronto, Canada. Demographics, data on Internet use, including messages exchanged in the study environment were collected. A group interview provided feedback on usability of the study environment, preferences for information formats, use of the message forum, and other sources for learning about treatment information. Results In this pilot study analysis of the posted messages did not demonstrate use for learning of the workshop content. Participants did not generally find the environment of value for learning about treatment information. However, participants did share how they were meeting these needs. It was indicated that a combination of resources are being used to find and discuss treatment information, including in-person sources. Conclusion More research on the ways in which treatment information needs are being met by HIV/AIDS community members and how technology fits in this process is necessary before investing large amounts of money into web-based interventions. Although this study had a limited number of participants, the findings were unexpected and, therefore, of interest to those who intend to implement online consumer health education initiatives or interventions. PMID:16504148

Designing personal exercise monitoring employing multiple modes of delivery: implications from a qualitative study on heart rate monitoring.

PubMed

Segerståhl, Katarina; Oinas-Kukkonen, Harri

2011-12-01

Various personal monitoring technologies have been introduced for supporting regular physical activity, which is of critical importance in reducing the risks of several chronic diseases. Recent studies suggest that combining multiple modes of delivery, such as text messages and mobile monitoring devices with web applications, holds potential for effectively supporting physical exercise. Of particular interest is how the functionality and content of these systems should be distributed across the different modes for successful outcomes. The aim of this study was to: (a) investigate how users incorporate a system employing two modes of delivery - a wearable heart rate monitor and a web service - into their training and (b) to analyze benefits and limitations in personal exercise monitoring and how they relate to the different modes in use. A qualitative field study employing diaries and semi-structured interviews was carried out with 30 participants who used a heart rate monitoring system comprising a wearable heart rate monitor, Polar FT60 and a web service, Polar Personal Trainer for a period of 21 days. The data were systematically analyzed to identify specific benefits and limitations associated with the system characteristics and modes as perceived by the end-users. The benefits include supporting exploratory learning, controlling target behavior, rectifying behaviors, motivation and logging support. The limitations are associated with information for validating the system, virtual coaching, task-technology fit, data integrity and privacy concerns. Mobile interfaces enable exploratory learning and controlling of target behaviors in situ, while web services can effectively support users' need for cognition within the early stages of adoption and long-term training with intelligent coaching functionality. This study explains several benefits and limitations in personal exercise monitoring. These can be addressed with crossmedial design, i.e., strategic distribution of functionality and content across modes within the system. Our findings suggest that personal exercise monitoring systems may be improved by more systematically combining mobile and web-based functionality. 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Message formats and their influence on perceived risks of tobacco use: a pilot formative research project in India.

PubMed

Pischke, Claudia R; Galarce, Ezequiel M; Nagler, Eve; Aghi, Mira; Sorensen, Glorian; Gupta, Prakash C; Pednekar, Mangesh S; Sinha, Dhirendra N; Viswanath, K

2013-04-01

In India, tobacco kills 900,000 people every year though the burden of tobacco is faced disproportionately in poorer states such as Bihar. Teachers may be a particularly influential group in setting norms around tobacco use in the Indian context. However, tobacco use among teachers remains high and perceptions of tobacco-related health risks are unexplored. To qualitatively explore perceptions about tobacco use among teachers in Bihar and to examine how risk information may be communicated through a variety of message formats, 12 messages on tobacco health risks varying in formats were tested in focus groups with teachers from Bihar. Participants stated that teachers were already aware of tobacco-related health risks. To further increase awareness of these risks, the inclusion of evidence-based facts in messages was recommended. Communicating risk information using negative emotions had a great appeal to teachers and was deemed most effective for increasing risk perception. Messages using narratives of teachers' personal accounts of quitting tobacco were deemed effective for increasing knowledge about the benefits of quitting. To conclude, messages using evidence-based information, possibly with negative emotions, testimonials with role models and those messages emphasizing self-efficacy in the format of narratives appear to appeal to teachers in Bihar.

Message formats and their influence on perceived risks of tobacco use: a pilot formative research project in India

PubMed Central

Pischke, Claudia R.; Galarce, Ezequiel M.; Nagler, Eve; Aghi, Mira; Sorensen, Glorian; Gupta, Prakash C.; Pednekar, Mangesh S.; Sinha, Dhirendra N.; Viswanath, K.

2013-01-01

In India, tobacco kills 900 000 people every year though the burden of tobacco is faced disproportionately in poorer states such as Bihar. Teachers may be a particularly influential group in setting norms around tobacco use in the Indian context. However, tobacco use among teachers remains high and perceptions of tobacco-related health risks are unexplored. To qualitatively explore perceptions about tobacco use among teachers in Bihar and to examine how risk information may be communicated through a variety of message formats, 12 messages on tobacco health risks varying in formats were tested in focus groups with teachers from Bihar. Participants stated that teachers were already aware of tobacco-related health risks. To further increase awareness of these risks, the inclusion of evidence-based facts in messages was recommended. Communicating risk information using negative emotions had a great appeal to teachers and was deemed most effective for increasing risk perception. Messages using narratives of teachers’ personal accounts of quitting tobacco were deemed effective for increasing knowledge about the benefits of quitting. To conclude, messages using evidence-based information, possibly with negative emotions, testimonials with role models and those messages emphasizing self-efficacy in the format of narratives appear to appeal to teachers in Bihar. PMID:23221589

Short Text Messages to Encourage Adherence to Medication and Follow-up for People With Psychosis (Mobile.Net): Randomized Controlled Trial in Finland.

PubMed

Välimäki, Maritta; Kannisto, Kati Anneli; Vahlberg, Tero; Hätönen, Heli; Adams, Clive E

2017-07-12

A text messaging service (short message service [SMS]) has the potential to target large groups of people with long-term illnesses such as serious mental disorders, who may have difficulty with treatment adherence. Robust research on the impact of mobile technology interventions for these patients remains scarce. The main objective of our study was to investigate the impact of individually tailored short text messages on the rate of psychiatric hospital readmissions, health care service use, and clinical outcomes. In addition, we analyzed treatment costs. Between September 2011 and November 2012, we randomly assigned 1139 people to a tailored text message intervention (n=569) or usual care (n=570). Participants received semiautomated text messages for up to 12 months or usual care. The primary outcome, based on routinely collected health register data, was patient readmission into a psychiatric hospital during a 12-month follow-up period. Secondary outcomes were related to other service use, coercion, medication, adverse events, satisfaction, social functioning, quality of life, and economic factors (cost analysis). There was 98.24% (1119/1139) follow-up at 12 months. Tailored mobile telephone text messages did not reduce the rate of hospital admissions (242/563, 43.0% of the SMS group vs 216/556, 38.8% of the control group; relative risk 1.11; 95% CI 0.92-1.33; P=.28), time between hospitalizations (mean difference 7.0 days 95% CI -8.0 to 24.0; P=.37), time spent in a psychiatric hospital during the year (mean difference 2.0 days 95% CI -2.0 to 7.0; P=.35), or other service outcomes. People who received text messages were less disabled, based on Global Assessment Scale scores at the time of their readmission, than those who did not receive text messages (odds ratio 0.68; 95% CI 0.47-0.97; P=.04). The costs of treatment were higher for people in the SMS group than in the control group (mean €10,103 vs €9210, respectively, P<.001). High-grade routinely collected data can provide clear outcomes for pragmatic randomized trials. SMS messaging tailored with the input of each individual patient did not decrease the rate of psychiatric hospital visits after the 12 months of follow-up. Although there may have been other, more subtle effects, the results of these were not evident in outcomes of agreed importance to clinicians, policymakers, and patients and their families. International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 27704027; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN27704027 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6rVzZrbuz). ©Maritta Välimäki, Kati Anneli Kannisto, Tero Vahlberg, Heli Hätönen, Clive E Adams. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 12.07.2017.

Service users' perspectives in the design of an online tool for assisted self-help in mental health: a case study of implications.

PubMed

Gammon, Deede; Strand, Monica; Eng, Lillian Sofie

2014-01-09

The involvement of persons with lived experiences of mental illness and service use is increasingly viewed as key to improving the relevance and utility of mental health research and service innovation. Guided by the principles of Community-Based Participatory Research we developed an online tool for assisted self-help in mental health. The resulting tool, PsyConnect, is ready for testing in two communities starting 2014. This case study reports from the design phase which entailed clarifying very basic questions: Who is the primary target group? What are the aims? What functions are priorities? Roles and responsibilities? What types of evidence can legitimize tool design decisions? Here we highlight the views of service users as a basis for discussing implications of user involvement for service design and research. PsyConnect has become a tool for those who expect to need assistance over long periods of time regardless of their specific condition(s). The aim is to support service users in gaining greater overview and control, legitimacy, and sense of continuity in relationships. It has a personalized "my control panel" which depicts status → process → goals. Functionality includes support for: mapping life domains; medication overview; crisis management; coping exercises; secure messaging; and social support. While the types of evidence that can legitimize design decisions are scattered and indirectly relevant, recent trends in recovery research will be used to guide further refinements. PsyConnect has undoubtedly become something other than it would have been without careful attention to the views of service users. The tool invites a proactive approach that is likely to challenge treatment cultures that are reactive, disorder-focused and consultation-based. Service user representatives will need to play central roles in training peers and clinicians in order to increase the likelihood of tool usage in line with intentions. Similarly, their influence on tool design has implications for choice of methods for evaluation. Starting down the path of service user involvement in intervention design fosters commitment to follow through in the remaining implementation and research phases. While this can be time-consuming and less meriting for researchers, it is probably vital to increasing the likelihood of success of person-centered service innovations.

BrdsNBz: A Mixed Methods Study Exploring Adolescents' Use of a Sexual Health Text Message Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willoughby, Jessica Fitts

2013-01-01

Sexual health text message services are becoming increasingly popular, but little is known about who uses such services and why. This project details the implementation of a campaign promoting a state-wide sexual health text message service that allows teens to text directly with a health educator and uses a mixed method design to assess who uses…

78 FR 32169 - Facilitating the Deployment of Text-to-911 and Other Next Generation 911 Applications

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-29

... messaging services (i.e., all providers of software applications that enable a consumer to send text... messaging services (i.e., all providers of software applications that enable a consumer to send text... providers of interconnected text messaging services (i.e., all providers of software applications that...

Enhancing the effects of a narrative message through experiential information processing: An experimental study.

PubMed

Dillard, Amanda J; Hisler, Garrett

2015-01-01

First-person narratives are becoming a popular means to communicate health risk information. Although studies show they can increase risk perception and motivate health behaviours compared to statistical messages, more research on the conditions in which they are particularly likely to have effects is needed. In this study, we tested a moderator related to how information is processed. Specifically, we hypothesised that thinking in terms of emotions and personal experiences - known as experiential information processing - would increase people's responsiveness to a narrative. Female college students (N = 138) who reported indoor tanning were randomly assigned to read a first-person narrative message or a statistical message about the risks of skin cancer. Prior to reading the message, the women received instructions that would activate either experiential or rational information processing. Participants then reported their risk perceptions of skin cancer, worry about skin cancer and behaviour intentions related to skin cancer. Analyses showed that message type and information processing interacted to influence risk perceptions and worry. Consistent with hypotheses, participants reported the highest risk perception and worry when they used an experiential information system prior to reading the narrative message. There were no effects on behaviour intentions. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Rapid Growth in Surgeons’ Use of Secure Messaging in a Patient Portal

PubMed Central

Shenson, Jared A.; Cronin, Robert M.; Davis, Sharon E.; Chen, Qingxia; Jackson, Gretchen Purcell

2016-01-01

Background Use of secure messaging through patient portals has risen substantially in recent years due to provider incentives and consumer demand. Secure messaging may increase patient satisfaction and improve outcomes, but also adds to physician workload. Most prior studies of secure messaging focused on primary care and medical specialties. We examined surgeons’ use of secure messaging and the contribution of messaging to outpatient interactions in a broadly-deployed patient portal. Methods We determined the number of clinic visits and secure messages for surgical providers in the first three years (2008–10) after patient portal deployment at an academic medical center. We calculated the proportion of outpatient interaction conducted through messaging for each specialty. Logistic regression models compared the likelihood of message-based versus clinic outpatient interaction across surgical specialties. Results Over the study period, surgical providers delivered care in 648,200 clinic visits and received 83,912 messages, with more than 200% growth in monthly message volume. Surgical specialties receiving the most messages were orthopedics/podiatry (25.1%), otolaryngology (20.1%), urology (10.8%), and general surgery (9.6%); vascular surgery (0.8%) and pediatric general surgery (0.2%) received the fewest. The proportion of outpatient interactions conducted through secure messaging increased significantly from 5.4% in 2008 to 15.3% in 2010 (p<0.001) with all specialties experiencing growth. Heart/lung transplantation (74.9%), liver/kidney/pancreas transplantation (69.5%), and general surgery (48.7%) had the highest proportion of message-based outpatient interaction by the end of the study. Conclusions This study demonstrates rapid adoption of online secure messaging across surgical specialties with significant growth in its use for outpatient interaction. Some specialties, particularly those with long-term follow-up, interacted with patients more through secure messaging than in person. As surgeons devote more time to secure messaging, additional research will be needed to understand the care delivered through online interactions and to develop models for reimbursement. PMID:26123340

Competing with big business: a randomised experiment testing the effects of messages to promote alcohol and sugary drink control policy.

PubMed

Scully, Maree; Brennan, Emily; Durkin, Sarah; Dixon, Helen; Wakefield, Melanie; Barry, Colleen L; Niederdeppe, Jeff

2017-12-28

Evidence-based policies encouraging healthy behaviours are often strongly opposed by well-funded industry groups. As public support is crucial for policy change, public health advocates need to be equipped with strategies to offset the impact of anti-policy messages. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of theory-based public health advocacy messages in generating public support for sugary drink/alcohol policies (increased taxes; sport sponsorship bans) and improving resistance to subsequent anti-policy messages typical of the sugary drink/alcohol industry. We conducted a two-wave randomised online experiment assigning Australian adults to one of four health policies (sugary drink tax; sugary drink industry sports sponsorship ban; alcohol tax; alcohol industry sports sponsorship ban). Within each health policy, we randomised participants to one of five message conditions: (i) non-advocacy based message about the size and seriousness of the relevant health issue (control); (ii) standard pro-policy arguments alone; (iii) standard pro-policy arguments combined with an inoculation message (forewarning and directly refuting anti-policy arguments from the opposition); (iv) standard pro-policy arguments combined with a narrative message (a short, personal story about an individual's experience of the health issue); or (v) standard pro-policy arguments combined with a composite inoculation and narrative message. At time 1, we exposed participants (n = 6000) to their randomly assigned message. Around two weeks later, we re-contacted participants (n = 3285) and exposed them to an anti-policy message described as being from a representative of the sugary drink/alcohol industry. Generalised linear models tested for differences between conditions in policy support and anti-industry beliefs at both time points. Only the standard argument plus narrative message increased policy support relative to control at time 1. The standard argument plus narrative and standard argument plus inoculation messages were effective at increasing resistance to the persuasive impact of anti-policy messages relative to control at time 2. Dissemination of advocacy messages using inoculation or narrative components can help strengthen public resistance to subsequent anti-policy messages from industry groups.

A Depression Prevention Intervention for Adolescents in the Emergency Department.

PubMed

Ranney, Megan L; Freeman, Joshua R; Connell, Gerianne; Spirito, Anthony; Boyer, Edward; Walton, Maureen; Guthrie, Kate Morrow; Cunningham, Rebecca M

2016-10-01

To evaluate acceptability and feasibility of a theoretically based two-part (brief in-person + 8-week automated text message) depression prevention program, "intervention for DepressiOn and Violence prevention in the Emergency department" (iDOVE), for high-risk adolescents. English-speaking emergency department (ED) patients (age 13-17, any chief complaint) were sequentially approached for consent on a convenience sample of shifts and screened for inclusion based on current depressive symptoms and past-year violence. After consent, baseline assessments were obtained; all participants were enrolled in the two-part intervention (brief in-ED + 8-week two-way text messaging). At 8 weeks, quantitative and qualitative follow-up assessments were obtained. Measures included feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary data on efficacy. Qualitative data were transcribed verbatim, double coded, and interpreted using thematic analysis. Quantitative results were analyzed descriptively and with paired t tests. As planned, 16 participants (eight each gender) were recruited (75% of those who were eligible; 66% nonwhite, 63% low income, mean age 15.4). The intervention had high feasibility and acceptability: 93.8% completed 8-week follow-up; 80% of daily text messages received responses; 31% of participants requested ≥1 "on-demand" text message. In-person and text message portions were rated as good/excellent by 87%. Qualitatively, participants articulated: (1) iDOVE was welcome and helpful, if unexpected in the ED; (2) the daily text message mood assessment was "most important"; (3) content was "uplifting"; and (4) balancing intervention "relatability" and automation was challenging. Participants' mean ΔBDI-2 (Beck Depression Inventory) from baseline to 8-week follow-up was -4.9, (p = .02). This automated preventive text message intervention is acceptable and feasible. Qualitative data emphasize the importance of creating positive, relevant, and interactive digital health tools for adolescents. Copyright © 2016 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Can Anonymous Posters on Medical Forums be Reidentified?

PubMed Central

Bobicev, Victoria; El Emam, Khaled; Jafer, Yasser; Dewar, Brian; Jonker, Elizabeth; Matwin, Stan

2013-01-01

Background Participants in medical forums often reveal personal health information about themselves in their online postings. To feel comfortable revealing sensitive personal health information, some participants may hide their identity by posting anonymously. They can do this by using fake identities, nicknames, or pseudonyms that cannot readily be traced back to them. However, individual writing styles have unique features and it may be possible to determine the true identity of an anonymous user through author attribution analysis. Although there has been previous work on the authorship attribution problem, there has been a dearth of research on automated authorship attribution on medical forums. The focus of the paper is to demonstrate that character-based author attribution works better than word-based methods in medical forums. Objective The goal was to build a system that accurately attributes authorship of messages posted on medical forums. The Authorship Attributor system uses text analysis techniques to crawl medical forums and automatically correlate messages written by the same authors. Authorship Attributor processes unstructured texts regardless of the document type, context, and content. Methods The messages were labeled by nicknames of the forum participants. We evaluated the system’s performance through its accuracy on 6000 messages gathered from 2 medical forums on an in vitro fertilization (IVF) support website. Results Given 2 lists of candidate authors (30 and 50 candidates, respectively), we obtained an F score accuracy in detecting authors of 75% to 80% on messages containing 100 to 150 words on average, and 97.9% on longer messages containing at least 300 words. Conclusions Authorship can be successfully detected in short free-form messages posted on medical forums. This raises a concern about the meaningfulness of anonymous posting on such medical forums. Authorship attribution tools can be used to warn consumers wishing to post anonymously about the likelihood of their identity being determined. PMID:24091380

Toward mHealth Brief Contact Interventions in Suicide Prevention: Case Series From the Suicide Intervention Assisted by Messages (SIAM) Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Berrouiguet, Sofian; Larsen, Mark Erik; Mesmeur, Catherine; Gravey, Michel; Billot, Romain; Walter, Michel; Lemey, Christophe; Lenca, Philippe

2018-01-10

Research indicates that maintaining contact either via letter or postcard with at-risk adults following discharge from care services after a suicide attempt (SA) can reduce reattempt risk. Pilot studies have demonstrated that interventions using mobile health (mHealth) technologies are feasible in a suicide prevention setting. The aim of this study was to report three cases of patients recruited in the Suicide Intervention Assisted by Messages (SIAM) study to describe how a mobile intervention may influence follow-up. SIAM is a 2-year, multicenter randomized controlled trial conducted by the Brest University Hospital, France. Participants in the intervention group receive SIAM text messages 48 hours after discharge, then at day 8 and day 15, and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The study includes participants aged 18 years or older, who have attended a participating hospital for an SA, and have been discharged from the emergency department (ED) or a psychiatric unit (PU) for a stay of less than 7 days. Eligible participants are randomized between the SIAM intervention messages and a control group. In this study, we present three cases from the ongoing SIAM study that demonstrate the capability of a mobile-based brief contact intervention for triggering patient-initiated contact with a crisis support team at various time points throughout the mobile-based follow-up period. Out of the 244 patients recruited in the SIAM randomized controlled trial, three cases were selected to illustrate the impact of mHealth on suicide risk management. Participants initiated contact with the emergency crisis support service after receiving text messages up to 6 months following discharge from the hospital. Contact was initiated immediately following receipt of a text message or up to 6 days following a message. This text message-based brief contact intervention has demonstrated the potential to reconnect suicidal individuals with crisis support services while they are experiencing suicidal ideation as well as in a period after receiving messages. As follow-up phone calls over an extended period of time may not be feasible, this intervention has the potential to offer simple technological support for individuals following discharge from the ED. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02106949; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02106949 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6wMtAFL49). ©Sofian Berrouiguet, Mark Erik Larsen, Catherine Mesmeur, Michel Gravey, Romain Billot, Michel Walter, HUGOPSY Network, Christophe Lemey, Philippe Lenca. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 10.01.2018.

Targeted Secure Messages to Facilitate Access to Tobacco Treatment Counseling for Veterans: Feasibility Study

PubMed Central

Korenblit, Pearl; Thomas, Pauline; Passannante, Marian R; Carr, Richard; Davis, Lynn

2018-01-01

Background Studies show that combining nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) with tobacco treatment counseling is most effective for smoking cessation. However, tobacco treatment counseling has been underutilized across the nation. A secure email message sent to patients already taking NRT was hypothesized to increase the utilization of tobacco treatment counseling among Veterans in New Jersey. Secure messaging for communication between patients and providers was implemented through a web-based password-protected, secure messaging account, where Veterans get notified through their personal email when they have a message awaiting them. Objective The main objective of this project was to determine if there was a significant increase in adoption of tobacco treatment counseling among Veterans who received a secure message describing the options for tobacco treatment counseling available to them. Secondary objectives were to demographically characterize Veterans who were and were not enrolled in secure messaging, as well as those who opened or did not open a message. Finally, because the language and content of the messages were changed across project phases, this project also sought to determine (by analysis of response rates) the type of language that was most effective at eliciting a response. Methods Over two phases, messages were sent to two samples of Veterans prescribed NRT within the prior 90 days of each phase. In phase 1, one message was sent in December 2015 (message 1). In phase 2, one message was sent in July 2016 (message 2) and the same message (message 3) was resent in August 2016 to persons who did not open message 2. Messages 2 and 3 were more directive than message 1. Response rates to message 1 versus message 2 were compared. A logistic regression analysis determined effect of age and gender on enrollment in secure messaging across both phases. The effectiveness of each phase at increasing tobacco treatment counseling was analyzed using a McNemar test. Results Message 2, sent to 423 Veterans, had a significantly higher response rate than message 1, sent to 348 Veterans (18%, 17/93 vs 8%, 6/78, P=.04). Phase 2 (ie, messages 2 and 3) significantly increased utilization of tobacco treatment counseling (net increase of six tobacco treatment counseling adopters, P=.04), whereas phase 1 (ie, message 1) did not (net increase of two tobacco treatment counseling adopters, P=.48). Women (odds ratio [OR] 1.6, 95% CI 1.1-2.3) and those aged 30 to 49 years (compared to other age groups) were more likely to be enrolled in secure messaging. Gender and age were not significant predictors of opening or replying to either message. Conclusions Although the effect was small, secure messaging was a useful modality to increase tobacco treatment counseling. Directive content with a follow-up message appeared useful. Female Veterans and/or Veterans aged between 30 and 49 years are more likely to use secure messaging. PMID:29506969

Do nurses' personal health behaviours impact on their health promotion practice? A systematic review.

PubMed

Kelly, Muireann; Wills, Jane; Sykes, Susie

2017-11-01

There is a growing expectation in national and international policy and from professional bodies that nurses be role models for healthy behaviours, the rationale being that there is a relationship between nurses' personal health and the adoption of healthier behaviours by patients. This may be from patients being motivated by, and modelling, the visible healthy lifestyle of the nurse or that nurses are more willing to promote the health of their patients by offering public health or health promotion advice and referring the patient to support services. An integrated systematic review was conducted to determine if nurses' personal health behaviour impacted on (1) their health promotion practices, and (2) patient responses to a health promotion message. Medline, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and PsycINFO databases were searched. A narrative synthesis was conducted. 31 studies were included in the review. No consistent associations were noted between nurses' weight, alcohol use, or physical activity level and their health promotion practice, although smoking appeared to negatively impact on the likelihood of discussing and engaging in cessation counselling. Nurses who reported confidence and skills around health promotion practice were more likely to raise lifestyle issues with patients, irrespective of their own personal health behaviours. The two studies included in the review that examined patient responses noted that the perceived credibility of a public health message was not enhanced by being delivered by a nurse who reported adopting healthy behaviours. Although it is assumed that nurses' personal health behaviour influences their health promotion practice, there is little evidence to support this. The assertion in health care policy that nurses should be role models for healthy behaviours assumes a causal relationship between their health behaviours and the patient response and adoption of public health messages that is not borne out by the research evidence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Are you Scared Yet?: Evaluating Fear Appeal Messages in Tweets about the Tips Campaign.

PubMed

Emery, Sherry L; Szczypka, Glen; Abril, Eulàlia Puig; Kim, Yoonsang; Vera, Lisa

2014-04-01

In March 2012, the CDC launched "Tips from Former Smokers," a $54 million national campaign featuring individuals experiencing long-term health consequences of smoking. The campaign approach was based on strong evidence that anti-tobacco ads portraying fear, graphic images, and personal testimonials are associated with attitudinal and behavior change. Yet it was also controversial; critics cited the danger that viewers might reject such intensely graphic messages. Tasked with informing this debate, our study analyzes the corpus of Tips campaign-related tweets obtained via the Twitter Firehose. We provide a novel and rigorous method for media campaign evaluation within the framework of the Extended Parallel Process Model. Among the relevant Tweets, 87% showed evidence of message acceptance, while 7% exhibited message rejection.

In-Game Health Communication: Delivering Low-Fear Health Messages in a Low-Fear Videogame.

PubMed

Burrows, Christopher N; Blanton, Hart

2018-06-01

Prior research has demonstrated that psychological immersion (or "transportation") into virtual gaming worlds can heighten influence from health-promotion messages embedded in the backgrounds of gaming scenes. However, research to date has only studied the effectiveness of embedding graphic, fear-based messages in the background of violent, first-person videogames. This study sought to examine whether transportation into a nonviolent videogame can heighten persuasion from low-fear, nongraphic health messages. Willingness to drive under the influence of alcohol (DUI) was measured in an undergraduate sample (M AGE  = 19) at the start of the semester, and n = 220 returned 0-3 months later to play a car-racing videogame. All were randomly assigned to play either a version of the game containing background billboards that delivered simple, text-based anti-DUI messages or consumer advertising. Self-reported levels of transportation were assessed, as well as postgame willingness to DUI. Exposure to anti-DUI messages from within the game predicted lower postgame willingness to DUI. Moreover, replicating prior research, the effect of message exposure was largest among those who reported higher levels of pregame willingness to DUI, and higher levels of in-game transportation. This study replicates prior research by suggesting that immersive videogames that promote transportation can be used to effectively deliver health communications. Results also expand prior research by providing the first evidence that such effects can generalize when health messaging orients around nongraphic, lower fear messages embedded within immersive but lower fear videogames.

Examining How Media Literacy and Personality Factors Predict Skepticism Toward Alcohol Advertising.

PubMed

Austin, Erica Weintraub; Muldrow, Adrienne; Austin, Bruce W

2016-05-01

To examine the potential effectiveness of media literacy education in the context of well-established personality factors, a survey of 472 young adults, focused on the issue of alcohol marketing messages, examined how individual differences in personality associate with constructs representing aspects of media literacy. The results showed that need for cognition predicted social expectancies and wishful identification with media portrayals in alcohol advertising only through critical thinking about media sources and media content, which are foci of media literacy education. Need for affect did not associate with increased or diminished levels of critical thinking. Critical thinking about sources and messages affected skepticism, represented by expectancies through wishful identification, consistent with the message interpretation process model. The results support the view that critical thinking about media sources is an important precursor to critical thinking about media messages. The results also suggest that critical thinking about media (i.e., media literacy) reflects more than personality characteristics and can affect wishful identification with role models observed in media, which appears to be a key influence on decision making. This adds support to the view that media literacy education can improve decision making across personality types regarding alcohol use by decreasing the potential influence of alcohol marketing messages.

Exploring Factors Influencing Mobile Users' Intention to Adopt Multimedia Messaging Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Shuchih Ernest; Pan, Ying-Hui Vera

2011-01-01

While short messaging service (SMS) is discussed often in recent literature, multimedia messaging service (MMS), a media rich successor of SMS, is seldom heard or understood by mobile users in Taiwan. The adoption rates of MMS are far from satisfactory, implying that there might be some factors keeping the potential users away from using MMS. This…

Communicating with the crowd: speakers use abstract messages when addressing larger audiences.

PubMed

Joshi, Priyanka D; Wakslak, Cheryl J

2014-02-01

Audience characteristics often shape communicators' message framing. Drawing from construal level theory, we suggest that when speaking to many individuals, communicators frame messages in terms of superordinate characteristics that focus attention on the essence of the message. On the other hand, when communicating with a single individual, communicators increasingly describe events and actions in terms of their concrete details. Using different communication tasks and measures of construal, we show that speakers communicating with many individuals, compared with 1 person, describe events more abstractly (Study 1), describe themselves as more trait-like (Study 2), and use more desirability-related persuasive messages (Study 3). Furthermore, speakers' motivation to communicate with their audience moderates their tendency to frame messages based on audience size (Studies 3 and 4). This audience-size abstraction effect is eliminated when a large audience is described as homogeneous, suggesting that people use abstract construal strategically in order to connect across a disparate group of individuals (Study 5). Finally, we show that participants' experienced fluency in communication is influenced by the match between message abstraction and audience size (Study 6).

Integration of RFID and web service for assisted living.

PubMed

Unluturk, Mehmet S; Kurtel, Kaan

2012-08-01

The number of people over 65 years old throughout most stable and prosperous countries in the world is increasing. Availability of their care in their own homes is imperative because of the economic reasons and their choices where to live (World Health Organization, Definition of an older or elderly person. http://www.who.int/healthinfo/survey/ageingdefnolder/en/ ; EQUIP-European Framework for Qualifications in Home Care Services for Older People, http://www.equip-project.com ; Salonen, 2009). "Recent advancement in wireless communications and electronics has enabled the development of low-cost sensor networks. The sensor networks can be utilized in various application areas." (Akyildiz, et al. 2002) These two statements show that there is a great promise in wireless technology and utilizing it in assisted living might be very beneficial to the elderly people. In this paper, we propose software architecture called Location Windows Service (LWS) which integrates the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology and the web service to build an assisted living system for elderly people at home. This architecture monitors the location of elderly people without interfering in their daily activities. Location information messages that are generated as the elderly move from room to room indicate that the elderly person is fit and healthy and going about their normal life. The communication must be timely enough to follow elderly people as they move from room to room without missing a location. Unacknowledged publishing, subscription filtering and short location change messages are also included in this software model to reduce the network traffic in large homes. We propose some defense schemes being applied to the network environment of the assisted living system to prevent any external attacks.

Multipath for Agricultural and Rural Information Services in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ge, Ningning; Zang, Zhiyuan; Gao, Lingwang; Shi, Qiang; Li, Jie; Xing, Chunlin; Shen, Zuorui

Internet cannot provide perfect information services for farmers in rural regions in China, because farmers in rural regions can hardly access the internet by now. But the wide coverage of mobile signal, telephone line, and television network, etc. gave us a chance to solve the problem. The integrated pest management platform of Northern fruit trees were developed based on the integrated technology, which can integrate the internet, mobile and fixed-line telephone network, and television network, to provide integrated pest management(IPM) information services for farmers in rural regions in E-mail, telephone-voice, short message, voice mail, videoconference or other format, to users' telephone, cell phone, personal computer, personal digital assistant(PDA), television, etc. alternatively. The architecture and the functions of the system were introduced in the paper. The system can manage the field monitoring data of agricultural pests, deal with enquiries to provide the necessary information to farmers accessing the interactive voice response(IVR) in the system with the experts on-line or off-line, and issue the early warnings about the fruit tree pests when it is necessary according to analysis on the monitoring data about the pests of fruit trees in variety of ways including SMS, fax, voice and intersystem e-mail.The system provides a platform and a new pattern for agricultural technology extension with a high coverage rate of agricultural technology in rural regions, and it can solve the problem of agriculture information service 'last kilometer' in China. The effectiveness of the system was certified.

Applications of Multi-Channel Safety Authentication Protocols in Wireless Networks.

PubMed

Chen, Young-Long; Liau, Ren-Hau; Chang, Liang-Yu

2016-01-01

People can use their web browser or mobile devices to access web services and applications which are built into these servers. Users have to input their identity and password to login the server. The identity and password may be appropriated by hackers when the network environment is not safe. The multiple secure authentication protocol can improve the security of the network environment. Mobile devices can be used to pass the authentication messages through Wi-Fi or 3G networks to serve as a second communication channel. The content of the message number is not considered in a multiple secure authentication protocol. The more excessive transmission of messages would be easier to collect and decode by hackers. In this paper, we propose two schemes which allow the server to validate the user and reduce the number of messages using the XOR operation. Our schemes can improve the security of the authentication protocol. The experimental results show that our proposed authentication protocols are more secure and effective. In regard to applications of second authentication communication channels for a smart access control system, identity identification and E-wallet, our proposed authentication protocols can ensure the safety of person and property, and achieve more effective security management mechanisms.

Increasing the Automation and Autonomy for Spacecraft Operations with Criteria Action Table

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Zhen-Ping; Savki, Cetin

2005-01-01

The Criteria Action Table (CAT) is an automation tool developed for monitoring real time system messages for specific events and processes in order to take user defined actions based on a set of user-defined rules. CAT was developed by Lockheed Martin Space Operations as a part of a larger NASA effort at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to create a component-based, middleware-based, and standard-based general purpose ground system architecture referred as GMSEC - the GSFC Mission Services Evolution Center. CAT has been integrated into the upgraded ground systems for Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Small Explorer (SMEX) satellites and it plays the central role in their automation effort to reduce the cost and increase the reliability for spacecraft operations. The GMSEC architecture provides a standard communication interface and protocol for components to publish/describe messages to an information bus. It also provides a standard message definition so components can send and receive messages to the bus interface rather than each other, thus reducing the component-to-component coupling, interface, protocols, and link (socket) management. With the GMSEC architecture, components can publish standard event messages to the bus for all nominal, significant, and surprising events in regard to satellite, celestial, ground system, or any other activity. In addition to sending standard event messages, each GMSEC compliant component is required to accept and process GMSEC directive request messages.

Mobile Learning Environment with Short Messaging Service: Application to a Campus Environment in a Developing Country

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Premadasa, H. K. Salinda; Meegama, R. Gayan N.

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how to integrate secure, open-source and mobile-based system with the Moodle learning management system (MLMS) then describe the implementation of a campus-wide mobile learning environment with short messaging system (SMS) and how this platform is incorporated with the student's learning…

Tweeting as Health Communication: Health Organizations' Use of Twitter for Health Promotion and Public Engagement.

PubMed

Park, Hyojung; Reber, Bryan H; Chon, Myoung-Gi

2016-01-01

This study examined how major health organizations use Twitter for disseminating health information, building relationships, and encouraging actions to improve health. The sampled organizations were the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, and American Diabetes Association. A content analysis was conducted on 1,583 tweets to examine these organizations' use of Twitter's interactive features and to understand the message functions and topics of their tweets. The numbers of retweets and favorites were also measured as engagement indicators and compared by different message functions. The results revealed that all of the organizations posted original tweets most, but they differed in the degree to which they used the retweet and reply functions. Hashtags and hyperlinks were the most frequently used interactive tools. The majority of the tweets were about organization-related topics, whereas personal health-related tweets represented a relatively small portion of the sample. Followers were most likely to like and retweet personal health action-based messages.

Integrating mobile-phone based assessment for psychosis into people's everyday lives and clinical care: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Palmier-Claus, Jasper E; Rogers, Anne; Ainsworth, John; Machin, Matt; Barrowclough, Christine; Laverty, Louise; Barkus, Emma; Kapur, Shitij; Wykes, Til; Lewis, Shôn W

2013-01-23

Over the past decade policy makers have emphasised the importance of healthcare technology in the management of long-term conditions. Mobile-phone based assessment may be one method of facilitating clinically- and cost-effective intervention, and increasing the autonomy and independence of service users. Recently, text-message and smartphone interfaces have been developed for the real-time assessment of symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia. Little is currently understood about patients' perceptions of these systems, and how they might be implemented into their everyday routine and clinical care. 24 community based individuals with non-affective psychosis completed a randomised repeated-measure cross-over design study, where they filled in self-report questions about their symptoms via text-messages on their own phone, or via a purpose designed software application for Android smartphones, for six days. Qualitative interviews were conducted in order to explore participants' perceptions and experiences of the devices, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Three themes emerged from the data: i) the appeal of usability and familiarity, ii) acceptability, validity and integration into domestic routines, and iii) perceived impact on clinical care. Although participants generally found the technology non-stigmatising and well integrated into their everyday activities, the repetitiveness of the questions was identified as a likely barrier to long-term adoption. Potential benefits to the quality of care received were seen in terms of assisting clinicians, faster and more efficient data exchange, and aiding patient-clinician communication. However, patients often failed to see the relevance of the systems to their personal situations, and emphasised the threat to the person centred element of their care. The feedback presented in this paper suggests that patients are conscious of the benefits that mobile-phone based assessment could bring to clinical care, and that the technology can be successfully integrated into everyday routine. However, it also suggests that it is important to demonstrate to patients the personal, as well as theoretical, benefits of the technology. In the future it will be important to establish whether clinical practitioners are able to use this technology as part of a personalised mental health regime.

"There Is Something We Need to Tell You…": Communicating Health-Screening Results to Older Adults via the Internet.

PubMed

Beukema, Sander; van Velsen, Lex; Jansen-Kosterink, Stephanie; Karreman, Joyce

2017-09-01

With the introduction of online health screenings, guidelines describing how to communicate about a person's health need to be adapted for a digital setting. This study aimed to uncover older adults' preferences regarding such online messages. Thirty older adults (aged 65 to 75 years) viewed four versions of the results message of a screening aimed at identifying frailty: a standard, empathic, tailored, or both empathic and tailored message. After each version, they were interviewed about what they (dis)liked about the message. They also ranked the four versions according to preference. Ranks were analyzed with a Friedman's test and a Wilcoxon's signed-rank test. There was no significant difference for message-type preference when the outcome was positive. For the prefrail or frail outcome, message-type preferences differed (χ 2  = 10.51, p = 0.02 and χ 2  = 13.56, p < 0.01, respectively). Overall, for the prefrail and frail outcome, the tailored version was appreciated most. Participants commented that the tailored version made them feel appreciated more as a person. Some found the empathic additions comforting, others found these unnecessary. When communicating the results of an online health screening to older adults via the Internet, one should primarily tailor the message toward personal characteristics. The effect of empathic elements in results messages appeared to be limited. Whether a message should be adapted depends on whether the outcome is positive or negative.

An approach to efficient mobility management in intelligent networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murthy, K. M. S.

1995-01-01

Providing personal communication systems supporting full mobility require intelligent networks for tracking mobile users and facilitating outgoing and incoming calls over different physical and network environments. In realizing the intelligent network functionalities, databases play a major role. Currently proposed network architectures envision using the SS7-based signaling network for linking these DB's and also for interconnecting DB's with switches. If the network has to support ubiquitous, seamless mobile services, then it has to support additionally mobile application parts, viz., mobile origination calls, mobile destination calls, mobile location updates and inter-switch handovers. These functions will generate significant amount of data and require them to be transferred between databases (HLR, VLR) and switches (MSC's) very efficiently. In the future, the users (fixed or mobile) may use and communicate with sophisticated CPE's (e.g. multimedia, multipoint and multisession calls) which may require complex signaling functions. This will generate volumness service handling data and require efficient transfer of these message between databases and switches. Consequently, the network providers would be able to add new services and capabilities to their networks incrementally, quickly and cost-effectively.

Improving Health Worker Adherence to Malaria Treatment Guidelines in Papua New Guinea: Feasibility and Acceptability of a Text Message Reminder Service

PubMed Central

Kurumop, Serah F.; Bullen, Chris; Whittaker, Robyn; Betuela, Inoni; Hetzel, Manuel W.; Pulford, Justin

2013-01-01

The aim of this study is to assess whether a text message reminder service designed to support health worker adherence to a revised malaria treatment protocol is feasible and acceptable in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The study took place in six purposively selected health facilities located in the Eastern Highlands Province (EHP) of PNG. Ten text messages designed to remind participants of key elements of the new NMTP were transmitted to 42 health workers twice over a two week period (two text messages per day, Monday to Friday) via the country’s largest mobile network provider. The feasibility and acceptability of the text message reminder service was assessed by transmission reports, participant diaries and group discussions. Findings indicate that the vast majority of text messages were successfully transmitted, participants’ had regular mobile phone access and that most text messages were read most of the time and were considered both acceptable and clinically useful. Nevertheless, the study found that PNG health workers may tire of the service if the same messages are repeated too many times and that health workers may be reluctant to utilize more comprehensive, yet complementary, resources. In conclusion, a text message reminder service to support health worker adherence to the new malaria treatment protocol is feasible and acceptable in PNG. A rigorous pragmatic, effectiveness trial would be justified on the basis of these findings. PMID:24116122

Mobile Health Devices as Tools for Worldwide Cardiovascular Risk Reduction and Disease Management.

PubMed

Piette, John D; List, Justin; Rana, Gurpreet K; Townsend, Whitney; Striplin, Dana; Heisler, Michele

2015-11-24

We examined evidence on whether mobile health (mHealth) tools, including interactive voice response calls, short message service, or text messaging, and smartphones, can improve lifestyle behaviors and management related to cardiovascular diseases throughout the world. We conducted a state-of-the-art review and literature synthesis of peer-reviewed and gray literature published since 2004. The review prioritized randomized trials and studies focused on cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, but included other reports when they represented the best available evidence. The search emphasized reports on the potential benefits of mHealth interventions implemented in low- and middle-income countries. Interactive voice response and short message service interventions can improve cardiovascular preventive care in developed countries by addressing risk factors including weight, smoking, and physical activity. Interactive voice response and short message service-based interventions for cardiovascular disease management also have shown benefits with respect to hypertension management, hospital readmissions, and diabetic glycemic control. Multimodal interventions including Web-based communication with clinicians and mHealth-enabled clinical monitoring with feedback also have shown benefits. The evidence regarding the potential benefits of interventions using smartphones and social media is still developing. Studies of mHealth interventions have been conducted in >30 low- and middle-income countries, and evidence to date suggests that programs are feasible and may improve medication adherence and disease outcomes. Emerging evidence suggests that mHealth interventions may improve cardiovascular-related lifestyle behaviors and disease management. Next-generation mHealth programs developed worldwide should be based on evidence-based behavioral theories and incorporate advances in artificial intelligence for adapting systems automatically to patients' unique and changing needs. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Discerning the role of optimism in persuasion: the valence-enhancement hypothesis.

PubMed

Geers, Andrew L; Handley, Ian M; McLarney, Amber R

2003-09-01

The valence-enhancement hypothesis argues that because of their active coping strategies, optimists are especially likely to elaborate on valenced information that is of high personal relevance. The hypothesis predicts that as a result, optimists will be more persuaded by personally relevant positive messages and less persuaded by personally relevant negative messages than pessimists. It also predicts that when the message is not personally relevant, optimism and persuasion will not be related in this manner. The results of 3 studies support these predictions and supply evidence against several alternative hypotheses. The possibility that the observed effects are not due to optimism but to the confounding influence of 7 additional variables is also addressed and ruled out. Implications are discussed.

Development of a text messaging system to improve receipt of survivorship care in adolescent and young adult survivors of childhood cancer.

PubMed

Casillas, Jacqueline; Goyal, Anju; Bryman, Jason; Alquaddoomi, Faisal; Ganz, Patricia A; Lidington, Emma; Macadangdang, Joshua; Estrin, Deborah

2017-08-01

This study aimed to develop and examine the acceptability, feasibility, and usability of a text messaging, or Short Message Service (SMS), system for improving the receipt of survivorship care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of childhood cancer. Researchers developed and refined the text messaging system based on qualitative data from AYA survivors in an iterative three-stage process. In stage 1, a focus group (n = 4) addressed acceptability; in stage 2, key informant interviews (n = 10) following a 6-week trial addressed feasibility; and in stage 3, key informant interviews (n = 23) following a 6-week trial addressed usability. Qualitative data were analyzed using a constant comparative analytic approach exploring in-depth themes. The final system includes programmed reminders to schedule and attend late effect screening appointments, tailored suggestions for community resources for cancer survivors, and messages prompting participant feedback regarding the appointments and resources. Participants found the text messaging system an acceptable form of communication, the screening reminders and feedback prompts feasible for improving the receipt of survivorship care, and the tailored suggestions for community resources usable for connecting survivors to relevant services. Participants suggested supplementing survivorship care visits and forming AYA survivor social networks as future implementations for the text messaging system. The text messaging system may assist AYA survivors by coordinating late effect screening appointments, facilitating a partnership with the survivorship care team, and connecting survivors with relevant community resources. The text messaging system has the potential to improve the receipt of survivorship care.

Exploring Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge of and Ability to Use Text Messaging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geng, Gretchen; Disney, Leigh

2014-01-01

This study aimed to assess the pre-service teachers' knowledge of and ability to use text messaging, and assist their use of this technology in the classroom teaching context. Data were gathered by means of a questionnaire and text message exercises. Fifty-three pre-service teachers participated in the study. It was found that although different…

Accuracy of Health and Wellness Messages Provided by "ChaCha", the Mobile Answers Text Message Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bliss, Kadi; Lodyga, Marc; Bochantin, Shelley; Null, Dawn

2010-01-01

A relatively new mobile text message service, "ChaCha," describes itself as "a smart search engine powered by human intelligence." The service claims to provide high-quality, accurate information, yet there is no research published to date substantiating this claim. The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which health and…

Teletype Tester

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1979-01-01

In the United States, more than 12,000 homes of deaf people are equipped with a system that enables the deaf to communicate by telephone. It consists of a teletype machine hooked up to an "acoustic coupler." The deaf person taps out a message on the teletype keyboard and the acoustic coupler converts teletype pulses into audio signals that can be sent over phone lines. At the other end, another coupler reconverts the signals to activate the teletype's printer and provide a readable message. Though a boon to the deaf, the system presents a problem when something goes wrong. It is difficult to pinpoint the trouble because of the multiple units involved-the teletype's keyboard or its printer, the coupler's sending circuit or its receiving circuit. Finding the trouble is time-consuming and it usually involves removing the equipment from service, leaving the deaf person temporarily without communication. Seeking an answer to this difficulty, NASA's Biomedical Applications Team at Research Triangle Institute, North Carolina, circulated a problem statement to NASA field centers. Langley Research Center responded by developing a compactly-packaged portable Teletype Test Unit.

Which Type of Antismoking Advertisement Is Perceived as More Effective? An Experimental Study With a Sample of Australian Socially Disadvantaged Welfare Recipients.

PubMed

Guillaumier, Ashleigh; Bonevski, Billie; Paul, Chris; d'Este, Catherine; Durkin, Sarah; Doran, Christopher

2017-05-01

Evaluate the perceived effectiveness of key antismoking messages among highly disadvantaged smokers and assess the impact of nicotine dependence and cessation cognitions on message processing. The experimental crossover trial, undertaken between March and December 2012, randomly exposed participants to two of three antismoking advertisements delivered via touchscreen computer. Welfare recipients were recruited from a community service organization in New South Wales, Australia. Subjects were 354 smokers (79% response rate). Participants resided in government rental housing (52%), earned less than AUD$400/wk (72%), and received their primary income from government welfare (95%). Three 30-second antismoking television advertisements representing common campaign themes: why to quit (graphic imagery), why to quit (personal testimonial), or how to quit. An 11-item scale assessed perceived effectiveness and message acceptance. An eight-item cessation cognitions index assessed motivations and readiness to quit, and the heaviness of smoking index was used to classify nicotine dependence. Descriptive statistics, generalized linear mixed models, and multiple linear regression analyses are reported. Why-to-quit advertisements were perceived as significantly more effective than the how-to-quit advertisement (all p < .0001). Smokers with positive cessation cognitions were more likely to accept antismoking messages (p = .0003) and perceive them as effective (p < .0001). Nicotine dependence level did not influence message acceptance (p = .7322) or effectiveness (p = .8872). Highly emotive advertisements providing good reasons to quit may be the most effective in promoting the antismoking message among groups with high smoking rates.

Experiences Using OpenMP Based on Compiler Directed Software DSM on a PC Cluster

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hess, Matthias; Jost, Gabriele; Mueller, Matthias; Ruehle, Roland; Biegel, Bryan (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

In this work we report on our experiences running OpenMP (message passing) programs on a commodity cluster of PCs (personal computers) running a software distributed shared memory (DSM) system. We describe our test environment and report on the performance of a subset of the NAS (NASA Advanced Supercomputing) Parallel Benchmarks that have been automatically parallelized for OpenMP. We compare the performance of the OpenMP implementations with that of their message passing counterparts and discuss performance differences.

Shifting Practices Toward Recovery-Oriented Care Through an E-Recovery Portal in Community Mental Health Care: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study

PubMed Central

Strand, Monica; Eng, Lillian Sofie; Børøsund, Elin; Varsi, Cecilie; Ruland, Cornelia

2017-01-01

Background Mental health care is shifting from a primary focus on symptom reduction toward personal recovery-oriented care, especially for persons with long-term mental health care needs. Web-based portals may facilitate this shift, but little is known about how such tools are used or the role they may play in personal recovery. Objective The aim was to illustrate uses and experiences with the secure e-recovery portal “ReConnect” as an adjunct to ongoing community mental health care and explore its potential role in shifting practices toward recovery. Methods ReConnect was introduced into two Norwegian mental health care communities and used for 6 months. The aim was to support personal recovery and collaboration between service users and health care providers. Among inclusion criteria for participation were long-term care needs and at least one provider willing to interact with service users through ReConnect. The portal was designed to support ongoing collaboration as each service user-provider dyad/team found appropriate and consisted of (1) a toolbox of resources for articulating and working with recovery processes, such as status/goals/activities relative to life domains (eg, employment, social network, health), medications, network map, and exercises (eg, sleep hygiene, mindfulness); (2) messaging with providers who had partial access to toolbox content; and (3) a peer support forum. Quantitative data (ie, system log, questionnaires) were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data (eg, focus groups, forum postings) are presented relative to four recovery-oriented practice domains: personally defined recovery, promoting citizenship, working relationships, and organizational commitment. Results Fifty-six participants (29 service users and 27 providers) made up 29 service user-provider dyads. Service users reported having 11 different mental health diagnoses, with a median 2 (range 1-7) diagnoses each. The 27 providers represented nine different professional backgrounds. The forum was the most frequently used module with 1870 visits and 542 postings. Service users’ control over toolbox resources (eg, defining and working toward personal goals), coupled with peer support, activated service users in their personal recovery processes and in community engagement. Some providers (30%, 8/27) did not interact with service users through ReConnect. Dyads that used the portal resources did so in highly diverse ways, and participants reported needing more than 6 months to discover and adapt optimal uses relative to their individual and collaborative needs. Conclusions Regardless of providers’ portal use, service users’ control over toolbox resources, coupled with peer support, offered an empowering common frame of reference that represented a shift toward recovery-oriented practices within communities. Although service users’ autonomous use of the portal can eventually influence providers in the direction of recovery practices, a fundamental shift is unlikely without broader organizational commitments aligned with recovery principles (eg, quantified goals for service user involvement in care plans). PMID:28465277

Using Text-Messaging in the Secondary Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Kevin; Orthober, Corrie

2011-01-01

To examine the potential uses of and barriers to text-messaging in secondary schools, three classes (66 students) of high school students used their personal mobile phones to receive out of school, course-related text-messages from teachers. Forty-six students (70%) agreed to receive text-messages. Findings indicate that participants found…

NCC Simulation Model: Simulating the operations of the network control center, phase 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benjamin, Norman M.; Paul, Arthur S.; Gill, Tepper L.

1992-01-01

The simulation of the network control center (NCC) is in the second phase of development. This phase seeks to further develop the work performed in phase one. Phase one concentrated on the computer systems and interconnecting network. The focus of phase two will be the implementation of the network message dialogues and the resources controlled by the NCC. These resources are requested, initiated, monitored and analyzed via network messages. In the NCC network messages are presented in the form of packets that are routed across the network. These packets are generated, encoded, decoded and processed by the network host processors that generate and service the message traffic on the network that connects these hosts. As a result, the message traffic is used to characterize the work done by the NCC and the connected network. Phase one of the model development represented the NCC as a network of bi-directional single server queues and message generating sources. The generators represented the external segment processors. The served based queues represented the host processors. The NCC model consists of the internal and external processors which generate message traffic on the network that links these hosts. To fully realize the objective of phase two it is necessary to identify and model the processes in each internal processor. These processes live in the operating system of the internal host computers and handle tasks such as high speed message exchanging, ISN and NFE interface, event monitoring, network monitoring, and message logging. Inter process communication is achieved through the operating system facilities. The overall performance of the host is determined by its ability to service messages generated by both internal and external processors.

On-call service of neurosurgeons in Germany: organization, use of communication services, and personal acceptance of modern technologies.

PubMed

Brenke, Christopher; Lassel, Elke A; Terris, Darcey; Kurt, Aysel; Schmieder, Kirsten; Schoenberg, Stefan O; Weisser, Gerald

2014-05-01

A significant proportion of acute care neurosurgical patients present to hospital outside regular working hours. The objective of our study was to evaluate the structure of neurosurgical on-call services in Germany, the use of modern communication devices and teleradiology services, and the personal acceptance of modern technologies by neurosurgeons. A nationwide survey of all 141 neurosurgical departments in Germany was performed. The questionnaire consisted of two parts: one for neurosurgical departments and one for individual neurosurgeons. The questionnaire, available online and mailed in paper form, included 21 questions about on-call service structure; the availability and use of communication devices, teleradiology services, and other information services; and neurosurgeons' personal acceptance of modern technologies. The questionnaire return rate from departments was 63.1% (89/141), whereas 187 individual neurosurgeons responded. For 57.3% of departments, teleradiology services were available and were frequently used by 62.2% of neurosurgeons. A further 23.6% of departments described using smartphone screenshots of computed tomography (CT) images transmitted by multimedia messaging service (MMS), and 8.6% of images were described as sent by unencrypted email. Although 47.0% of neurosurgeons reported owning a smartphone, only 1.1% used their phone for on-call image communication. Teleradiology services were observed to be widely used by on-call neurosurgeons in Germany. Nevertheless, a significant number of departments appear to use outdated techniques or techniques that leave patient data unprotected. On-call neurosurgeons in Germany report a willingness to adopt more modern approaches, utilizing readily available smartphones or tablet technology. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

The persuasive power of oral health promotion messages: a theory of planned behavior approach to dental checkups among young adults.

PubMed

Anderson, Christina N; Noar, Seth M; Rogers, Brandi D

2013-01-01

Although routine dental checkups are important for both oral and overall health, several factors influence young adults' use or nonuse of dental services. The two studies included in this report tested the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and an expanded TPB model in predicting young adults' routine dental checkups. Additionally, the study tested the perceived message effectiveness of TPB-based messages. Results support the use of an expanded TPB model (particularly adding satisfaction with the dentist and environmental constraints to the traditional model) for an understanding of routine dental checkup intention and behavior, and, most notably, provide support for the use of subjective norm-based messages to prompt dental checkups. This study lays the groundwork for a health communication campaign encouraging routine dental checkups among young adults. The use of targeting and tailoring to design effective oral health media campaign messages is discussed.

Perceptions of successful cues to action and opportunities to augment behavioral triggers in diabetes self-management: qualitative analysis of a mobile intervention for low-income Latinos with diabetes.

PubMed

Burner, Elizabeth R; Menchine, Michael D; Kubicek, Katrina; Robles, Marisela; Arora, Sanjay

2014-01-29

The increasing prevalence of diabetes and the associated cost of managing this complicated disease have a significant impact on public health outcomes and health expenditures, especially among resource-poor Latino patients. Mobile health (mHealth) may be the solution to reaching this group and improving their health. In this qualitative study, we examined nuances of motivation, intention, and triggers to action effected by TExT-MED (Trial to Examine Text Messaging for Emergency Department patient with Diabetes), an mHealth intervention tailored to low-income, urban Latinos with diabetes. TExT-MED is a fully-automated, text message-based program designed to increase knowledge, self-efficacy, and subsequent disease management and glycemic control. We conducted 5 focus group interviews with 24 people who participated in TExT-MED. We employed a modified grounded theory analytic approach-an iterative process of coding and immersion in the data used to recognize the patterns and links between concepts voiced by the participants. We coded data to identify themes of participant experiences, motivations, and responses to the program. We organized themes into a theory of TExT-MED's action. Participants enjoyed their experience with TExT-MED and believed it improved their diabetes management. Through analysis of the transcripts, we identified that the strengths of the program were messages that cued specific behaviors such as medication reminders and challenge messages. Our analysis also revealed that increasing personalization of message delivery and content could augment these cues. This in-depth qualitative analysis of TExT-MED shows that low-income Latino patients will accept text messages as a behavioral intervention. This mHealth intervention acts as a behavioral trigger rather than an education platform. Personalization is an opportunity to enhance these cues to action and further research should be conducted on the ideal forms of personalization.

Perceptions of Successful Cues to Action and Opportunities to Augment Behavioral Triggers in Diabetes Self-Management: Qualitative Analysis of a Mobile Intervention for Low-Income Latinos With Diabetes

PubMed Central

Menchine, Michael D; Kubicek, Katrina; Robles, Marisela; Arora, Sanjay

2014-01-01

Background The increasing prevalence of diabetes and the associated cost of managing this complicated disease have a significant impact on public health outcomes and health expenditures, especially among resource-poor Latino patients. Mobile health (mHealth) may be the solution to reaching this group and improving their health. Objective In this qualitative study, we examined nuances of motivation, intention, and triggers to action effected by TExT-MED (Trial to Examine Text Messaging for Emergency Department patient with Diabetes), an mHealth intervention tailored to low-income, urban Latinos with diabetes. TExT-MED is a fully-automated, text message-based program designed to increase knowledge, self-efficacy, and subsequent disease management and glycemic control. Methods We conducted 5 focus group interviews with 24 people who participated in TExT-MED. We employed a modified grounded theory analytic approach—an iterative process of coding and immersion in the data used to recognize the patterns and links between concepts voiced by the participants. We coded data to identify themes of participant experiences, motivations, and responses to the program. We organized themes into a theory of TExT-MED’s action. Results Participants enjoyed their experience with TExT-MED and believed it improved their diabetes management. Through analysis of the transcripts, we identified that the strengths of the program were messages that cued specific behaviors such as medication reminders and challenge messages. Our analysis also revealed that increasing personalization of message delivery and content could augment these cues. Conclusions This in-depth qualitative analysis of TExT-MED shows that low-income Latino patients will accept text messages as a behavioral intervention. This mHealth intervention acts as a behavioral trigger rather than an education platform. Personalization is an opportunity to enhance these cues to action and further research should be conducted on the ideal forms of personalization. PMID:24476784

Cell Phone-Based Expert Systems for Smoking Cessation

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-09-01

computerized tailored intervention (CTI) with feedback messages delivered via cell phone . CTIs have shown increasing promise as useful behavior change programs...behaviors. This will be the first study to adapt a smoking cessation Internet-based CTI to provide personalized feedback on a cell phone to reduce smoking behaviors in military veterans.

Conflicting messages concerning current strategies against research misconduct in Japan: a call for ethical spontaneity.

PubMed

Asai, Atsushi; Okita, Taketoshi; Enzo, Aya

2016-08-01

The Japanese government has asserted that the purpose of scientific activities is to search for the truth about the world and contribute to public interest of the humanities and claimed that research misconduct should occur under no circumstances ever. The revealing of each new case of research misconduct leads to the establishment of investigation committees and research guidelines, as well as punishments for the transgressors. However, we wonder if Japanese researchers are receiving different messages that might undermine the purpose of the former messages. First, Japan's policies on science and technology have been created to comprise an integration of merit-based evaluations, principles of competition and a concentrated and unbalanced distribution of research funding, leading to decreases in ordinary research funding for the researchers and an increase in fierce research competition. Second, Japanese government and society as a whole continue to send the researchers messages such as 'Only results matter', 'Be No. 1 as a top priority' and 'All we need now is scientific progress'. Third, cultural peculiarities may explain some of the actions relevant to research misconducts currently noted in Japan. We argue that it is essential to re-examine and improve the governmental policies and evaluation methods for research achievements need to be more multifaceted. In order to have the researchers act according to ethics, it is essential for them to reaffirm their objectives for working in the fields of science and medicine and the importance of balancing their personal profit with the greater cause for entering into this field. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Mobile Delivery of Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorders

PubMed Central

Quanbeck, Andrew; Chih, Ming-Yuan; Isham, Andrew; Johnson, Roberta; Gustafson, David

2014-01-01

Several systems for treating alcohol-use disorders (AUDs) exist that operate on mobile phones. These systems are categorized into four groups: text-messaging monitoring and reminder systems, text-messaging intervention systems, comprehensive recovery management systems, and game-based systems. Text-messaging monitoring and reminder systems deliver reminders and prompt reporting of alcohol consumption, enabling continuous monitoring of alcohol use. Text-messaging intervention systems additionally deliver text messages designed to promote abstinence and recovery. Comprehensive recovery management systems use the capabilities of smart-phones to provide a variety of tools and services that can be tailored to individuals, including in-the-moment assessments and access to peer discussion groups. Game-based systems engage the user using video games. Although many commercial applications for treatment of AUDs exist, few (if any) have empirical evidence of effectiveness. The available evidence suggests that although texting-based applications may have beneficial effects, they are probably insufficient as interventions for AUDs. Comprehensive recovery management systems have the strongest theoretical base and have yielded the strongest and longest-lasting effects, but challenges remain, including cost, understanding which features account for effects, and keeping up with technological advances. PMID:26259005

Exploring Gender Differences in SMS-Based Mobile Library Search System Adoption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goh, Tiong-Thye

2011-01-01

This paper investigates differences in how male and female students perceived a short message service (SMS) library catalog search service when adopting it. Based on a sample of 90 students, the results suggest that there are significant differences in perceived usefulness and intention to use but no significant differences in self-efficacy and…

Alerts in mobile healthcare applications: requirements and pilot study.

PubMed

Kafeza, Eleanna; Chiu, Dickson K W; Cheung, S C; Kafeza, Marina

2004-06-01

Recent advances in mobile technologies have greatly extended traditional communication technologies to mobile devices. At the same time, healthcare environments are by nature "mobile" where doctors and nurses do not have fixed workspaces. Irregular and exceptional events are generated in daily hospital routines, such as operations rescheduling, laboratory/examination results, and adverse drug events. These events may create requests that should be delivered to the appropriate person at the appropriate time. Those requests that are classified as urgent are referred to as alerts. Efficient routing and monitoring of alerts are keys to quality and cost-effective healthcare services. Presently, these are generally handled in an ad hoc manner. In this paper, we propose the use of a healthcare alert management system to handle these alert messages systematically. We develop a model for specifying alerts that are associated with medical tasks and a set of parameters for their routing. We design an alert monitor that matches medical staff and their mobile devices to receive alerts, based on the requirements of these alerts. We also propose a mechanism to handle and reroute, if necessary, an alert message when it has not been acknowledged within a specific deadline.

The Berne Model and Advertising Messages: A Psychographic Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Charles H.

This study relates Eric Berne's theory of Transactional Analysis to the effectiveness of advertising messages. A 30 item Personality Mode Test was constructed in order to assess subject agreement with statements reflecting Berne's three personality states: parent (social evaluative), adult (controlled rationality), and child (emotiveness). After…

A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial of Different Mobile Messaging Interventions for Problem Drinking Compared to Weekly Drink Tracking

PubMed Central

van Stolk-Cooke, Katherine; Kuerbis, Alexis; Stadler, Gertraud; Baumel, Amit; Shao, Sijing; McKay, James R.; Morgenstern, Jon

2017-01-01

Introduction Recent evidence suggests that text messaging may help to reduce problem drinking as an extension to in-person services, but very little is known about the effectiveness of remote messaging on problem drinking as a stand-alone intervention, or how different types of messages may improve drinking outcomes in those seeking to moderate their alcohol consumption. Methods We conducted an exploratory, single-blind randomized controlled pilot study comparing four different types of alcohol reduction-themed text messages sent daily to weekly drink self-tracking texts in order to determine their impact on drinking outcomes over a 12-week period in 152 participants (≈ 30 per group) seeking to reduce their drinking on the internet. Messaging interventions included: weekly drink self-tracking mobile assessment texts (MA), loss-framed texts (LF), gain-framed texts (GF), static tailored texts (ST), and adaptive tailored texts (TA). Poisson and least squares regressions were used to compare differences between each active messaging group and the MA control. Results When adjusting for baseline drinking, participants in all messaging groups except GF significantly reduced the number of drinks consumed per week and the number of heavy drinking days compared to MA. Only the TA and GF groups were significantly different from MA in reducing the number of drinking days. While the TA group yielded the largest effect sizes on all outcome measures, there were no significant differences between active messaging groups on any outcome measure. 79.6% of individuals enrolled in the study wanted to continue receiving messages for an additional 12 weeks at the end of the study. Discussion Results of this pilot study indicate that remote automated text messages delivered daily can help adult problem drinkers reduce drinking frequency and quantity significantly more than once-a-week self-tracking messages only, and that tailored adaptive texts yield the largest effect sizes across outcomes compared to MA. Larger samples are needed to understand differences between messaging interventions and to target their mechanisms of efficacy. PMID:28146560

Morality or competence? The importance of affirming the appropriate dimension of self-integrity.

PubMed

Jessop, Donna C; Sparks, Paul; Jessop, Laura; Dodds, Lauren; Lynch, Sarah

2016-11-01

Two studies explored the relative efficacy of a morality-based versus a competence-based self-affirmation manipulation at increasing acceptance of personally relevant health risk information. In accordance with prior theorizing (e.g., Cohen & Sherman, 2014), it was hypothesized that the morality affirmation would be more effective than the competence affirmation in such contexts, as the former targets a different domain to that threatened by the health risk information. Both studies employed a cross-sectional experimental design. Participants were presented with a morality affirmation, competence affirmation, or no affirmation control prior to reading a message about the risks of (1) not engaging in daily dental flossing (Study 1) and (2) red meat consumption (Study 2). Participants subsequently completed a number of measures assessing acceptance of the message. In line with predictions, findings from both studies demonstrated that the morality affirmation precipitated greater acceptance of personally relevant health risk information compared to the competence affirmation, as reflected in more positive attitudes (Studies 1 and 2) and intentions (Study 1). Study 2's findings further suggested that the superior efficacy of the morality affirmation in health-related contexts could not simply be attributed to a general tendency for this affirmation to outperform the competence affirmation. The nature of the value affirmed may be a critical factor in determining the success of self-affirmation manipulations in health-related domains. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Self-affirmation has been shown to promote openness to personally relevant health risk information across a variety of behavioural domains. The most frequently utilized self-affirmation manipulation involves participants reflecting on a personally important value; however, participants typically self-select the value they reflect on. This means that the nature of the value that is affirmed may vary from person to person within a given study, seriously limiting the interpretability of the findings. What does this study add? This study manipulated the domain of the value affirmed prior to reading a health risk message. Findings suggest that a morality affirmation is most effective at promoting openness to the message. This study highlights the importance of value domain in determining the success of self-affirmation. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Perceived effectiveness of text and pictorial health warnings for smokeless tobacco packages in Navi Mumbai, India, and Dhaka, Bangladesh: findings from an experimental study.

PubMed

Mutti, Seema; Reid, Jessica L; Gupta, Prakash C; Pednekar, Mangesh S; Dhumal, Gauri; Nargis, Nigar; Hussain, Akm Ghulam; Hammond, David

2016-07-01

To examine the perceived effectiveness of text and pictorial smokeless tobacco health warnings in India and Bangladesh, including different types of message content. An experimental study was conducted in Navi Mumbai, India (n=1002), and Dhaka, Bangladesh (n=1081). Face-to-face interviews were conducted on tablets with adult (≥19 years) smokeless tobacco users and youth (16-18 years) users and non-users. Respondents viewed warnings depicting five health effects, within one of the four randomly assigned warning label conditions (or message themes): (1) text-only, (2) symbolic pictorial, (3) graphic pictorial or (4) personal testimonial pictorial messages. Text-only warnings were perceived as less effective than all of the pictorial styles (p<0.001 for all). Graphic warnings were given higher effectiveness ratings than symbolic or testimonial warnings (p<0.001). No differences were observed in levels of agreement with negative attitudes and beliefs across message themes, after respondents had viewed warnings. Pictorial warnings are more effective than text-only messages. Pictorial warnings depicting graphic health effects may have the greatest impact, consistent with research from high-income countries on cigarette warnings. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Application of a Tsunami Warning Message Metric to refine NOAA NWS Tsunami Warning Messages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregg, C. E.; Johnston, D.; Sorensen, J.; Whitmore, P.

2013-12-01

In 2010, the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) funded a three year project to integrate social science into their Tsunami Program. One of three primary requirements of the grant was to make improvements to tsunami warning messages of the NWS' two Tsunami Warning Centers- the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WCATWC) in Palmer, Alaska and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. We conducted focus group meetings with a purposive sample of local, state and Federal stakeholders and emergency managers in six states (AK, WA, OR, CA, HI and NC) and two US Territories (US Virgin Islands and American Samoa) to qualitatively asses information needs in tsunami warning messages using WCATWC tsunami messages for the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami event. We also reviewed research literature on behavioral response to warnings to develop a tsunami warning message metric that could be used to guide revisions to tsunami warning messages of both warning centers. The message metric is divided into categories of Message Content, Style, Order and Formatting and Receiver Characteristics. A message is evaluated by cross-referencing the message with the operational definitions of metric factors. Findings are then used to guide revisions of the message until the characteristics of each factor are met. Using findings from this project and findings from a parallel NWS Warning Tiger Team study led by T. Nicolini, the WCATWC implemented the first of two phases of revisions to their warning messages in November 2012. A second phase of additional changes, which will fully implement the redesign of messages based on the metric, is in progress. The resulting messages will reflect current state-of-the-art knowledge on warning message effectiveness. Here we present the message metric; evidence-based rational for message factors; and examples of previous, existing and proposed messages.

Targeted Secure Messages to Facilitate Access to Tobacco Treatment Counseling for Veterans: Feasibility Study.

PubMed

Shahani, Shaun; Korenblit, Pearl; Thomas, Pauline; Passannante, Marian R; Carr, Richard; Davis, Lynn

2018-03-05

Studies show that combining nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) with tobacco treatment counseling is most effective for smoking cessation. However, tobacco treatment counseling has been underutilized across the nation. A secure email message sent to patients already taking NRT was hypothesized to increase the utilization of tobacco treatment counseling among Veterans in New Jersey. Secure messaging for communication between patients and providers was implemented through a web-based password-protected, secure messaging account, where veterans get notified through their personal email when they have a message awaiting them. The main objective of this project was to determine if there was a significant increase in adoption of tobacco treatment counseling among Veterans who received a secure message describing the options for tobacco treatment counseling available to them. Secondary objectives were to demographically characterize Veterans who were and were not enrolled in secure messaging, as well as those who opened or did not open a message. Finally, because the language and content of the messages were changed across project phases, this project also sought to determine (by analysis of response rates) the type of language that was most effective at eliciting a response. Over two phases, messages were sent to two samples of Veterans prescribed NRT within the prior 90 days of each phase. In phase 1, one message was sent in December 2015 (message 1). In phase 2, one message was sent in July 2016 (message 2) and the same message (message 3) was resent in August 2016 to persons who did not open message 2. Messages 2 and 3 were more directive than message 1. Response rates to message 1 versus message 2 were compared. A logistic regression analysis determined effect of age and gender on enrollment in secure messaging across both phases. The effectiveness of each phase at increasing tobacco treatment counseling was analyzed using a McNemar test. Message 2, sent to 423 Veterans, had a significantly higher response rate than message 1, sent to 348 Veterans (18%, 17/93 vs 8%, 6/78, P=.04). Phase 2 (ie, messages 2 and 3) significantly increased utilization of tobacco treatment counseling (net increase of six tobacco treatment counseling adopters, P=.04), whereas phase 1 (ie, message 1) did not (net increase of two tobacco treatment counseling adopters, P=.48). Women (odds ratio [OR] 1.6, 95% CI 1.1-2.3) and those aged 30 to 49 years (compared to other age groups) were more likely to be enrolled in secure messaging. Gender and age were not significant predictors of opening or replying to either message. Although the effect was small, secure messaging was a useful modality to increase tobacco treatment counseling. Directive content with a follow-up message appeared useful. Female Veterans and/or Veterans aged between 30 and 49 years are more likely to use secure messaging. ©Shaun Shahani, Pearl Korenblit, Pauline Thomas, Marian R Passannante, Richard Carr, Lynn Davis. Originally published in JMIR Mental Health (http://mental.jmir.org), 05.03.2018.

Short message service or disService: issues with text messaging in a complex medical environment.

PubMed

Wu, Robert; Appel, Lora; Morra, Dante; Lo, Vivian; Kitto, Simon; Quan, Sherman

2014-04-01

Hospitals today are experiencing major changes in their clinical communication workflows as conventional numeric paging and face-to-face verbal conversations are being replaced by computer mediated communication systems. In this paper, we highlight the importance of understanding this transition and discuss some of the impacts that may emerge when verbal clinical conversations are replaced by short text messages. In-depth interviews (n=108) and non-participatory observation sessions (n=260h) were conducted on the General Internal Medicine wards at five academic teaching hospitals in Toronto, Canada. From our analysis of the qualitative data, we identified two major themes. De-contextualization of complex issues led to an increase in misinterpretation and an increase in back and forth messaging for clarification. Depersonalization of communication was due to less verbal conversations and face-to-face interactions and led to a negative impact on work relationships. Text-based communication in hospital settings led to the oversimplification of messages and the depersonalization of communication. It is important to recognize and understand these unintended consequences of new technology to avoid the negative impacts to patient care and work relationships. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lightweight SIP/SDP compression scheme (LSSCS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Jian J.; Demetrescu, Cristian

2001-10-01

In UMTS new IP based services with tight delay constraints will be deployed over the W-CDMA air interface such as IP multimedia and interactive services. To integrate the wireline and wireless IP services, 3GPP standard forum adopted the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) as the call control protocol for the UMTS Release 5, which will implement next generation, all IP networks for real-time QoS services. In the current form the SIP protocol is not suitable for wireless transmission due to its large message size which will need either a big radio pipe for transmission or it will take far much longer to transmit than the current GSM Call Control (CC) message sequence. In this paper we present a novel compression algorithm called Lightweight SIP/SDP Compression Scheme (LSSCS), which acts at the SIP application layer and therefore removes the information redundancy before it is sent to the network and transport layer. A binary octet-aligned header is added to the compressed SIP/SDP message before sending it to the network layer. The receiver uses this binary header as well as the pre-cached information to regenerate the original SIP/SDP message. The key features of the LSSCS compression scheme are presented in this paper along with implementation examples. It is shown that this compression algorithm makes SIP transmission efficient over the radio interface without losing the SIP generality and flexibility.

A re-conceptualization of access for 21st century healthcare.

PubMed

Fortney, John C; Burgess, James F; Bosworth, Hayden B; Booth, Brenda M; Kaboli, Peter J

2011-11-01

Many e-health technologies are available to promote virtual patient-provider communication outside the context of face-to-face clinical encounters. Current digital communication modalities include cell phones, smartphones, interactive voice response, text messages, e-mails, clinic-based interactive video, home-based web-cams, mobile smartphone two-way cameras, personal monitoring devices, kiosks, dashboards, personal health records, web-based portals, social networking sites, secure chat rooms, and on-line forums. Improvements in digital access could drastically diminish the geographical, temporal, and cultural access problems faced by many patients. Conversely, a growing digital divide could create greater access disparities for some populations. As the paradigm of healthcare delivery evolves towards greater reliance on non-encounter-based digital communications between patients and their care teams, it is critical that our theoretical conceptualization of access undergoes a concurrent paradigm shift to make it more relevant for the digital age. The traditional conceptualizations and indicators of access are not well adapted to measure access to health services that are delivered digitally outside the context of face-to-face encounters with providers. This paper provides an overview of digital "encounterless" utilization, discusses the weaknesses of traditional conceptual frameworks of access, presents a new access framework, provides recommendations for how to measure access in the new framework, and discusses future directions for research on access.

Predictors for assessing electronic messaging between nurses and general practitioners as a useful tool for communication in home health care services: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Lyngstad, Merete; Hofoss, Dag; Grimsmo, Anders; Hellesø, Ragnhild

2015-02-17

Nurses providing home health care services are dependent on access to patient information and communicating with general practitioners (GPs) to deliver safe and effective health care to patients. Information and communication technology (ICT) systems are viewed as powerful tools for this purpose. In Norway, a standardized electronic messaging (e-messaging) system is currently being established in health care. The aim of this study was to explore home health care nurses' assessments of the utility of the e-messaging system for communicating with GPs and identify elements that influence the assessment of e-messaging as a useful communication tool. The data were collected using a self-developed questionnaire based on variables identified by focus group interviews with home health care nurses (n=425) who used e-messaging and existing research. Data were analyzed using logistic regression analyses. Over two-thirds (425/632, 67.2%) of the home health care nurses returned the questionnaire. A high proportion (388/399, 97.2%) of the home health care nurses who returned the questionnaire found the e-messaging system to be a useful tool for communication with GPs. The odds of reporting that e-messaging was a useful tool were over five times higher (OR 5.1, CI 2.489-10.631, P<.001) if the nurses agreed or strongly agreed that e-messaging was easy to use. The odds of finding e-messaging easy to use were nearly seven times higher (OR 6.9, CI 1.713-27.899, P=.007) if the nurses did not consider the system functionality poor. If the nurses had received training in the use of e-messaging, the odds were over six times higher (OR 6.6, CI 2.515-17.437, P<.001) that they would consider e-messaging easy to use. The odds that a home health care nurse would experience e-messaging as easy to use increased as the full-time equivalent percentage of the nurses increased (OR 1.032, CI 1.001-1.064, P=.045). This study has shown that technical (ease of use and system functionality), organizational (training), and individual (full-time equivalent percentage) elements had an impact on home health care nurses' assessments of using e-messaging to communicate with GPs. By identifying these elements, it is easier to determine which interventions are the most important for the development and implementation of ICT systems in home health care services.

Predictors for Assessing Electronic Messaging Between Nurses and General Practitioners as a Useful Tool for Communication in Home Health Care Services: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

Hofoss, Dag; Grimsmo, Anders; Hellesø, Ragnhild

2015-01-01

Background Nurses providing home health care services are dependent on access to patient information and communicating with general practitioners (GPs) to deliver safe and effective health care to patients. Information and communication technology (ICT) systems are viewed as powerful tools for this purpose. In Norway, a standardized electronic messaging (e-messaging) system is currently being established in health care. Objective The aim of this study was to explore home health care nurses’ assessments of the utility of the e-messaging system for communicating with GPs and identify elements that influence the assessment of e-messaging as a useful communication tool. Methods The data were collected using a self-developed questionnaire based on variables identified by focus group interviews with home health care nurses (n=425) who used e-messaging and existing research. Data were analyzed using logistic regression analyses. Results Over two-thirds (425/632, 67.2%) of the home health care nurses returned the questionnaire. A high proportion (388/399, 97.2%) of the home health care nurses who returned the questionnaire found the e-messaging system to be a useful tool for communication with GPs. The odds of reporting that e-messaging was a useful tool were over five times higher (OR 5.1, CI 2.489-10.631, P<.001) if the nurses agreed or strongly agreed that e-messaging was easy to use. The odds of finding e-messaging easy to use were nearly seven times higher (OR 6.9, CI 1.713-27.899, P=.007) if the nurses did not consider the system functionality poor. If the nurses had received training in the use of e-messaging, the odds were over six times higher (OR 6.6, CI 2.515-17.437, P<.001) that they would consider e-messaging easy to use. The odds that a home health care nurse would experience e-messaging as easy to use increased as the full-time equivalent percentage of the nurses increased (OR 1.032, CI 1.001-1.064, P=.045). Conclusions This study has shown that technical (ease of use and system functionality), organizational (training), and individual (full-time equivalent percentage) elements had an impact on home health care nurses’ assessments of using e-messaging to communicate with GPs. By identifying these elements, it is easier to determine which interventions are the most important for the development and implementation of ICT systems in home health care services. PMID:25691234

EUTELTRACS: The European experience on mobile satellite services

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Colcy, Jean-Noel; Steinhaeuser, Rafael

1993-01-01

EUTELTRACS is Europe's first commercially operated Mobile Satellite Service. Under the overall network operation of EUTELSAT, the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization, EUTELTRACS provides an integrated message exchange and position reporting service. This paper describes the EUTELTRACS system architecture, the message exchange and the position reporting services, including the result of recent analysis of message delivery time and positioning accuracy. It also provides an overview of the commercial deployment, the regulatory situation for its operation within Europe and new applications outside its target market, the international road transportation.

Toward mHealth Brief Contact Interventions in Suicide Prevention: Case Series From the Suicide Intervention Assisted by Messages (SIAM) Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Mesmeur, Catherine; Gravey, Michel; Billot, Romain; Walter, Michel; Lemey, Christophe; Lenca, Philippe

2018-01-01

Background Research indicates that maintaining contact either via letter or postcard with at-risk adults following discharge from care services after a suicide attempt (SA) can reduce reattempt risk. Pilot studies have demonstrated that interventions using mobile health (mHealth) technologies are feasible in a suicide prevention setting. Objective The aim of this study was to report three cases of patients recruited in the Suicide Intervention Assisted by Messages (SIAM) study to describe how a mobile intervention may influence follow-up. Methods SIAM is a 2-year, multicenter randomized controlled trial conducted by the Brest University Hospital, France. Participants in the intervention group receive SIAM text messages 48 hours after discharge, then at day 8 and day 15, and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The study includes participants aged 18 years or older, who have attended a participating hospital for an SA, and have been discharged from the emergency department (ED) or a psychiatric unit (PU) for a stay of less than 7 days. Eligible participants are randomized between the SIAM intervention messages and a control group. In this study, we present three cases from the ongoing SIAM study that demonstrate the capability of a mobile-based brief contact intervention for triggering patient-initiated contact with a crisis support team at various time points throughout the mobile-based follow-up period. Results Out of the 244 patients recruited in the SIAM randomized controlled trial, three cases were selected to illustrate the impact of mHealth on suicide risk management. Participants initiated contact with the emergency crisis support service after receiving text messages up to 6 months following discharge from the hospital. Contact was initiated immediately following receipt of a text message or up to 6 days following a message. Conclusions This text message–based brief contact intervention has demonstrated the potential to reconnect suicidal individuals with crisis support services while they are experiencing suicidal ideation as well as in a period after receiving messages. As follow-up phone calls over an extended period of time may not be feasible, this intervention has the potential to offer simple technological support for individuals following discharge from the ED. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02106949; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02106949 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6wMtAFL49) PMID:29321126

Effects of Text Messaging on College Students' Perceptions of Personal Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hudson, Heather K.; Bliss, Kadi R.; Fetro, Joyce V.

2012-01-01

Four focus groups of undergraduate students (n = 32) were conducted to elicit perceptions regarding how text messaging affects personal health. Participant responses were coded and themed into five health dimensions: physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual. Results of focus groups showed several main themes linked each dimension of…

Translations on Eastern Europe Political, Sociological, and Military Affairs, Number 1479

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-11-30

13 Nov 77) 1 ALBANIA Marxist-Leninist Parties Send AWP Anniversary Greetings (Tirana Domestic Service, 10 Nov 77) . 4 German Party Message to...Hoxha Italian Party Message to Hoxha Canadian Party Message to Central Committee Giving Names With Religious Significance Denounced (Sabah Sinani...2600 ALBANIA MARXIST-LENINIST PARTIES SEND AWP ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS German Party Message to Hoxha Tirana Domestic Service in Albanian 1900 GMT 10

Message valence, familiarity, sex, and personality effects on the perceptual distortion of height.

PubMed

Hensley, W E; Angoli, M

1980-03-01

The perceptual distortion of height was examined in a group of American male and female college student volunteers (n = 139). A message which announced either good or bad news was delivered by a familiar or unfamiliar person who was either male or female. After hearing the message, the students were asked to estimate the height of the communicator. Additionally, the variables of self-esteem and independence of judgment were measured. Results indicated that familiarity with the message source (p less than .0025) as well as sex of the communicator (p less than .024) were predictors of the perceptual distortion of height, but message valence was not. Neither self-esteem nor independence of judgment was functionally related to the proclivity to distort the heights of the communicators.

Design and management of public health outreach using interoperable mobile multimedia: an analysis of a national winter weather preparedness campaign.

PubMed

Bandera, Cesar

2016-05-25

The Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR) in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducts outreach for public preparedness for natural and manmade incidents. In 2011, OPHPR conducted a nationwide mobile public health (m-Health) campaign that pushed brief videos on preparing for severe winter weather onto cell phones, with the objective of evaluating the interoperability of multimedia m-Health outreach with diverse cell phones (including handsets without Internet capability), carriers, and user preferences. Existing OPHPR outreach material on winter weather preparedness was converted into mobile-ready multimedia using mobile marketing best practices to improve audiovisual quality and relevance. Middleware complying with opt-in requirements was developed to push nine bi-weekly multimedia broadcasts onto subscribers' cell phones, and OPHPR promoted the campaign on its web site and to subscribers on its govdelivery.com notification platform. Multimedia, text, and voice messaging activity to/from the middleware was logged and analyzed. Adapting existing media into mobile video was straightforward using open source and commercial software, including web pages, PDF documents, and public service announcements. The middleware successfully delivered all outreach videos to all participants (a total of 504 videos) regardless of the participant's device. 54 % of videos were viewed on cell phones, 32 % on computers, and 14 % were retrieved by search engine web crawlers. 21 % of participating cell phones did not have Internet access, yet still received and displayed all videos. The time from media push to media viewing on cell phones was half that of push to viewing on computers. Video delivered through multimedia messaging can be as interoperable as text messages, while providing much richer information. This may be the only multimedia mechanism available to outreach campaigns targeting vulnerable populations impacted by the digital divide. Anti-spam laws preserve the integrity of mobile messaging, but complicate campaign promotion. Person-to-person messages may boost enrollment.

Feasibility and usability of a text message-based program for diabetes self-management in an urban African-American population.

PubMed

Dick, Jonathan J; Nundy, Shantanu; Solomon, Marla C; Bishop, Keisha N; Chin, Marshall H; Peek, Monica E

2011-09-01

We pilot-tested a text message-based diabetes care program in an urban African-American population in which automated text messages were sent to participants with personalized medication, foot care, and appointment reminders and text messages were received from participants on adherence. Eighteen patients participated in a 4-week pilot study. Baseline surveys collected data about demographics, historical cell phone usage, and adherence to core diabetes care measures. Exit interview surveys (using close-coded and open-ended questions) were administered to patients at the end of the program. A 1-month follow-up interview was conducted surveying patients on perceived self-efficacy. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare baseline survey responses about self-management activities to those at the pilot's end and at 1-month follow-up. Eighteen urban African-American participants completed the pilot study. The average age was 55 and the average number of years with diabetes was 8. Half the participants were initially uncomfortable with text messaging. Example messages include "Did you take your diabetes medications today" and "How many times did you check your feet for wounds this week?" Participants averaged 220 text messages with the system, responded to messages 80% of the time, and on average responded within 6 minutes. Participants strongly agreed that text messaging was easy to perform and helped with diabetes self-care. Missed medication doses decreased from 1.6 per week to 0.6 (p = .003). Patient confidence in diabetes self-management was significantly increased during and 1 month after the pilot (p = .002, p = .008). Text messaging may be a feasible and useful approach to improve diabetes self-management in urban African Americans. © 2011 Diabetes Technology Society.

Patient-clinician mobile communication: analyzing text messaging between adolescents with asthma and nurse case managers.

PubMed

Yoo, Woohyun; Kim, Soo Yun; Hong, Yangsun; Chih, Ming-Yuan; Shah, Dhavan V; Gustafson, David H

2015-01-01

With the increasing penetration of digital mobile devices among adolescents, mobile texting messaging is emerging as a new channel for patient-clinician communication for this population. In particular, it can promote active communication between healthcare clinicians and adolescents with asthma. However, little is known about the content of the messages exchanged in medical encounters via mobile text messaging. Therefore, this study explored the content of text messaging between clinicians and adolescents with asthma. We collected a total of 2,953 text messages exchanged between 5 nurse case managers and 131 adolescents with asthma through a personal digital assistant. The text messages were coded using a scheme developed by adapting categories from the Roter Interaction Analysis System. Nurse case managers sent more text messages (n=2,639) than adolescents with asthma. Most messages sent by nurse case managers were targeted messages (n=2,475) directed at all adolescents with asthma, whereas there were relatively few tailored messages (n=164) that were created personally for an individual adolescent. In addition, both targeted and tailored messages emphasized task-focused behaviors over socioemotional behaviors. Likewise, text messages (n=314) sent by adolescents also emphasized task-focused over socioemotional behaviors. Mobile texting messaging has the potential to play an important role in patient-clinician communication. It promotes not only active interaction, but also patient-centered communication with clinicians. In order to achieve this potential, healthcare clinicians may need to focus on socioemotional communication as well as task-oriented communication.

When do gain-framed health messages work better than fear appeals?

PubMed

Wansink, Brian; Pope, Lizzy

2015-01-01

Past literature reviews of gain-framed versus loss-based health messages have been inconsistent and inconclusive. To resolve this and provide a clearer pattern, this review focuses on the individual or person-specific characteristics of target audiences. The results indicate that by answering the following four questions about a target audience, one can predict whether a gain-framed or a loss-based health message will be more effective. 1) Is there a low (versus high) level of involvement in the issue? 2) Is there a high (versus low) certainty of the outcome? 3) Is there a low (versus high) preference for risk? 4) Is there a heuristic (versus piecemeal) processing style? The profiling of audiences on these factors has two distinct benefits; it resolves many of the seeming inconsistencies in past positive-negative and gain-loss message research (such as fear appeals working better with experts than nonexperts) and it helps predict which type of message will be most effective with a given audience. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Life Sciences Institute. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Art messaging to engage homeless young adults.

PubMed

Nyamathi, Adeline; Slagle, Alexandra; Thomas, Alexandra; Hudson, Angela; Kahilifard, Farinaz; Avila, Glenna; Orser, Julie; Cuchilla, Manuel

2011-01-01

Art has been shown to be an empowering and engaging entity with numerous benefits to vulnerable populations, including the homeless persons and young adults. However, little is known how homeless young adults perceive the use of art as messages that can communicate the danger of initiating or continuing drug and alcohol use. The purpose of this study was to solicit perspectives of homeless, drug-using young adults as to how art can be used to design messages for their peers about the danger of initiating or continuing drug and alcohol use. Qualitative methodology via focus group discussions was utilized to engage 24 homeless young adults enrolled from a drop-in site in Santa Monica, California. The findings revealed support for a myriad of delivery styles, including in-person communication, flyers, music, documentary film, and creative writing. The young adults also provided insight into the importance of the thematic framework of messages. Such themes ranged from empowering and hopeful messages to those designed to scare young homeless adults into not experimenting with drugs. The findings indicate that in addition to messages communicating the need to prevent or reduce drug and alcohol use, homeless young adults respond to messages that remind them of goals and dreams they once had for their future, and to content that is personal, real, and truthful. Our research indicates that messages that reinforce protective factors such as hope for the future and self-esteem may be as important to homeless young adults as information about the risks and consequences of drug use.

Understanding the effectiveness of the entertainment-education strategy: an investigation of how audience involvement, message processing, and message design influence health information recall.

PubMed

Quintero Johnson, Jessie M; Harrison, Kristen; Quick, Brian L

2013-01-01

A growing body of evidence suggests that entertainment-education (EE) is a promising health communication strategy. The purpose of this study was to identify some of the factors that facilitate and hinder audience involvement with EE messages. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors introduce a construct they call experiential involvement, which describes the experience of being cognitively and emotionally involved with EE messages and is a product of transportation into an EE text and identification with EE characters. Using an experimental design, the authors also investigated how reports of experiential involvement and health information recall varied depending on the degree to which the educational content was well integrated with the narrative content in EE messages. Findings indicated that integration significantly influenced health information recall. Results indicated that experiential involvement and the perception that the health topic in EE messages was personally relevant predicted participants' systematic processing of the information in EE messages. Contrary to expectation, personal relevance did not predict experiential involvement, and systematic message processing was negatively related to health information recall. Implications for the construction of EE messages and the study of the EE strategy are discussed.

Report on Predatory Lending Practices Directed at Members of the Armed Forces and Their Dependents

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-08-09

implemented by the Military Services that may have particular impact on predatory lending is “Military Saves,” which is a social marketing campaign to...Around Military Communities 10 4 Education Programs 23 5 Strategies and Practices to Reduce the Prevalence and Impact of Predatory Lending 28 6...57 3 Survey on Internet Payday Loan and Installment Lenders 63 4 DoD Strategy for Personal Finance 68 5 Leadership Messages 82 iii iv 1

Physical activity interventions using mass media, print media, and information technology.

PubMed

Marcus, B H; Owen, N; Forsyth, L H; Cavill, N A; Fridinger, F

1998-11-01

Media-based physical activity interventions include a variety of print, graphic, audiovisual, and broadcast media programs intended to influence behavior change. New information technology allows print to be delivered in personalized, interactive formats that may enhance efficacy. Media-based interventions have been shaped by conceptual models from health education, Social Cognitive Theory, the Transtheoretical Model, and Social Marketing frameworks. We reviewed 28 studies of media-based interventions of which seven were mass media campaigns at the state or national level and the remaining 21 were delivered through health care, the workplace, or in the community. Recall of mass-media messages generally was high, but mass-media campaigns had very little impact on physical activity behavior. Interventions using print and/or telephone were effective in changing behavior in the short term. Studies in which there were more contacts and interventions tailored to the target audience were most effective. A key issue for research on media-based physical activity interventions is reaching socially disadvantaged groups for whom access, particularly to new forms of communication technology, may be limited. There is a clear need for controlled trials comparing different forms and intensities of media-based physical activity interventions. Controlled studies of personalized print, interactive computer-mediated programs, and web-based formats for program delivery also are needed. The integration of media-based methods into public and private sector service delivery has much potential for innovation.

The Effects of Denial-of-Service Attacks on Secure Time-Critical Communications in the Smart Grid

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Fengli; Li, QInghua; Mantooth, Homer Alan

2016-04-02

According to IEC 61850, many smart grid communications require messages to be delivered in a very short time. –Trip messages and sample values applied to the transmission level: 3 ms –Interlocking messages applied to the distribution level: 10 ms •Time-critical communications are vulnerable to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks –Flooding attack: Attacker floods many messages to the target network/machine. We conducted systematic, experimental study about how DoS attacks affect message delivery delays.

Personalization of Rule-based Web Services.

PubMed

Choi, Okkyung; Han, Sang Yong

2008-04-04

Nowadays Web users have clearly expressed their wishes to receive personalized services directly. Personalization is the way to tailor services directly to the immediate requirements of the user. However, the current Web Services System does not provide any features supporting this such as consideration of personalization of services and intelligent matchmaking. In this research a flexible, personalized Rule-based Web Services System to address these problems and to enable efficient search, discovery and construction across general Web documents and Semantic Web documents in a Web Services System is proposed. This system utilizes matchmaking among service requesters', service providers' and users' preferences using a Rule-based Search Method, and subsequently ranks search results. A prototype of efficient Web Services search and construction for the suggested system is developed based on the current work.

Collaborative Scheduling Using JMS in a Mixed Java and .NET Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wang, Yeou-Fang; Wax, Allan; Lam, Ray; Baldwin, John; Borden, Chet

2006-01-01

A collaborative framework/environment was proto-typed to prove the feasibility of scheduling space flight missions on NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) in a distributed fashion. In this environment, effective collaboration relies on efficient communications among all flight mission and DSN scheduling users. There-fore, messaging becomes critical to timely event notification and data synchronization. In the prototype, a rapid messaging system using Java Message Service (JMS) in a mixed Java and .NET environment is established. This scheme allows both Java and .NET applications to communicate with each other for data synchronization and schedule negotiation. The JMS approach we used is based on a centralized messaging scheme. With proper use of a high speed messaging system, all users in this collaborative framework can communicate with each other to generate a schedule collaboratively to meet DSN and projects tracking needs.

How Fear-Arousing News Messages Affect Risk Perceptions and Intention to Talk About Risk.

PubMed

Paek, Hye-Jin; Oh, Sang-Hwa; Hove, Thomas

2016-09-01

Building on the theoretical arguments of the impersonal-impact and differential-impact hypotheses, this study has a twofold purpose: first, to demonstrate how fear-arousing media messages about risk are associated with personal-level risk perception, as well as, and perhaps more so than, societal-level risk perception; and second, to examine how the resulting risk perceptions can mediate intention to talk about the risk with family and friends. A news message evaluation study was conducted among the general public in South Korea concerning two major risks, carcinogens and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Two sets of structural equation models reveal three main findings: (a) Fear-arousing news messages are positively related to personal-level risk perception, as well as to societal-level risk perception; (b) fear-arousing news messages result in intention to talk about the risk directly and indirectly through risk perception; and (c) personal-level risk perception appears more strongly related to intention to talk than does societal-level risk perception, although such relationships may vary across risk topics.

Using a Smartphone Application to Promote Healthy Dietary Behaviours and Local Food Consumption

PubMed Central

Gilliland, Jason; Sadler, Richard; Clark, Andrew; O'Connor, Colleen; Milczarek, Malgorzata; Doherty, Sean

2015-01-01

Smartphone “apps” are a powerful tool for public health promotion, but unidimensional interventions have been ineffective at sustaining behavioural change. Various logistical issues exist in successful app development for health intervention programs and for sustaining behavioural change. This study reports on a smartphone application and messaging service, called “SmartAPPetite,” which uses validated behaviour change techniques and a behavioural economic approach to “nudge” users into healthy dietary behaviours. To help gauge participation in and influence of the program, data were collected using an upfront food survey, message uptake tracking, experience sampling interviews, and a follow-up survey. Logistical and content-based issues in the deployment of the messaging service were subsequently addressed to strengthen the effectiveness of the app in changing dietary behaviours. Challenges included creating relevant food goal categories for participants, providing messaging appropriate to self-reported food literacy and ensuring continued participation in the program. SmartAPPetite was effective at creating a sense of improved awareness and consumption of healthy foods, as well as drawing people to local food vendors with greater frequency. This work serves as a storehouse of methods and best practices for multidimensional local food-based smartphone interventions aimed at improving the “triple bottom line” of health, economy, and environment. PMID:26380298

Using a Smartphone Application to Promote Healthy Dietary Behaviours and Local Food Consumption.

PubMed

Gilliland, Jason; Sadler, Richard; Clark, Andrew; O'Connor, Colleen; Milczarek, Malgorzata; Doherty, Sean

2015-01-01

Smartphone "apps" are a powerful tool for public health promotion, but unidimensional interventions have been ineffective at sustaining behavioural change. Various logistical issues exist in successful app development for health intervention programs and for sustaining behavioural change. This study reports on a smartphone application and messaging service, called "SmartAPPetite," which uses validated behaviour change techniques and a behavioural economic approach to "nudge" users into healthy dietary behaviours. To help gauge participation in and influence of the program, data were collected using an upfront food survey, message uptake tracking, experience sampling interviews, and a follow-up survey. Logistical and content-based issues in the deployment of the messaging service were subsequently addressed to strengthen the effectiveness of the app in changing dietary behaviours. Challenges included creating relevant food goal categories for participants, providing messaging appropriate to self-reported food literacy and ensuring continued participation in the program. SmartAPPetite was effective at creating a sense of improved awareness and consumption of healthy foods, as well as drawing people to local food vendors with greater frequency. This work serves as a storehouse of methods and best practices for multidimensional local food-based smartphone interventions aimed at improving the "triple bottom line" of health, economy, and environment.

E-mail to Promote Colorectal Cancer Screening Within Social Networks: Acceptability and Content

PubMed Central

CUTRONA, SARAH L.; WAGNER, JOANN; ROBLIN, DOUGLAS W.; GAGLIO, BRIDGET; WILLIAMS, ANDREW; TORRES-STONE, ROSALIE; MAZOR, KATHLEEN M.

2016-01-01

Effective techniques to encourage colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in underscreened populations have included social support interventions and email reminders from physicians. Personalized email messages to promote CRC screening within social networks could be even more effective, but have not been studied. We interviewed 387 email users, aged 42-73 years in Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Georgia. Participants were asked to edit a sample message in which the sender shares a recent colonoscopy experience and urges the recipient to discuss CRC screening with a doctor. For those reporting willingness to send this message, changes to the message and suggested subject lines were recorded. Edited text was analyzed for content and concordance with original message. The majority of participants (74.4%) were willing to email a modifiable message. Of those willing, 63.5% edited the message. Common edits included deletion (17.7%) or modification (17.4%) of a negatively framed sentence on colon cancer risks and addition or modification of personalizing words (15.6%). Few edits changed the meaning of the message (5.6%) and even fewer introduced factual inaccuracies (1.7%). Modifiable email messages offer a way for screened individuals to promote CRC screening to social network members. Accuracy and impact of such messages should be further studied. PMID:25839968

Integrating Communication and Navigation: Next Generation Broadcast Service (NGBS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donaldson, Jennifer

2017-01-01

NASA Goddard has been investing in technology demonstrations of a beacon service, now called Next Generation Broadcast Services (NGBS). NGBS is a global, space-based, communications and navigation service for users of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). NGBS will provide an S-band beacon messaging source and radio navigation available to users at orbital altitudes 1400 km and below, increasing the autonomy and resiliency of onboard communication and navigation. NGBS will deliver both one-way radiometric (Doppler and pseudorange) and fast forward data transport services to users. Portions of the overall forward data volume will be allocated for fixed message types while the remaining data volume will be left for user forward command data. The NGBS signal will reside within the 2106.43 MHz spectrum currently allocated for the Space Networks multiple access forward (MAF) service and a live service demonstration is currently being planned via the 2nd and 3rd generation TDRS satellites.

An Example of Creative Drama Implementation in Values Education: Mevlana's Global Messages "Love-Respect-Tolerance"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akhan, Nadire Emel; Altikulaç, Ali

2014-01-01

This study aims to discover how social studies teachers' personal and professional values can be improved by having a basis in Mevlana's global messages "love-respect-tolerance" in terms of "Personal and Professional Values-Professional Development", which is the first component of general efficacies of teaching profession. The…

Associations Between Message Features and Subjective Evaluations of the Sensation Value of Antidrug Public Service Announcements.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Susan E.; Palmgreen, Philip; Stephenson, Michael T.; Hoyle, Rick H.; Lorch, Elizabeth P.

2003-01-01

Identifies message design features that show the greatest promise for developing message high in sensation value for anti-drug campaigns and other interventions aimed at sensation-seeking risky behaviors. Investigates certain features of drug prevention Public Service Announcements (PSAs) associated with viewers' subjective responses to them.…

New Secure E-mail System Based on Bio-Chaos Key Generation and Modified AES Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoomod, Haider K.; Radi, A. M.

2018-05-01

The E-mail messages exchanged between sender’s Mailbox and recipient’s Mailbox over the open systems and insecure Networks. These messages may be vulnerable to eavesdropping and itself poses a real threat to the privacy and data integrity from unauthorized persons. The E-mail Security includes the following properties (Confidentiality, Authentication, Message integrity). We need a safe encryption algorithm to encrypt Email messages such as the algorithm Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) or Data Encryption Standard DES, as well as biometric recognition and chaotic system. The proposed E-mail system security uses modified AES algorithm and uses secret key-bio-chaos that consist of biometric (Fingerprint) and chaotic system (Lu and Lorenz). This modification makes the proposed system more sensitive and random. The execution time for both encryption and decryption of the proposed system is much less from original AES, in addition to being compatible with all Mail Servers.

ScatterBlogs2: real-time monitoring of microblog messages through user-guided filtering.

PubMed

Bosch, Harald; Thom, Dennis; Heimerl, Florian; Püttmann, Edwin; Koch, Steffen; Krüger, Robert; Wörner, Michael; Ertl, Thomas

2013-12-01

The number of microblog posts published daily has reached a level that hampers the effective retrieval of relevant messages, and the amount of information conveyed through services such as Twitter is still increasing. Analysts require new methods for monitoring their topic of interest, dealing with the data volume and its dynamic nature. It is of particular importance to provide situational awareness for decision making in time-critical tasks. Current tools for monitoring microblogs typically filter messages based on user-defined keyword queries and metadata restrictions. Used on their own, such methods can have drawbacks with respect to filter accuracy and adaptability to changes in trends and topic structure. We suggest ScatterBlogs2, a new approach to let analysts build task-tailored message filters in an interactive and visual manner based on recorded messages of well-understood previous events. These message filters include supervised classification and query creation backed by the statistical distribution of terms and their co-occurrences. The created filter methods can be orchestrated and adapted afterwards for interactive, visual real-time monitoring and analysis of microblog feeds. We demonstrate the feasibility of our approach for analyzing the Twitter stream in emergency management scenarios.

A Qualitative Evaluation of Contact Centre Dietitian Support and Electronic Motivational Messaging for eaTracker My Goals Users.

PubMed

Lieffers, Jessica R L; Haresign, Helen; Mehling, Christine; Arocha, Jose F; Hanning, Rhona M

2018-06-01

To conduct a qualitative evaluation of adjunct supports (brief motivational messaging regarding goals delivered by email/website, contact centre dietitian assistance) offered by EatRight Ontario (ERO) for users of a website-based nutrition/activity goal setting/tracking feature (eaTracker "My Goals"). One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with My Goals users in Ontario (n = 18) and Alberta (n = 5) recruited via the eaTracker website and ERO contact centre dietitians (n = 5). Interview transcripts were analyzed using content analysis. Participants had mixed experiences and perspectives with ERO motivational messaging. Messages targeted towards specific goals (e.g., tips, recipes) were generally well-liked, and generic messages (e.g., eaTracker login reminders) were less useful. No interviewed users had contacted ERO dietitians regarding goals, and dietitians reported encountering few callers asking for assistance while using My Goals. Limited user knowledge was one explanation for this finding. Participants provided suggestions to enhance these supports. Electronic motivational messaging and contact centre dietitian assistance have the potential to support achievement of goals set with website-based features. When considering using electronic messaging, researchers and practitioners should consider message content and delivery tailoring. Marketing that focuses on how contact centre dietitians can assist website users with their goals is needed when services are used in naturalistic settings.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Text Messaging and Phone Call Reminders to Minimize No Show at Pediatric Outpatient Clinics in Pakistan: Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Study.

PubMed

Saeed, Sana; Somani, Noureen; Sharif, Fatima; Kazi, Abdul Momin

2018-04-10

Missing health care appointments without canceling in advance results in a no show, a vacant appointment slot that cannot be offered to others. No show can be reduced by reminding patients about their appointment in advance. In this regard, mobile health (mHealth) strategy is to use text messaging (short message service, SMS), which is available on all cellular phones, including cheap low-end handsets. Nonattendance for appointments in health care results in wasted resources and disturbs the planned work schedules. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the current text messaging (SMS) and call-based reminder system and further explore how to improve the attendance at the pediatric outpatient clinics. The primary objectives are to (1) determine the efficacy of the current clinic appointment reminder service at pediatric outpatient clinics at Aga Khan University Hospital, (2) assess the mobile phone access and usage among caregivers visiting pediatrics consultant clinics, and (3) explore the perception and barriers of parents regarding the current clinic appointment reminder service at the pediatric outpatient clinics at Aga Khan University Hospital. The study uses a mixed-method design that consists of 3 components: (1) retrospective study (component A) which aims to determine the efficacy of text messaging (SMS) and phone call-based reminder service on patient's clinic attendance during January to June 2017 (N=58,517); (2) quantitative (component B) in which a baseline survey will be conducted to assess the mobile phone access and usage among parents/caregivers of children visiting pediatrics consultant clinics (n=300); and (3) qualitative (component C) includes in-depth interviews and focus group discussion with parents/caregivers of children visiting the pediatric consultancy clinic and with health care providers and administrative staff. Main constructs will be to explore perceptions and barriers related to existing clinic appointment reminder service. Ethics approval has been obtained from the Ethical Review Committee, Aga Khan University, Pakistan (4770-Ped-ERC-17). Results will be disseminated to pediatric quality public health and mHealth communities through scientific meetings and through publications, nationally and internationally. This study will provide insight regarding efficacy of using mHealth-based reminder services for patient's appointments in low- and middle-income countries setup. The finding of this study will be used to recommend further enhanced mHealth-based solutions to improve patient appointments and decrease no show. ©Sana Saeed, Noureen Somani, Fatima Sharif, Abdul Momin Kazi. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (http://www.researchprotocols.org), 10.04.2018.

Increasing the Operational Value of Event Messages

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Zhenping; Savkli, Cetin; Smith, Dan

2003-01-01

Assessing the health of a space mission has traditionally been performed using telemetry analysis tools. Parameter values are compared to known operational limits and are plotted over various time periods. This presentation begins with the notion that there is an incredible amount of untapped information contained within the mission s event message logs. Through creative advancements in message handling tools, the event message logs can be used to better assess spacecraft and ground system status and to highlight and report on conditions not readily apparent when messages are evaluated one-at-a-time during a real-time pass. Work in this area is being funded as part of a larger NASA effort at the Goddard Space Flight Center to create component-based, middleware-based, standards-based general purpose ground system architecture referred to as GMSEC - the GSFC Mission Services Evolution Center. The new capabilities and operational concepts for event display, event data analyses and data mining are being developed by Lockheed Martin and the new subsystem has been named GREAT - the GMSEC Reusable Event Analysis Toolkit. Planned for use on existing and future missions, GREAT has the potential to increase operational efficiency in areas of problem detection and analysis, general status reporting, and real-time situational awareness.

It's not only what you say, it's also how you say it: communicating nipah virus prevention messages during an outbreak in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Parveen, Shahana; Islam, M Saiful; Begum, Momtaz; Alam, Mahbub-Ul; Sazzad, Hossain M S; Sultana, Rebeca; Rahman, Mahmudur; Gurley, Emily S; Hossain, M Jahangir; Luby, Stephen P

2016-08-05

During a fatal Nipah virus (NiV) outbreak in Bangladesh, residents rejected biomedical explanations of NiV transmission and treatment and lost trust in the public healthcare system. Field anthropologists developed and communicated a prevention strategy to bridge the gap between the biomedical and local explanation of the outbreak. We explored residents' beliefs and perceptions about the illness and care-seeking practices and explained prevention messages following an interactive strategy with the aid of photos showed the types of contact that can lead to NiV transmission from bats to humans by drinking raw date palm sap and from person-to-person. The residents initially believed that the outbreak was caused by supernatural forces and continued drinking raw date palm sap despite messages from local health authorities to stop. Participants in community meetings stated that the initial messages did not explain that bats were the source of this virus. After our intervention, participants responded that they now understood how NiV could be transmitted and would abstain from raw sap consumption and maintain safer behaviours while caring for patients. During outbreaks, one-way behaviour change communication without meaningful causal explanations is unlikely to be effective. Based on the cultural context, interactive communication strategies in lay language with supporting evidence can make biomedical prevention messages credible in affected communities, even among those who initially invoke supernatural causal explanations.

Are you Scared Yet?

PubMed Central

Emery, Sherry L.; Szczypka, Glen; Abril, Eulàlia Puig; Kim, Yoonsang; Vera, Lisa

2014-01-01

In March 2012, the CDC launched “Tips from Former Smokers,” a $54 million national campaign featuring individuals experiencing long-term health consequences of smoking. The campaign approach was based on strong evidence that anti-tobacco ads portraying fear, graphic images, and personal testimonials are associated with attitudinal and behavior change. Yet it was also controversial; critics cited the danger that viewers might reject such intensely graphic messages. Tasked with informing this debate, our study analyzes the corpus of Tips campaign-related tweets obtained via the Twitter Firehose. We provide a novel and rigorous method for media campaign evaluation within the framework of the Extended Parallel Process Model. Among the relevant Tweets, 87% showed evidence of message acceptance, while 7% exhibited message rejection. PMID:25429162

Considerations for Community-Based mHealth Initiatives: Insights From Three Beacon Communities

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Mobile health (mHealth) is gaining widespread attention for its potential to engage patients in their health and health care in their daily lives. Emerging evidence suggests that mHealth interventions can be used effectively to support behavior change, but numerous challenges remain when implementing these programs at the community level. This paper provides an overview of considerations when implementing community-based mHealth initiatives, based on the experiences of three Beacon Communities across the United States that have launched text messaging (short message service, SMS) pilot programs aimed at diabetes risk reduction and disease management. The paper addresses lessons learned and suggests strategies to overcome challenges related to developing text message content, conducting marketing and outreach, enrolling participants, engaging providers, evaluating program effectiveness, and sustaining and scaling the programs. PMID:24128406

Information needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered health care professionals: results of an Internet survey

PubMed Central

Fikar, Charles R.; Keith, Latrina

2004-01-01

Objectives: To obtain basic facts and considered opinions from health care professionals and students (nonlibrarian and librarian) about the information needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) health care professionals and their interactions with medical librarians. Methods: The survey instrument was a Web-based questionnaire. A nonrandom sample of health care professionals and students (librarian and nonlibrarian) was obtained by posting messages to several large Internet electronic discussion groups (GLBT and general) and to randomly selected members of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. A total of 152 forms were analyzed with about 50% of the participants being GLBT persons. Results: GLBT people have specific health information needs and concerns. More than 75% of medical librarians and students believed that GLBT persons have special information needs, with similar response rates by nonlibrarian health professionals and students. The delivery of services needs to be done with privacy and respect for the feelings of the patron. Major areas of need include the topics of health care proxy, cancer, adolescent depression and suicide, adoption, sexual health and practices, HIV infection, surrogate parenting, mental health issues, transgender health issues, intimate partner violence, and intimate partner loss. Conclusions: Most GLBT health care professionals desire GLBT-friendly health information services. Making GLBT-oriented health information resources available on a library Web page and making an effort to show acceptance of cultural diversity through signs or displays would be helpful. Education directed toward instilling an awareness of GLBT persons may also be advisable. Most survey participants make some use of medical reference services and many find medical librarians to be very helpful and resourceful. PMID:14762463

Culture, social networks, and information sharing: An exploratory study of Japanese aerospace engineers' information-seeking processes and habits in light of cultural factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Yuko

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of culture and language on Japanese aerospace engineers' information-seeking processes by both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The Japanese sample consisted of 162 members of the Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences (JSASS). U.S. aerospace engineers served as a reference point, consisting of 213 members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The survey method was utilized in gathering data using self-administered mail questionnaires in order to explore the following eight areas: (1) the content and use of information resources; (2) production and use of information products; (3) methods of accessing information service providers; (4) foreign language skills; (5) studying/researching/collaborating abroad as a tool in expanding information resources; (6) scientific and technical societies as networking tools; (7) alumni associations (school/class reunions) as networking tools; and (8) social, corporate, civic and health/fitness clubs as networking tools. Nine Japanese cultural factors expressed as statements about Japanese society are as follows: (1) information is neither autonomous, objective, nor independent of the subject of cognition; (2) information and knowledge are not readily accessible to the public; (3) emphasis on groups is reinforced in a hierarchical society; (4) social networks thrive as information-sharing vehicles; (5) high context is a predominant form of communication in which most of the information is already in the person, while very little is in the coded, transmitted part of the message; (6) obligations based on mutual trust dictate social behaviors instead of contractual agreements; (7) a surface message is what is presented while a bottom-line message is true feeling privately held; (8) various religious beliefs uphold a work ethic based on harmony; (9) ideas from outside are readily assimilated into its own society. The result of the investigation showed that culture and language affect Japanese aerospace engineers' information-seeking processes. The awareness and the knowledge of such effects will lead to improvement in global information services in aerospace engineering by incorporating various information resource providing organizations.

The mixed message behind "Medication-Assisted Treatment" for substance use disorder.

PubMed

Robinson, Sean M; Adinoff, Bryon

2018-01-01

The gap between treatment utilization and treatment need for substance use disorders (SUDs) remains a significant concern in our field. While the growing call to bridge this gap often takes the form of more treatment services and/or better integration of existing services, this perspective proposes that more effective labels for and transparent descriptions of existing services would also have a meaningful impact. Adopting the perspective of a consumer-based health-care model (wherein treatments and services are products and patients are consumers) allows us to consider how labels like Addiction-focused Medical Management, Medication-Assisted Treatment, Medication-Assisted Therapy, and others may actually be contributing to the underutilization problem rather than alleviating it. In this perspective, "Medication-Assisted Therapy" for opioid-use disorder (OUD) is singled out and discussed as inherently confusing, providing the message that pharmacotherapy for this disorder is a secondary treatment to other services which are generally regarded, in practice, as ancillary. That this mixed message is occurring amidst a nationwide "opioid epidemic" is a potential cause for concern and may actually serve to reinforce the longstanding, documented stigma against OUD pharmacotherapy. We recommend that referring to pharmacotherapy for SUD as simply "medication," as we do for other chronic medical disorders, will bring both clarity and precision to this effective treatment approach.

Patient–Clinician Mobile Communication: Analyzing Text Messaging Between Adolescents with Asthma and Nurse Case Managers

PubMed Central

Kim, Soo Yun; Hong, Yangsun; Chih, Ming-Yuan; Shah, Dhavan V.; Gustafson, David H.

2015-01-01

Abstract Background: With the increasing penetration of digital mobile devices among adolescents, mobile texting messaging is emerging as a new channel for patient–clinician communication for this population. In particular, it can promote active communication between healthcare clinicians and adolescents with asthma. However, little is known about the content of the messages exchanged in medical encounters via mobile text messaging. Therefore, this study explored the content of text messaging between clinicians and adolescents with asthma. Materials and Methods: We collected a total of 2,953 text messages exchanged between 5 nurse case managers and 131 adolescents with asthma through a personal digital assistant. The text messages were coded using a scheme developed by adapting categories from the Roter Interaction Analysis System. Results: Nurse case managers sent more text messages (n=2,639) than adolescents with asthma. Most messages sent by nurse case managers were targeted messages (n=2,475) directed at all adolescents with asthma, whereas there were relatively few tailored messages (n=164) that were created personally for an individual adolescent. In addition, both targeted and tailored messages emphasized task-focused behaviors over socioemotional behaviors. Likewise, text messages (n=314) sent by adolescents also emphasized task-focused over socioemotional behaviors. Conclusions: Mobile texting messaging has the potential to play an important role in patient–clinician communication. It promotes not only active interaction, but also patient-centered communication with clinicians. In order to achieve this potential, healthcare clinicians may need to focus on socioemotional communication as well as task-oriented communication. PMID:25401324

Access Control Mechanism for IoT Environments Based on Modelling Communication Procedures as Resources.

PubMed

Cruz-Piris, Luis; Rivera, Diego; Marsa-Maestre, Ivan; de la Hoz, Enrique; Velasco, Juan R

2018-03-20

Internet growth has generated new types of services where the use of sensors and actuators is especially remarkable. These services compose what is known as the Internet of Things (IoT). One of the biggest current challenges is obtaining a safe and easy access control scheme for the data managed in these services. We propose integrating IoT devices in an access control system designed for Web-based services by modelling certain IoT communication elements as resources. This would allow us to obtain a unified access control scheme between heterogeneous devices (IoT devices, Internet-based services, etc.). To achieve this, we have analysed the most relevant communication protocols for these kinds of environments and then we have proposed a methodology which allows the modelling of communication actions as resources. Then, we can protect these resources using access control mechanisms. The validation of our proposal has been carried out by selecting a communication protocol based on message exchange, specifically Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT). As an access control scheme, we have selected User-Managed Access (UMA), an existing Open Authorization (OAuth) 2.0 profile originally developed for the protection of Internet services. We have performed tests focused on validating the proposed solution in terms of the correctness of the access control system. Finally, we have evaluated the energy consumption overhead when using our proposal.

Access Control Mechanism for IoT Environments Based on Modelling Communication Procedures as Resources

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Internet growth has generated new types of services where the use of sensors and actuators is especially remarkable. These services compose what is known as the Internet of Things (IoT). One of the biggest current challenges is obtaining a safe and easy access control scheme for the data managed in these services. We propose integrating IoT devices in an access control system designed for Web-based services by modelling certain IoT communication elements as resources. This would allow us to obtain a unified access control scheme between heterogeneous devices (IoT devices, Internet-based services, etc.). To achieve this, we have analysed the most relevant communication protocols for these kinds of environments and then we have proposed a methodology which allows the modelling of communication actions as resources. Then, we can protect these resources using access control mechanisms. The validation of our proposal has been carried out by selecting a communication protocol based on message exchange, specifically Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT). As an access control scheme, we have selected User-Managed Access (UMA), an existing Open Authorization (OAuth) 2.0 profile originally developed for the protection of Internet services. We have performed tests focused on validating the proposed solution in terms of the correctness of the access control system. Finally, we have evaluated the energy consumption overhead when using our proposal. PMID:29558406

Use of short messaging services to assess depressive symptoms among refugees in South Africa: Implications for social services providing mental health care in resource-poor settings

PubMed Central

Tomita, Andrew; Kandolo, Ka Muzombo; Susser, Ezra; Burns, Jonathan K

2016-01-01

Few studies in developing nations have assessed the use of short messaging services (SMS) to identify psychological challenges in refugee populations. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of SMS-based methods to screen for depression risk among refugees in South Africa attending mental health services, and to compare its reliability and acceptability with face-to-face consultation. Of the 153 refugees enrolled at baseline, 135 were available for follow-up assessments in our cohort study. Depression symptomatology was assessed using the 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) instrument. Nearly everyone possessed a mobile phone and utilized SMS. Furthermore, low incomplete item response in QIDS and high perceived ease of interacting via SMS with service providers supported the feasibility of this method. There was a fair level of reliability between face-to-face and SMS-based screening methods, but no significant difference in preference rating between the two methods. Despite potential implementation barriers (network delay/phone theft), depression screening using SMS may be viable for refugee mental health services in low-resource settings. PMID:26407989

Two Women with Multiple Disabilities Communicate with Distant Partners via a Special Text Messaging System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lancioni, Giulio E.; O'Reilly, Mark F.; Singh, Nirbhay N.; Sigafoos, Jeff; Green, Vanessa A.; Oliva, Doretta; Alberti, Gloria; Carrella, Luigina

2013-01-01

This study extended the research on a special text messaging system, which allows persons with multiple disabilities to (a) write and send messages to distant partners and (b) have messages from those partners read out to them. The study involved two women with multiple disabilities (including blindness or minimal residual vision). The system…

The model of microblog message diffusion based on complex social network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wei; Bai, Shu-Ying; Jin, Rui

2014-05-01

Microblog is a micromessage communication network in which users are the nodes and the followship between users are the edges. Sina Weibo is a typical case of these microblog service websites. As the enormous scale of nodes and complex links in the network, we choose a sample network crawled in Sina Weibo as the base of empirical analysis. The study starts with the analysis of its topological features, and brings in epidemiological SEIR model to explore the mode of message spreading throughout the microblog network. It is found that the network is obvious small-world and scale-free, which made it succeed in transferring messages and failed in resisting negative influence. In addition, the paper focuses on the rich nodes as they constitute a typical feature of Sina Weibo. It is also found that whether the message starts with a rich node will not account for its final coverage. Actually, the rich nodes always play the role of pivotal intermediaries who speed up the spreading and make the message known by much more people.

Developing anti-tobacco messages for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: evidence from a national cross-sectional survey.

PubMed

Gould, Gillian S; Watt, Kerrianne; Stevenson, Leah; McEwen, Andy; Cadet-James, Yvonne; Clough, Alan R

2014-03-13

Smoking rates in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain high, with limited impact of government measures for many subgroups. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate differences in organisational practice for developing anti-tobacco messages for these target populations. Telephone interviews were conducted with 47 organisation representatives using a structured questionnaire based on health communication and health promotion frameworks. Responses were coded into phases of message development, message types (educational, threat, positive or advocacy), target groups, message recommendations, and evaluations undertaken. Cultural sensitivity for message development was divided into surface structure (use of images, language, demographics) and deep structure (use of socio-cultural values). A categorical principal component analysis explored the key dimensions of the findings and their component relationships. Among organisations interviewed, a community-orientated, bottom-up approach for developing anti-tobacco messages was reported by 47% (n=24); 55% based message development on a theoretical framework; 87% used a positive benefit appeal; 38% used threat messages. More Aboriginal Medical Services (AMSs) targeted youth (p<0.005) and advised smokers to quit (p<0.05) than other types of organisations. AMSs were significantly more likely to report using deep structure in tailoring messages compared with non-government (p<0.05) and government organisations (p<0.05). Organisations that were oriented to the general population were more likely to evaluate their programs (p<0.05). A two-dimensional non-linear principal component analysis extracted components interpreted as "cultural understanding" (bottom-up, community-based approaches, deep structures) and "rigour" (theoretical frameworks, and planned/completed evaluations), and accounted for 53% of the variability in the data. Message features, associated with successful campaigns in other populations, are starting to be used for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. A model is proposed to facilitate the development of targeted anti-tobacco messages for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Organisations could consider incorporating both components of cultural understanding-rigour to enable the growth of evidence-based practice.

Developing anti-tobacco messages for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: evidence from a national cross-sectional survey

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Smoking rates in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain high, with limited impact of government measures for many subgroups. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate differences in organisational practice for developing anti-tobacco messages for these target populations. Methods Telephone interviews were conducted with 47 organisation representatives using a structured questionnaire based on health communication and health promotion frameworks. Responses were coded into phases of message development, message types (educational, threat, positive or advocacy), target groups, message recommendations, and evaluations undertaken. Cultural sensitivity for message development was divided into surface structure (use of images, language, demographics) and deep structure (use of socio-cultural values). A categorical principal component analysis explored the key dimensions of the findings and their component relationships. Results Among organisations interviewed, a community-orientated, bottom-up approach for developing anti-tobacco messages was reported by 47% (n = 24); 55% based message development on a theoretical framework; 87% used a positive benefit appeal; 38% used threat messages. More Aboriginal Medical Services (AMSs) targeted youth (p < 0.005) and advised smokers to quit (p < 0.05) than other types of organisations. AMSs were significantly more likely to report using deep structure in tailoring messages compared with non-government (p < 0.05) and government organisations (p < 0.05). Organisations that were oriented to the general population were more likely to evaluate their programs (p < 0.05). A two-dimensional non-linear principal component analysis extracted components interpreted as “cultural understanding” (bottom-up, community-based approaches, deep structures) and “rigour” (theoretical frameworks, and planned/completed evaluations), and accounted for 53% of the variability in the data. Conclusion Message features, associated with successful campaigns in other populations, are starting to be used for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. A model is proposed to facilitate the development of targeted anti-tobacco messages for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Organisations could consider incorporating both components of cultural understanding-rigour to enable the growth of evidence-based practice. PMID:24625235

Which bundles of features in a Web-based personally controlled health management system are associated with consumer help-seeking behaviors for physical and emotional well-being?

PubMed

Lau, Annie Y S; Proudfoot, Judith; Andrews, Annie; Liaw, Siaw-Teng; Crimmins, Jacinta; Arguel, Amaël; Coiera, Enrico

2013-05-06

Personally controlled health management systems (PCHMS), which include a personal health record (PHR), health management tools, and consumer resources, represent the next stage in consumer eHealth systems. It is still unclear, however, what features contribute to an engaging and efficacious PCHMS. To identify features in a Web-based PCHMS that are associated with consumer utilization of primary care and counselling services, and help-seeking rates for physical and emotional well-being concerns. A one-group pre/posttest online prospective study was conducted on a university campus to measure use of a PCHMS for physical and emotional well-being needs during a university academic semester (July to November 2011). The PCHMS integrated an untethered personal health record (PHR) with well-being journeys, social forums, polls, diaries, and online messaging links with a health service provider, where journeys provide information for consumer participants to engage with clinicians and health services in an actionable way. 1985 students and staff aged 18 and above with access to the Internet were recruited online. Logistic regression, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, and chi-square analyses were used to associate participants' help-seeking behaviors and health service utilization with PCHMS usage among the 709 participants eligible for analysis. A dose-response association was detected between the number of times a user logged into the PCHMS and the number of visits to a health care professional (P=.01), to the university counselling service (P=.03), and help-seeking rates (formal or informal) for emotional well-being matters (P=.03). No significant association was detected between participant pre-study characteristics or well-being ratings at different PCHMS login frequencies. Health service utilization was strongly correlated with use of a bundle of features including: online appointment booking (primary care: OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.01-3.00; counselling: OR 6.04, 95% CI 2.30-15.85), personal health record (health care professional: OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.63-4.89), the poll (health care professional: OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.02-2.12), and diary (counselling: OR 4.92, 95% CI 1.40-17.35). Help-seeking for physical well-being matters was only correlated with use of the personal health record (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.18-2.53). Help-seeking for emotional well-being concerns (including visits to the university counselling service) was correlated with a bundle comprising the poll (formal or informal help-seeking: OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.00-1.05), diary (counselling: OR 4.92, 95% CI 1.40-17.35), and online appointment booking (counselling: OR 6.04, 95% CI 2.30-15.85). Frequent usage of a PCHMS was significantly associated with increased consumer health service utilization and help-seeking rates for emotional health matters in a university sample. Different bundles of PCHMS features were associated with physical and emotional well-being matters. PCHMS appears to be a promising mechanism to engage consumers in help-seeking or health service utilization for physical and emotional well-being matters.

Which Bundles of Features in a Web-Based Personally Controlled Health Management System Are Associated With Consumer Help-Seeking Behaviors for Physical and Emotional Well-Being?

PubMed Central

Proudfoot, Judith; Andrews, Annie; Liaw, Siaw-Teng; Crimmins, Jacinta; Arguel, Amaël; Coiera, Enrico

2013-01-01

Background Personally controlled health management systems (PCHMS), which include a personal health record (PHR), health management tools, and consumer resources, represent the next stage in consumer eHealth systems. It is still unclear, however, what features contribute to an engaging and efficacious PCHMS. Objective To identify features in a Web-based PCHMS that are associated with consumer utilization of primary care and counselling services, and help-seeking rates for physical and emotional well-being concerns. Methods A one-group pre/posttest online prospective study was conducted on a university campus to measure use of a PCHMS for physical and emotional well-being needs during a university academic semester (July to November 2011). The PCHMS integrated an untethered personal health record (PHR) with well-being journeys, social forums, polls, diaries, and online messaging links with a health service provider, where journeys provide information for consumer participants to engage with clinicians and health services in an actionable way. 1985 students and staff aged 18 and above with access to the Internet were recruited online. Logistic regression, the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, and chi-square analyses were used to associate participants’ help-seeking behaviors and health service utilization with PCHMS usage among the 709 participants eligible for analysis. Results A dose-response association was detected between the number of times a user logged into the PCHMS and the number of visits to a health care professional (P=.01), to the university counselling service (P=.03), and help-seeking rates (formal or informal) for emotional well-being matters (P=.03). No significant association was detected between participant pre-study characteristics or well-being ratings at different PCHMS login frequencies. Health service utilization was strongly correlated with use of a bundle of features including: online appointment booking (primary care: OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.01-3.00; counselling: OR 6.04, 95% CI 2.30-15.85), personal health record (health care professional: OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.63-4.89), the poll (health care professional: OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.02-2.12), and diary (counselling: OR 4.92, 95% CI 1.40-17.35). Help-seeking for physical well-being matters was only correlated with use of the personal health record (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.18-2.53). Help-seeking for emotional well-being concerns (including visits to the university counselling service) was correlated with a bundle comprising the poll (formal or informal help-seeking: OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.00-1.05), diary (counselling: OR 4.92, 95% CI 1.40-17.35), and online appointment booking (counselling: OR 6.04, 95% CI 2.30-15.85). Conclusions Frequent usage of a PCHMS was significantly associated with increased consumer health service utilization and help-seeking rates for emotional health matters in a university sample. Different bundles of PCHMS features were associated with physical and emotional well-being matters. PCHMS appears to be a promising mechanism to engage consumers in help-seeking or health service utilization for physical and emotional well-being matters. PMID:23649790

Design Considerations in Developing a Text Messaging Program Aimed at Smoking Cessation

PubMed Central

Holtrop, Jodi Summers; Bağci Bosi, A Tülay; Emri, Salih

2012-01-01

Background Cell phone text messaging is gaining increasing recognition as an important tool that can be harnessed for prevention and intervention programs across a wide variety of health research applications. Despite the growing body of literature reporting positive outcomes, very little is available about the design decisions that scaffold the development of text messaging-based health interventions. What seems to be missing is documentation of the thought process of investigators in the initial stages of protocol and content development. This omission is of particular concern because many researchers seem to view text messaging as the intervention itself instead of simply a delivery mechanism. Certainly, aspects of this technology may increase participant engagement. Like other interventions, however, the content is a central driver of the behavior change. Objective To address this noted gap in the literature, we discuss the protocol decisions and content development for SMS Turkey (or Cebiniz birakin diyor in Turkish), a smoking cessation text messaging program for adult smokers in Turkey. Methods Content was developed in English and translated into Turkish. Efforts were made to ensure that the protocol and content were grounded in evidence-based smoking cessation theory, while also reflective of the cultural aspects of smoking and quitting in Turkey. Results Methodological considerations included whether to provide cell phones and whether to reimburse participants for texting costs; whether to include supplementary intervention resources (eg, personal contact); and whether to utilize unidirectional versus bidirectional messaging. Program design considerations included how messages were tailored to the quitting curve and one’s smoking status after one’s quit date, the number of messages participants received per day, and over what period of time the intervention lasted. Conclusion The content and methods of effective smoking cessation quitline programs were a useful guide in developing SMS Turkey. Proposed guidelines in developing text messaging-based behavior change programs are offered. PMID:22832182

What is the risk for exposure to vector-borne pathogens in United States national parks?

PubMed

Eisen, Lars; Wong, David; Shelus, Victoria; Eisen, Rebecca J

2013-03-01

United States national parks attract > 275 million visitors annually and collectively present risk of exposure for staff and visitors to a wide range of arthropod vector species (most notably fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks) and their associated bacterial, protozoan, or viral pathogens. We assessed the current state of knowledge for risk of exposure to vector-borne pathogens in national parks through a review of relevant literature, including internal National Park Service documents and organismal databases. We conclude that, because of lack of systematic surveillance for vector-borne pathogens in national parks, the risk of pathogen exposure for staff and visitors is unclear. Existing data for vectors within national parks were not based on systematic collections and rarely include evaluation for pathogen infection. Extrapolation of human-based surveillance data from neighboring communities likely provides inaccurate estimates for national parks because landscape differences impact transmission of vector-borne pathogens and human-vector contact rates likely differ inside versus outside the parks because of differences in activities or behaviors. Vector-based pathogen surveillance holds promise to define when and where within national parks the risk of exposure to infected vectors is elevated. A pilot effort, including 5-10 strategic national parks, would greatly improve our understanding of the scope and magnitude of vector-borne pathogen transmission in these high-use public settings. Such efforts also will support messaging to promote personal protection measures and inform park visitors and staff of their responsibility for personal protection, which the National Park Service preservation mission dictates as the core strategy to reduce exposure to vector-borne pathogens in national parks.

A qualitative study of smokers' responses to messages discouraging dual tobacco product use.

PubMed

Popova, Lucy; Kostygina, Ganna; Sheon, Nicolas M; Ling, Pamela M

2014-04-01

Cigarette companies increasingly promote novel smokeless tobacco products to smokers, encouraging them to use smokeless tobacco in smoke-free environments. New messages may counteract this promotion. We developed 12 initial anti-smokeless message ideas and tested them in eight online focus groups with 75 US smokers. Those smokers who never tried smokeless tobacco were unaware of health risks of novel smokeless tobacco products, perceived scary messages as effective and acknowledged the addictive nature of nicotine. Smokers who had tried smokeless tobacco shared their personal (mainly negative) experiences with smokeless tobacco, were aware of health risks of novel smokeless tobacco products, but denied personal addiction, and misinterpreted or disregarded more threatening messages. Portraying women as smokeless tobacco users was perceived as unbelievable, and emphasizing the lack of appeal of novel smokeless tobacco products was perceived as encouraging continued smoking. Future ads should educate smokers about risks of novel smokeless tobacco products, but past users and never users may require different message strategies.

A qualitative study of smokers’ responses to messages discouraging dual tobacco product use

PubMed Central

Popova, Lucy; Kostygina, Ganna; Sheon, Nicolas M.; Ling, Pamela M.

2014-01-01

Cigarette companies increasingly promote novel smokeless tobacco products to smokers, encouraging them to use smokeless tobacco in smoke-free environments. New messages may counteract this promotion. We developed 12 initial anti-smokeless message ideas and tested them in eight online focus groups with 75 US smokers. Those smokers who never tried smokeless tobacco were unaware of health risks of novel smokeless tobacco products, perceived scary messages as effective and acknowledged the addictive nature of nicotine. Smokers who had tried smokeless tobacco shared their personal (mainly negative) experiences with smokeless tobacco, were aware of health risks of novel smokeless tobacco products, but denied personal addiction, and misinterpreted or disregarded more threatening messages. Portraying women as smokeless tobacco users was perceived as unbelievable, and emphasizing the lack of appeal of novel smokeless tobacco products was perceived as encouraging continued smoking. Future ads should educate smokers about risks of novel smokeless tobacco products, but past users and never users may require different message strategies. PMID:24441592

Struggles for recognition: a content analysis of messages posted on the Internet

PubMed Central

Andersen, Anders Johan W; Svensson, Tommy

2012-01-01

Background The Internet has enlarged the possibilities of human communication and opened new ways of exploring perceptions of mental health. This study is part of a research project aiming to explore, describe, and analyze different discourses of mental health in Norway and Sweden, using material from Internet-based services. Aim To examine messages posed by users of publicly available question-and-answer services and to describe their content. Methods A Web search was used to identify Norwegian and Swedish Websites offering mental health services by email or posted messages. A total of 601 messages from 20 services, 10 Norwegian and 10 Swedish, were analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis and further interpreted in light of the social theory of recognition by Honneth. Results Eight categories emerged from the analysis: family life, couples, others, violence, the ungovernable, self-image, negotiating normality, and life struggles. These categories were then grouped into three themes: (1) relationship to significant others, (2) relationship to self, and (3) relationship to the social community. The themes promoted an understanding of mental health as closely connected to political and social factors. Conclusions The results showed a variety of concerns from various parts of life and empowered the view that mental health should be understood broadly, at a conceptual level. Mental health emerged as a deeply relational concept that emphasized the equal distribution of chances in life. It strengthened the moral grammar of social inclusion and the acceptance of plurality in social life. PMID:22888257

Taxonomy for and Analysis of Anonymous Communications Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

Privacy QI Quasi-Identifier QoS Quality -of- Service RA Receiver Anonymity RFC Request For Comments RREQ Route Request RREP Route Reply...particular message as a measure. This amounts to the sender specifying a Quality -of- Service (QoS) threshold for anonymity services depending on...Location-Based Services Through Spatial and Temporal Cloaking," Proceedings of the Proceedings of MobiSys 2003: The 1st International Conference on

Shifting Practices Toward Recovery-Oriented Care Through an E-Recovery Portal in Community Mental Health Care: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study.

PubMed

Gammon, Deede; Strand, Monica; Eng, Lillian Sofie; Børøsund, Elin; Varsi, Cecilie; Ruland, Cornelia

2017-05-02

Mental health care is shifting from a primary focus on symptom reduction toward personal recovery-oriented care, especially for persons with long-term mental health care needs. Web-based portals may facilitate this shift, but little is known about how such tools are used or the role they may play in personal recovery. The aim was to illustrate uses and experiences with the secure e-recovery portal "ReConnect" as an adjunct to ongoing community mental health care and explore its potential role in shifting practices toward recovery. ReConnect was introduced into two Norwegian mental health care communities and used for 6 months. The aim was to support personal recovery and collaboration between service users and health care providers. Among inclusion criteria for participation were long-term care needs and at least one provider willing to interact with service users through ReConnect. The portal was designed to support ongoing collaboration as each service user-provider dyad/team found appropriate and consisted of (1) a toolbox of resources for articulating and working with recovery processes, such as status/goals/activities relative to life domains (eg, employment, social network, health), medications, network map, and exercises (eg, sleep hygiene, mindfulness); (2) messaging with providers who had partial access to toolbox content; and (3) a peer support forum. Quantitative data (ie, system log, questionnaires) were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data (eg, focus groups, forum postings) are presented relative to four recovery-oriented practice domains: personally defined recovery, promoting citizenship, working relationships, and organizational commitment. Fifty-six participants (29 service users and 27 providers) made up 29 service user-provider dyads. Service users reported having 11 different mental health diagnoses, with a median 2 (range 1-7) diagnoses each. The 27 providers represented nine different professional backgrounds. The forum was the most frequently used module with 1870 visits and 542 postings. Service users' control over toolbox resources (eg, defining and working toward personal goals), coupled with peer support, activated service users in their personal recovery processes and in community engagement. Some providers (30%, 8/27) did not interact with service users through ReConnect. Dyads that used the portal resources did so in highly diverse ways, and participants reported needing more than 6 months to discover and adapt optimal uses relative to their individual and collaborative needs. Regardless of providers' portal use, service users' control over toolbox resources, coupled with peer support, offered an empowering common frame of reference that represented a shift toward recovery-oriented practices within communities. Although service users' autonomous use of the portal can eventually influence providers in the direction of recovery practices, a fundamental shift is unlikely without broader organizational commitments aligned with recovery principles (eg, quantified goals for service user involvement in care plans). ©Deede Gammon, Monica Strand, Lillian Sofie Eng, Elin Børøsund, Cecilie Varsi, Cornelia Ruland. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 02.05.2017.

PCCEServer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Perry, Marcia; Agarwal, Deb

2003-03-17

The PCCEServer application is a server that should be used in conjunction with the LBNLSecureMessaging user interface to enable secure synchronous and asynchronous messaging. It provides authentication and authorization services for members of a collaboration group via PKI/SSL and maintains an access control list. Members of collaboration groups using the LBNLSecureMessaging client must register identifying information. including usemame and password and an optional X.509 certificate, with the PCCEServer. This registration not only restricts access to instant messaging, but augments the LBNLSecureMessaging's IRC-based chat facility with persistence. Users register permanent unique user ids by which they are knowTl to other usersmore » in the system and create permanent venues intended for group conversations on a tong-term or continuous basis. In addition, the PCCEServer enhances instant messaging with presence and awareness information such as user availability, and it allows users to leave notes asynchronously for other users who are online or offline. Written in Java, it is a standalone application that can run on any platform that supports a Java Virtual Machine.« less

Community-Based Services and Depression from Person-Environment Fit Perspective: Focusing on Functional Impairments and Living Alone.

PubMed

Kim, BoRin; Park, Sojung; Bishop-Saucier, Jennifer; Amorim, Carrie

2017-01-01

Guided by the Person-Environment Fit perspective, we investigated the extent to which personal and environmental factors influence depression among community-dwelling adults. The data came from the special section about community-based service utilization in the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (N=1,710). Although community-based service was not significantly associated with depression after controlling for covariates, respondents with functional limitations and living alone were less likely to be depressed when using community-based services. This study demonstrates the different associations between community-based services and depression depending on personal needs. It discusses the importance of community-based services for aging-in-place policy, particularly among vulnerable populations.

Personalized Location-Based Recommendation Services for Tour Planning in Mobile Tourism Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Chien-Chih; Chang, Hsiao-Ping

Travel and tour planning is a process of searching, selecting, grouping and sequencing destination related products and services including attractions, accommodations, restaurants, and activities. Personalized recommendation services aim at suggesting products and services to meet users’ preferences and needs, while location-based services focus on providing information based on users’ current positions. Due to the fast growing of user needs in the mobile tourism domain, how to provide personalized location-based tour recommendation services becomes a critical research and practical issue. The objective of this paper is to propose a system architecture and design methods for facilitating the delivery of location-based recommendation services to support personalized tour planning. Based on tourists’ current location and time, as well as personal preferences and needs, various recommendations regarding sightseeing spots, hotels, restaurants, and packaged tour plans can be generated efficiently. An application prototype is also implemented to illustrate and test the system feasibility and effectiveness.

Effects of tailored message education about breast cancer risk appraisal for obese Korean women.

PubMed

Park, Somi; Chung, ChaeWeon; Cochrane, Barbara B

2013-11-01

To examine the effects of tailored message education about breast cancer risk in obese Korean women. Pretest/post-test with two comparison treatments. Rural community settings in South Korea. Non-random sample of 64 obese women. Based on the Health Belief Model, tailored message education involved a one-session individual approach addressing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains. The comparison group received a one-time standard education group session. Data on breast cancer risk factors and mammography findings were recorded. Knowledge, awareness, emotional barriers, self-efficacy, and intent to screen and prevent breast cancer. Compared to standard education, tailored message education showed significantly higher score changes on awareness of personal risk (F = 5.21, p < 0.05), self-efficacy for breast self-examination (BSE) (F = 5.16, p < 0.001), intent to perform BSE (F = 6.24, p < 0.05), intent to have mammography (F = 5.45, p < 0.05), and intent to prevent breast cancer with eating habits (F = 7.28, p < 0.05) and exercising (F = 12.51, p < 0.001). Individually tailored education effectively enhanced awareness of personal risk for breast cancer, self-efficacy for BSE, and intent to screen and prevent breast cancer. Tailored message education targeting breast cancer and risk associated with obesity is useful in breast cancer screening education. Future studies should incorporate individualized messages on nutrition, exercise, and cultural barriers to reduce breast cancer risk in obese women. Individual educational strategies can effectively enhance breast cancer prevention and early screening. Public and preventive education should include a focus on cultural, cognitive, and emotional domains. For obese women, a heightened awareness and self-efficacy may influence screening behaviors.

Tailored message interventions versus typical messages for increasing participation in colorectal cancer screening among a non-adherent population: A randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Hirai, Kei; Ishikawa, Yoshiki; Fukuyoshi, Jun; Yonekura, Akio; Harada, Kazuhiro; Shibuya, Daisuke; Yamamoto, Seiichiro; Mizota, Yuri; Hamashima, Chisato; Saito, Hiroshi

2016-05-24

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of a tailored message intervention compared with a non-tailored message intervention for increasing colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates among a non-adherent population, in a community-based client reminder program. After a baseline survey for psychological segmentation, 2140 eligible individuals were randomly assigned either to a group with a tailored matched-message condition (N = 356), a group with a non-tailored unmatched-message condition (N = 355), or to two control groups, one using a typical message with a professional design (N = 717) and one without a professional design (N = 712). The main outcome measure was attendance rates in a community-organized CRC screening program within five months of receiving a print reminder. There was a significant difference in fecal occult blood test (FOBT) attendance rates at follow-up assessments between the tailored matched-message condition (14.0 %) and the control (9.9 %; OR = 1.48, p = 0.026), while there was no significant difference between the unmatched-message condition (11.0 %) and the control (OR = 1.12, p = 0.558), and between the matched-message condition and the unmatched-message condition (OR = 1.32, p = 0.219). The cost of a one-person increase in FOBT screening was 3,740 JPY for the tailored matched-message condition, while it was 2,747 JPY for the control. A tailored-message intervention for segmented individuals designed to increase CRC screening rates in a community-based client reminder program was significantly effective compared to a usual reminder, but not more effective than an unmatched message in a randomized controlled trial, and was not sufficiently effective to highlight its value from a cost perspective. Therefore, the tailored intervention including target segmentation needs to be improved for future implementation in a CRC screening program for a non-adherent population. UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000004384 . Date of Registration: March 2011.

Normative and counter-normative stress messages and symptom reporting: implications for health promotion and a methodological artefact for stress research.

PubMed

Ferguson, Eamonn; Lawrence, Claire

2013-05-01

There is increasing use of counter-normative health messages (i.e., evidence-based health information about cause-effect relationships that run counter to shared normative beliefs, e.g., stress can lead to personal growth). The current studies examine the effect of normative and counter-normative messages about stress on levels of symptom reporting. Predictions are derived from reactance, social comparison, and self-enhancement theories. Two studies focus on the development of the messages, and two experimental studies examine the effect of manipulating normative and counter-normative messages on symptom reports. The final study controls for mere-measurement effects and explores the role of stress process variables (appraisals and coping). Exposure to a normative message (stress causes ill health) results in reduced symptom reporting compared to a counter-normative message (stress provides challenge, growth, and development) and control groups. The results suggest that people may use symptom reporting strategically to indicate coping. Based on the argument that beliefs about stress and health are stored as mental models, the theoretical associations derived from stress theory are only observed when a normative message is presented. Counter-normative stress messages may carry no tangible benefits compared to normative messages. Some stress research may suffer from inherent methodological bias when normative information is provided in information and consent sheets. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? At present, nothing is known about counter-normative health messages, despite the fact that they are becoming widely used as a public intervention. What does this study add? A clear operational definition of counter-normative messages. A test of three competing theories for counter-normative messages that focus of the stress-symptom link. Demonstrating for the first time, that in the domain of stress and health, counter-normative messages are at best ineffective. Demonstrating for the first time that only when the stress-coping-symptom links are made explicit do the theoretical associations observed in the literature emerge. This may be a potential methodological artefact in stress research that needs to be controlled. © 2013 The British Psychological Society.

Key messages for communicating information about BRCA1 and BRCA2 to women with breast or ovarian cancer: Consensus across health professionals and service users.

PubMed

Jacobs, Chris; Pichert, Gabriella; Harris, Jackie; Tucker, Kathy; Michie, Susan

2017-11-01

Genetic testing of cancer predisposing genes will increasingly be needed in oncology clinics to target cancer treatment. This Delphi study aimed to identify areas of agreement and disagreement between genetics and oncology health professionals and service users about the key messages required by women with breast/ovarian cancer who undergo BRCA1/BRCA2 genetic testing and the optimal timing of communicating key messages. Participants were 16 expert health professionals specialising in oncology/genetics and 16 service users with breast/ovarian cancer and a pathogenic BRCA1/BRCA2 variant. Online questionnaires containing 53 inductively developed information messages were circulated to the groups separately. Participants rated each message as key/not key on a Likert scale and suggested additional messages. Questionnaires were modified according to the feedback and up to 3 rounds were circulated. Consensus was reached when there was ≥75% agreement. Thirty key messages were agreed by both groups with 7 of the key messages agreed by ≥95% of participants: dominant inheritance, the availability of predictive testing, the importance of pretest discussion, increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and the option of risk-reducing mastectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. Both groups agreed that key messages should be communicated before genetic testing and once a pathogenic variant has been identified. There was a high level of agreement within and between the groups about the information requirements of women with breast/ovarian cancer about BRCA1/BRCA2. These key messages will be helpful in developing new approaches to the delivery of information as genetic testing becomes further integrated into mainstream oncology services. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Designing Personalization in Technology-Based Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Min Kyung

2013-01-01

Personalization technology has the potential to optimize service for each person's unique needs and characteristics. One way to optimize service is to allow people to customize the service themselves; another is to proactively tailor services based on information provided by people or inferred from their past behaviors. These approaches function…

Lifelong Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Learning Quarterly, 1998

1998-01-01

The theme of this issue is lifelong learning. Contents include a message introducing the publisher's Chief Executive Officer, Devron Gaber, and letters to the editor. A guest editorial, "Lifelong Learning For All: A National, Social, Corporate, and Personal Imperative for the Knowledge-Based 21st Century" (Ron Faris), considers how…

A fast image retrieval method based on SVM and imbalanced samples in filtering multimedia message spam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhang; Peng, Zhenming; Peng, Lingbing; Liao, Dongyi; He, Xin

2011-11-01

With the swift and violent development of the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), it becomes an urgent task to filter the Multimedia Message (MM) spam effectively in real-time. For the fact that most MMs contain images or videos, a method based on retrieving images is given in this paper for filtering MM spam. The detection method used in this paper is a combination of skin-color detection, texture detection, and face detection, and the classifier for this imbalanced problem is a very fast multi-classification combining Support vector machine (SVM) with unilateral binary decision tree. The experiments on 3 test sets show that the proposed method is effective, with the interception rate up to 60% and the average detection time for each image less than 1 second.

A lightweight Web of Things Open Platform to facilitate context data management and personalized healthcare services creation.

PubMed

Corredor, Iván; Metola, Eduardo; Bernardos, Ana M; Tarrío, Paula; Casar, José R

2014-04-29

In the last few years, many health monitoring systems have been designed to fullfil the needs of a large range of scenarios. Although many of those systems provide good ad hoc solutions, most of them lack of mechanisms that allow them to be easily reused. This paper is focused on describing an open platform, the micro Web of Things Open Platform (µWoTOP), which has been conceived to improve the connectivity and reusability of context data to deliver different kinds of health, wellness and ambient home care services. µWoTOP is based on a resource-oriented architecture which may be embedded in mobile and resource constrained devices enabling access to biometric, ambient or activity sensors and actuator resources through uniform interfaces defined according to a RESTful fashion. Additionally, µWoTOP manages two communication modes which allow delivering user context information according to different methods, depending on the requirements of the consumer application. It also generates alert messages based on standards related to health care and risk management, such as the Common Alerting Protocol, in order to make its outputs compatible with existing systems.

A Lightweight Web of Things Open Platform to Facilitate Context Data Management and Personalized Healthcare Services Creation

PubMed Central

Corredor, Iván; Metola, Eduardo; Bernardos, Ana M.; Tarrío, Paula; Casar, José R.

2014-01-01

In the last few years, many health monitoring systems have been designed to fullfil the needs of a large range of scenarios. Although many of those systems provide good ad hoc solutions, most of them lack of mechanisms that allow them to be easily reused. This paper is focused on describing an open platform, the micro Web of Things Open Platform (µWoTOP), which has been conceived to improve the connectivity and reusability of context data to deliver different kinds of health, wellness and ambient home care services. µWoTOP is based on a resource-oriented architecture which may be embedded in mobile and resource constrained devices enabling access to biometric, ambient or activity sensors and actuator resources through uniform interfaces defined according to a RESTful fashion. Additionally, µWoTOP manages two communication modes which allow delivering user context information according to different methods, depending on the requirements of the consumer application. It also generates alert messages based on standards related to health care and risk management, such as the Common Alerting Protocol, in order to make its outputs compatible with existing systems. PMID:24785542

Building automatic customer complaints filtering application based on Twitter in Bahasa Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gunawan, D.; Siregar, R. P.; Rahmat, R. F.; Amalia, A.

2018-03-01

Twitter has become a media to provide communication between a company with its customers. The average number of Twitter active users monthly is 330 million. A lot of companies realize the potential of Twitter to establish good relationship with their customers. Therefore, they usually have one official Twitter account to act as customer care division. In Indonesia, one of the company that utilizes the potential of Twitter to reach their customers is PT Telkom. PT Telkom has an official customer service account (called @TelkomCare) to receive customers’ problem. However, because of this account is open for public, Twitter users might post all kind of messages (not only complaints) to Telkom Care account. This leads to a problem that the Telkom Care account contains not only the customer complaints but also compliment and ordinary message. Furthermore, the complaints should be distributed to relevant division such as “Indihome”, “Telkomsel”, “UseeTV”, and “Telepon” based on the content of the message. This research built the application that automatically filter twitter post messages into several pre-defined categories (based on existing divisions) using Naïve Bayes algorithm. This research is done by collecting Twitter message, data cleaning, data pre-processing, training and testing data, and evaluate the classification result. This research yields 97% accuracy to classify Twitter message into the categories mentioned earlier.

The impact of mobile phone based messages on maternal and child healthcare behaviour: a retrospective cross-sectional survey in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Alam, Mafruha; D'Este, Catherine; Banwell, Cathy; Lokuge, Kamalini

2017-06-24

Mobile phones are gradually becoming an integral part of healthcare services worldwide. We assessed the association between Aponjon mobile phone based messaging services and practices regarding childbirth and care of mother and neonates in selected areas in Bangladesh. In early 2014, 476 subscriber mothers whose last born child's age was between 3 and 18 months, were recruited to the study by Dnet from selected areas of Bangladesh. One group of mothers received the early warning messages from Aponjon during pregnancy (exposed; n = 210) while the other group of new mothers did not receive the messages during pregnancy as they had enrolled in the service after childbirth (non-exposed; n = 266). We undertook regression analyses to investigate the relationship between timing of exposure to Aponjon messages and socio-economic factors and outcomes of safe delivery, immediate breastfeeding post birth, delayed bathing of the neonate, and number of postnatal care (PNC) visits. Women reported delivering babies at home without a skilled birth attendant (SBA) (n = 58, 12%), at home with SBA (n = 111, 23%) and at health facilities (n = 307, 65%). Most (n = 443, 93%) women breastfed babies immediately post birth. Babies were bathed after 72 h (n = 294, 62%), between 48 and 72 (n = 100, 21%) and between 0 and 47 (n = 80, 17%) hours after birth. PNC frequencies were reported as none (n = 273, 57%), 1 (n = 79, 17%), 2 (n = 54, 11%), 3 (n = 34, 7%) and 4 (n = 36, 8%). There was no significant association between exposure to Aponjon messages during pregnancy and presence of a SBA at birth, breastfeeding practices, and postnatal care visits, although delayed bathing up to 48 h was significant at the 10% but not 5% level (RRR 1.7; 95% CI 0.93-3.0; p = 0.083). Women with higher education, from higher income, older in age, with birth order 1 or 2 were more likely to birth at health facilities. Facility based delivery was an independent factor for delayed bathing and having postnatal care visits. Low cost mobile phone messages may have the potential to positively influence maternal and child healthcare behaviours, such as delayed timing of first bath, in resource-poor settings. Further studies are needed, with adequate sample size to detect significant change.

Adaptive Peer Sampling with Newscast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tölgyesi, Norbert; Jelasity, Márk

The peer sampling service is a middleware service that provides random samples from a large decentralized network to support gossip-based applications such as multicast, data aggregation and overlay topology management. Lightweight gossip-based implementations of the peer sampling service have been shown to provide good quality random sampling while also being extremely robust to many failure scenarios, including node churn and catastrophic failure. We identify two problems with these approaches. The first problem is related to message drop failures: if a node experiences a higher-than-average message drop rate then the probability of sampling this node in the network will decrease. The second problem is that the application layer at different nodes might request random samples at very different rates which can result in very poor random sampling especially at nodes with high request rates. We propose solutions for both problems. We focus on Newscast, a robust implementation of the peer sampling service. Our solution is based on simple extensions of the protocol and an adaptive self-control mechanism for its parameters, namely—without involving failure detectors—nodes passively monitor local protocol events using them as feedback for a local control loop for self-tuning the protocol parameters. The proposed solution is evaluated by simulation experiments.

Bereaved adults' evaluations of grief management messages: effects of message person centeredness, recipient individual differences, and contextual factors.

PubMed

Rack, Jessica J; Burleson, Brant R; Bodie, Graham D; Holmstrom, Amanda J; Servaty-Seib, Heather

2008-01-01

This study identifies grief management strategies that bereaved adults evaluate as more and less helpful, assesses whether the person centeredness of these strategies explains their helpfulness, and determines whether strategy helpfulness varies as a function of demographic, personality, and situational factors. Participants (105 bereaved young adults) assessed the helpfulness of 16 grief management strategies; these strategies were coded for their degree of person centeredness. Strategy person centeredness was strongly correlated with helpfulness. Strategy helpfulness varied as a function of participant gender and the disruptiveness of the decedent's death, but not as a function of need for cognition or decedent closeness.

Post-coma persons with multiple disabilities use assistive technology for their leisure engagement and communication.

PubMed

Lancioni, Giulio E; Singh, Nirbhay N; O'Reilly, Mark F; Sigafoos, Jeff; Oliva, Doretta; Buonocunto, Francesca; Sacco, Valentina; D'Amico, Fiora; Navarro, Jorge; Lanzilotti, Crocifissa; De Tommaso, Marina; Megna, Marisa

2014-01-01

Interventions for post-coma persons, who have emerged from a minimally conscious state but present with extensive neuro-motor impairment and lack of or minimal verbal skills, need to promote occupation and communication through the use of assistive technology. These two studies were aimed at assessing two technology-aided programs to promote leisure engagement and communication for three post-coma participants with multiple disabilities. Study I assessed a program to allow a woman and a man with extensive neuro-motor impairment and lack of speech to switch on music and videos, make requests to caregivers, and send messages to (communicate with) relevant partners and receive messages from those partners. Study II assessed a program to allow a post-coma woman with extensive motor impairment and reduced verbal behavior to activate music, videos and requests, send and receive messages, and make telephone calls. Data showed that both programs were successful. The participants of Study I managed leisure engagement, requests, as well as text messaging. The participant of Study II showed consistent leisure engagement, text messaging, and telephone calls. Assistive technology can be profitably used to provide post-coma persons with multiple disabilities relevant leisure and communication opportunities.

A personal computer-based, multitasking data acquisition system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bailey, Steven A.

1990-01-01

A multitasking, data acquisition system was written to simultaneously collect meteorological radar and telemetry data from two sources. This system is based on the personal computer architecture. Data is collected via two asynchronous serial ports and is deposited to disk. The system is written in both the C programming language and assembler. It consists of three parts: a multitasking kernel for data collection, a shell with pull down windows as user interface, and a graphics processor for editing data and creating coded messages. An explanation of both system principles and program structure is presented.

An Investigation of the Impact of an Intervention to Reduce Academic Procrastination Using Short Message Service (SMS) Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Darrel R.; Abbitt, Jason T.

2013-01-01

This mixed-method pilot study investigated the impact of a custom Short Message Service (SMS) reminder system developed to help students reduce procrastination and increase performance on weekly content-related quizzes in a high-enrollment hybrid online course. Text message reminders were sent to three students with high procrastination and low…

[Recruitment of smokers in the Rio de Janeiro subway, Brazil, as a strategy to increase access to quitline services: the impact of novelty].

PubMed

Szklo, André Salem; Coutinho, Evandro da Silva Freire; Barros, Helena Maria Tannhauser; Perez, Cristina; Moreira, Taís de Campos; Figueiró, Luciana Rizzieri; Pinho, Mariana; Carvalho, Valeska Figueiredo

2009-11-01

Creative and innovative strategies to recruit smokers are essential for improving tobacco control activities. Currently in Brazil, through health warning messages on cigarette packs, there is a permanent and intense spread of messages that provoke feelings of loss associated with smoking, which is important to encourage access to smoking quitlines. The study analyzed the call rate for telephone counseling after introducing a new strategy for reactive recruitment focused on the theme 'smoking causes shortness of breath', adapted to the subway setting in Rio de Janeiro, as compared to the rates for two existing reactive strategies. Regardless of age bracket, there was a higher response to the new proposed strategy. Despite the major awareness-raising in Brazil concerning the ills of tobacco, new communications formats approaching personally relevant themes can increase the number and range of smokers recruited for telephone counseling to support cessation.

How Communication Goals Determine when Audience Tuning Biases Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Echterhoff, Gerald; Higgins, E. Tory; Kopietz, Rene; Groll, Stephan

2008-01-01

After tuning their message to suit their audience's attitude, communicators' own memories for the original information (e.g., a target person's behaviors) often reflect the biased view expressed in their message--producing an audience-congruent memory bias. Exploring the motivational circumstances of message production, the authors investigated…

Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of Instant Messaging in Two Educational Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doering, Aaron; Lewis, Cynthia; Veletsianos, George; Nichols-Besel, Kristen

2008-01-01

Using an activity theory framework, we investigate how preservice teachers and middle school students utilized instant messaging in educational contexts and the impact of instant messaging on the development of community among preservice teachers. Qualitative results from six focus groups and two personal interviews indicate that instant messaging…

The need and its influence factors for community-based rehabilitation services for disabled persons in one district in Beijing.

PubMed

Dai, Hong; Xue, Hui; Yin, Zong-Jie; Xiao, Zhong-Xin

2006-12-01

To explore the needs for basic community-based rehabilitation services for disabled persons in Xuanwu District, Beijing, China, and to identify factors which influence disabled persons to accept rehabilitation services. One hundred and eight disabled persons were selected by systematic sampling and simple random sampling to assess their needs for community-based rehabilitation services. Of the interviewees, 57.4% needed the community-based rehabilitation services, but only 13.9% took advantage of it. The main factors influencing the interviewees to accept these services were cost (P < 0.05), knowledge about rehabilitation medicine (P < 0.05); and the belief in the therapeutic benefit of the community-based rehabilitation service (P < 0.05). A considerable gap exists between the supply of community-based rehabilitation services in Beijing and the needs for these services by disabled residents underscoring the need for improved availability, and for additional research.

Are participants concerned about privacy and security when using short message service to report product adherence in a rectal microbicide trial?

PubMed

Giguere, Rebecca; Brown, William; Balán, Ivan C; Dolezal, Curtis; Ho, Titcha; Sheinfil, Alan; Ibitoye, Mobolaji; Lama, Javier R; McGowan, Ian; Cranston, Ross D; Carballo-Diéguez, Alex

2018-04-01

During a Phase 2 rectal microbicide trial, men who have sex with men and transgender women (n = 187) in 4 countries (Peru, South Africa, Thailand, United States) reported product use daily via short message service (SMS). To prevent disclosure of study participation, the SMS system program included privacy and security features. We evaluated participants' perceptions of privacy while using the system and acceptability of privacy/security features. To protect privacy, the SMS system: (1) confirmed participant availability before sending the study questions, (2) required a password, and (3) did not reveal product name or study participation. To ensure security, the system reminded participants to lock phone/delete messages. A computer-assisted self-interview (CASI), administered at the final visit, measured burden of privacy and security features and SMS privacy concerns. A subsample of 33 participants underwent an in-depth interview (IDI). Based on CASI, 85% had no privacy concerns; only 5% were very concerned. Most were not bothered by the need for a password (73%) or instructions to delete messages (82%). Based on IDI, reasons for low privacy concerns included sending SMS in private or feeling that texting would not draw attention. A few IDI participants found the password unnecessary and more than half did not delete messages. Most participants were not concerned that the SMS system would compromise their confidentiality. SMS privacy and security features were effective and not burdensome. Short ID-related passwords, ambiguous language, and reminders to implement privacy and security-enhancing behaviors are recommended for SMS systems.

Bilingual Text Messaging Translation: Translating Text Messages From English Into Spanish for the Text4Walking Program

PubMed Central

Sandi, Giselle; Ingram, Diana; Welch, Mary Jane; Ocampo, Edith V

2015-01-01

Background Hispanic adults in the United States are at particular risk for diabetes and inadequate blood pressure control. Physical activity improves these health problems; however Hispanic adults also have a low rate of recommended aerobic physical activity. To address improving physical inactivity, one area of rapidly growing technology that can be utilized is text messaging (short message service, SMS). A physical activity research team, Text4Walking, had previously developed an initial database of motivational physical activity text messages in English that could be used for physical activity text messaging interventions. However, the team needed to translate these existing English physical activity text messages into Spanish in order to have culturally meaningful and useful text messages for those adults within the Hispanic population who would prefer to receive text messages in Spanish. Objective The aim of this study was to translate a database of English motivational physical activity messages into Spanish and review these text messages with a group of Spanish speaking adults to inform the use of these text messages in an intervention study. Methods The consent form and study documents, including the existing English physical activity text messages, were translated from English into Spanish, and received translation certification as well as Institutional Review Board approval. The translated text messages were placed into PowerPoint, accompanied by a set of culturally appropriate photos depicting barriers to walking, as well as walking scenarios. At the focus group, eligibility criteria for this study included being an adult between 30 to 65 years old who spoke Spanish as their primary language. After a general group introduction, participants were placed into smaller groups of two or three. Each small group was asked to review a segment of the translated text messages for accuracy and meaningfulness. After the break out, the group was brought back together to review the text messages. Results A translation confirmation group met at a church site in an urban community with a large population of Hispanics. Spanish speaking adults (N=8), with a mean age of 40 (SD 6.3), participated in the study. Participants were engaged in the group and viewed the text messages as culturally appropriate. They also thought that text messages could motivate them to walk more. Twenty-two new text messages were added to the original database of 246 translated text messages. While the text messages were generally understood, specific word preferences were seen related to personal preference, dialect, and level of formality which resulted in minor revisions to four text messages. Conclusions The English text messages were successfully translated into Spanish by a bilingual research staff and reviewed by Hispanic participants in order to inform the use of these text messages for future intervention studies. These Spanish text messages were recently used in a Text4Walking intervention study. PMID:25947953

16 CFR 316.3 - Primary purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... part, at the beginning of the body of the message. (3) If an electronic mail message contains both the... body of the message would likely conclude that the primary purpose of the message is the commercial... product or service, in whole or in substantial part, at the beginning of the body of the message; the...

16 CFR 316.3 - Primary purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... part, at the beginning of the body of the message. (3) If an electronic mail message contains both the... body of the message would likely conclude that the primary purpose of the message is the commercial... product or service, in whole or in substantial part, at the beginning of the body of the message; the...

16 CFR 316.3 - Primary purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... part, at the beginning of the body of the message. (3) If an electronic mail message contains both the... body of the message would likely conclude that the primary purpose of the message is the commercial... product or service, in whole or in substantial part, at the beginning of the body of the message; the...

Reactions to receipt of a message from extraterrestrial intelligence: a cross-cultural empirical study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vakoch, D. A.; Lee, Y.-S.

2000-06-01

If we ever receive a message from extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), the societal impact may be significant. To date, several authors have speculated on factors that may predict people's reactions, but there have been no systematic empirical studies on the range of responses. One obstacle to conducting such studies is that there has been no questionnaire to assess such reactions. In the current study we have designed a psychometrically sound set of scales to assess six beliefs: (1) that extraterrestrial life exists, (2) that ETI would be benevolent and that we should respond to a message, (3) that ETI would be malevolent, (4) that message receipt would be unsettling, (5) that message receipt would be religiously significant and (6) that experts should determine the content of a reply. We report on the construction and use of these new scales, drawing on data gathered from American and Chinese undergraduate students. Respondents also completed measures of alienation, optimism, anthropocentrism and religiosity. This allowed us to predict beliefs about ETI based on personal characteristics and beliefs of the respondents.

Mobile health messaging service and helpdesk for South African mothers (MomConnect): history, successes and challenges

PubMed Central

Barron, Peter; Peter, Joanne; Sebidi, Jane; Bekker, Marcha; Allen, Robert; Parsons, Annie Neo; Benjamin, Peter; Pillay, Yogan

2018-01-01

MomConnect is a flagship programme of the South African National Department of Health that has reached over 1.5 million pregnant women. Using mobile technology, MomConnect provides pregnant and postpartum women with twice-weekly health information text messages as well as access to a helpdesk for patient queries and feedback. In just 3 years, MomConnect has been taken to scale to reach over 95% of public health facilities and has reached 63% of all pregnant women attending their first antenatal appointment. The helpdesk has received over 300 000 queries at an average of 250 per day from 6% of MomConnect users. The service is entirely free to its users. The rapid deployment of MomConnect has been facilitated by strong government leadership, and an ecosystem of mobile health implementers who had experience of much of the content and technology required. An early decision to design MomConnect for universal coverage has required the use of text-based technologies (short messaging service and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) that are accessible via even the most basic mobile phones, but cumbersome to use and costly at scale. Unlike previous mobile messaging services in South Africa, MomConnect collects the user’s identification number and facility code during registration, enabling future linkages with other health and population databases and geolocated feedback. MomConnect has catalysed additional efforts to strengthen South Africa’s digital health architecture. The rapid growth in smartphone penetration presents new opportunities to reduce costs, increase real-time data collection and expand the reach and scope of MomConnect to serve health workers and other patient groups. PMID:29713503

Mobile health messaging service and helpdesk for South African mothers (MomConnect): history, successes and challenges.

PubMed

Barron, Peter; Peter, Joanne; LeFevre, Amnesty E; Sebidi, Jane; Bekker, Marcha; Allen, Robert; Parsons, Annie Neo; Benjamin, Peter; Pillay, Yogan

2018-01-01

MomConnect is a flagship programme of the South African National Department of Health that has reached over 1.5 million pregnant women. Using mobile technology, MomConnect provides pregnant and postpartum women with twice-weekly health information text messages as well as access to a helpdesk for patient queries and feedback. In just 3 years, MomConnect has been taken to scale to reach over 95% of public health facilities and has reached 63% of all pregnant women attending their first antenatal appointment. The helpdesk has received over 300 000 queries at an average of 250 per day from 6% of MomConnect users. The service is entirely free to its users. The rapid deployment of MomConnect has been facilitated by strong government leadership, and an ecosystem of mobile health implementers who had experience of much of the content and technology required. An early decision to design MomConnect for universal coverage has required the use of text-based technologies (short messaging service and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) that are accessible via even the most basic mobile phones, but cumbersome to use and costly at scale. Unlike previous mobile messaging services in South Africa, MomConnect collects the user's identification number and facility code during registration, enabling future linkages with other health and population databases and geolocated feedback. MomConnect has catalysed additional efforts to strengthen South Africa's digital health architecture. The rapid growth in smartphone penetration presents new opportunities to reduce costs, increase real-time data collection and expand the reach and scope of MomConnect to serve health workers and other patient groups.

Integrating mobile-phone based assessment for psychosis into people’s everyday lives and clinical care: a qualitative study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Over the past decade policy makers have emphasised the importance of healthcare technology in the management of long-term conditions. Mobile-phone based assessment may be one method of facilitating clinically- and cost-effective intervention, and increasing the autonomy and independence of service users. Recently, text-message and smartphone interfaces have been developed for the real-time assessment of symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia. Little is currently understood about patients’ perceptions of these systems, and how they might be implemented into their everyday routine and clinical care. Method 24 community based individuals with non-affective psychosis completed a randomised repeated-measure cross-over design study, where they filled in self-report questions about their symptoms via text-messages on their own phone, or via a purpose designed software application for Android smartphones, for six days. Qualitative interviews were conducted in order to explore participants’ perceptions and experiences of the devices, and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results Three themes emerged from the data: i) the appeal of usability and familiarity, ii) acceptability, validity and integration into domestic routines, and iii) perceived impact on clinical care. Although participants generally found the technology non-stigmatising and well integrated into their everyday activities, the repetitiveness of the questions was identified as a likely barrier to long-term adoption. Potential benefits to the quality of care received were seen in terms of assisting clinicians, faster and more efficient data exchange, and aiding patient-clinician communication. However, patients often failed to see the relevance of the systems to their personal situations, and emphasised the threat to the person centred element of their care. Conclusions The feedback presented in this paper suggests that patients are conscious of the benefits that mobile-phone based assessment could bring to clinical care, and that the technology can be successfully integrated into everyday routine. However, it also suggests that it is important to demonstrate to patients the personal, as well as theoretical, benefits of the technology. In the future it will be important to establish whether clinical practitioners are able to use this technology as part of a personalised mental health regime. PMID:23343329

Restful API Architecture Based on Laravel Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xianjun; Ji, Zhoupeng; Fan, Yu; Zhan, Yongsong

2017-10-01

Web service has been an industry standard tech for message communication and integration between heterogeneous systems. RESTFUL API has become mainstream web service development paradigm after SOAP, how to effectively construct RESTFUL API remains a research hotspots. This paper presents a development model of RESTFUL API construction based on PHP language and LARAVEL framework. The key technical problems that need to be solved during the construction of RESTFUL API are discussed, and implementation details based on LARAVEL are given.

Toward ubiquitous healthcare services with a novel efficient cloud platform.

PubMed

He, Chenguang; Fan, Xiaomao; Li, Ye

2013-01-01

Ubiquitous healthcare services are becoming more and more popular, especially under the urgent demand of the global aging issue. Cloud computing owns the pervasive and on-demand service-oriented natures, which can fit the characteristics of healthcare services very well. However, the abilities in dealing with multimodal, heterogeneous, and nonstationary physiological signals to provide persistent personalized services, meanwhile keeping high concurrent online analysis for public, are challenges to the general cloud. In this paper, we proposed a private cloud platform architecture which includes six layers according to the specific requirements. This platform utilizes message queue as a cloud engine, and each layer thereby achieves relative independence by this loosely coupled means of communications with publish/subscribe mechanism. Furthermore, a plug-in algorithm framework is also presented, and massive semistructure or unstructured medical data are accessed adaptively by this cloud architecture. As the testing results showing, this proposed cloud platform, with robust, stable, and efficient features, can satisfy high concurrent requests from ubiquitous healthcare services.

Development and Preliminary Pilot Testing of a Peer Support Text Messaging Intervention for HIV-Infected Black Men Who Have Sex With Men.

PubMed

Senn, Theresa E; Braksmajer, Amy; Coury-Doniger, Patricia; Urban, Marguerite A; Rossi, Adam; Carey, Michael P

2017-02-01

Black men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately infected with HIV and are less well retained along the HIV continuum of care. We report on the feasibility of a peer support text messaging intervention designed to increase retention in HIV care and HIV medication adherence among HIV-infected black men who have sex with men. Based on formative research, a cell phone app was developed to support a peer-based text messaging intervention. The app allowed the researchers to view text messages sent between mentors and mentees, but did not allow them to view other text messages sent by these phones. Three HIV-infected black men who have sex with men were recruited to serve as volunteer peer mentors. They were trained in motivational techniques, peer support skills, and skills for improving appointment attendance and medication adherence. Mentees (N = 8) received the intervention for 1 month. Mentees completed a postintervention survey and interview. The peer mentor text messaging intervention was feasible. Mentors delivered support in a nonjudgmental, motivational way. However, technical and other implementation problems arose. Some mentees desired more frequent contact with mentors, and mentors reported that other commitments made it difficult at times to be fully engaged. Both mentors and mentees desired more personalized contact (ie, phone calls). A text messaging peer mentor intervention was feasible. Additional research with a larger sample is needed to determine optimal ways to improve mentors' engagement in the intervention and to determine intervention acceptability and efficacy. In future studies, peer support phone calls could be incorporated.

Development and Preliminary Pilot Testing of a Peer Support Text Messaging Intervention for HIV-Infected Black Men Who Have Sex with Men

PubMed Central

Senn, Theresa E.; Braksmajer, Amy; Coury-Doniger, Patricia; Urban, Marguerite A.; Rossi, Adam; Carey, Michael P.

2016-01-01

Background Black men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately infected with HIV, and are less well retained along the HIV continuum of care. We report on the feasibility of a peer support text messaging intervention designed to increase retention in HIV care and HIV medication adherence among HIV-infected Black MSM. Methods Based on formative research, a cellphone app was developed to support a peer-based text messaging intervention. The app allowed the researchers to view text messages sent between mentors and mentees, but did not allow them to view other text messages sent by these phones. Three HIV-infected Black MSM were recruited to serve as volunteer peer mentors. They were trained in motivational techniques, peer support skills, and skills for improving appointment attendance and medication adherence. Mentees (N = 8) received the intervention for one month. Mentees completed a post-intervention survey and interview. Results The peer mentor text messaging intervention was feasible. Mentors delivered support in a nonjudgmental, motivational way. However, technical and other implementation problems arose. Some mentees desired more frequent contact with mentors, and mentors reported that other commitments made it difficult at times to be fully engaged. Both mentors and mentees desired more personalized contact (i.e., phone calls). Conclusions A text messaging peer mentor intervention was feasible. Additional research with a larger sample is needed to determine optimal ways to improve mentors’ engagement in the intervention, as well as to determine intervention acceptability and efficacy. In future studies, peer support phone calls could be incorporated. PMID:28079722

Use of the Persuasive Health Message framework in the development of a community-based mammography promotion campaign

PubMed Central

Johnson-Turbes, Ashani

2015-01-01

Purpose We describe how the Persuasive Health Message (PHM) framework was used to guide the formative evaluation informing development of messages and materials used in a community-based multi-media campaign intended to motivate low-income African American women to obtain low- or no-cost mammograms through the CDC’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. Methods Seventy-eight African American women were recruited for eight focus groups that discussed breast cancer screening. The moderator guide was developed in accordance with the PHM framework and solicited information on perceived threat and efficacy, cues, salient beliefs and referents, and barriers to self-efficacy. Results We created persuasive messages to emphasize that African American women are susceptible to the threat of breast cancer, but that their personal action in obtaining regular mammograms may lead to early detection, subsequent treatment, and reduced cancer mortality. The messages addressed concerns of self-efficacy by emphasizing that uninsured women can also obtain high-quality low- or no-cost mammograms. In an attempt to combat the sentiment that breast cancer is a death sentence, the messages indicated that breast cancer can be successfully treated, especially when detected early. Conclusions The PHM framework consists of three steps: (1) determine information about threat and efficacy; (2) develop an audience profile; and (3) construct a persuasive message. It offered our team easy-to-follow, flexible steps to create a persuasive and effective campaign promoting awareness and use of mammogram screening among low-income African American women. PMID:25724414

Evaluation of Synthetic Automatic Terminal Information Services (ATIS) Messages

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-04-01

This report describes an evaluation of the effectivenss of synthetic voice : Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) messages in a simulated : environment. The evaluation was conducted by ARINC and CTA, Incorporated, for : the Federal Aviation ...

Targeted Calorie Message Promotes Healthy Beverage Consumption Better than Charity Incentive.

PubMed

Policastro, Peggy; Palm, Taylor; Schwartz, Janet; Chapman, Gretchen

2017-08-01

Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is cited as a major contributor to the U.S. obesity epidemic. The objective of this paper was to leverage insights from behavioral economics to examine whether nudges would entice college students to save meal calories by choosing water over SSBs. Three message-based nudge interventions, with washout periods between, were used during the 7-week study. Calorie savings (self-interest), charity (prosocial), or charity-plus-calorie message posters were displayed in a college-based food franchise. Multilevel logistic regressions compared the proportions of students choosing water during three experimental conditions. This study assessed whether the frequency of dining establishment visits over the study period moderated effects of the experimental conditions on beverage choices. Multiple data points from the same customer were treated as repeated measures. A total of 2,393 unique students purchased 6,730 meals. Posters displaying calorie information increased water choice relative to washout periods, while the poster without calorie information (charity only) had no effect. Controlling for fixed effects produced the same results. The calorie message poster influenced less frequent diners more than frequent diners. Food-service operations can nudge college students to substitute water for SSBs with a simple calorie-based message to save hundreds of calories per meal. © 2017 The Obesity Society.

Powerful Outcomes: Delivering What Works

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brendtro, Larry K.; Mitchell, Martin M.

2014-01-01

Professionals in education, treatment, social services, and juvenile justice are bombarded by messages promoting virtually every method as an "evidence-based practice" (EBP). After years of debating EBP, research is turning toward "practice-based evidence" (PBE). The focus shifts from arguing about what practice works best to…

Demonstrating NaradaBrokering as a Middleware Fabric for Grid-based Remote Visualization Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pallickara, S.; Erlebacher, G.; Yuen, D.; Fox, G.; Pierce, M.

2003-12-01

Remote Visualization Services (RVS) have tended to rely on approaches based on the client server paradigm. Here we demonstrate our approach - based on a distributed brokering infrastructure, NaradaBrokering [1] - that relies on distributed, asynchronous and loosely coupled interactions to meet the requirements and constraints of RVS. In our approach to RVS, services advertise their capabilities to the broker network that manages these service advertisements. Among the services considered within our system are those that perform graphic transformations, mediate access to specialized datasets and finally those that manage the execution of specified tasks. There could be multiple instances of each of these services and the system ensures that load for a given service is distributed efficiently over these service instances. We will demonstrate implementation of concepts that we outlined in the oral presentation. This would involve two or more visualization servers interacting asynchronously with multiple clients through NaradaBrokering. The communicating entities may exchange SOAP [2] (Simple Object Access Protocol) messages. SOAP is a lightweight protocol for exchange of information in a decentralized, distributed environment. It is an XML based protocol that consists of three parts: an envelope that describes what is in a message and how to process it, rules for expressing instances of application-defined data types, and a convention for representing remote invocation related operations. Furthermore, we will also demonstrate how clients can retrieve their results after prolonged disconnects or after any failures that might have taken place. The entities, services and clients alike, are not limited by the geographical distances that separate them. We are planning to test this system in the context of trans-Atlantic links separating interacting entities. {[1]} The NaradaBrokering Project: http://www.naradabrokering.org {[2]} Newcomer, E., 2002, Understanding web services: XML, WSDL, SOAP, and UDDI, Addison Wesley Professional.

The applications of mobile telecommunications in new rural areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xia; Lu, Ting-jie

2009-07-01

With the current popularity of information and telecommunication technologies, more and more farmers recognize the important role of information. The urgent need for Chinese farmers is how to make use of information to get rich. Contrast in the newspapers, television, radio and other traditional media, mobile information services have unmatched advantages, such as wide spread in very low cost, spread source of widely dispersed, and diverse forms of communication, simple and easy to operate, with strong participatory and interactive, and so on. The paper proposes that Mobile operators can supply different information in accordance with personalized demands of farmers with various agencies, such as government departments, supply and marketing cooperatives, hospitals, banks, veterinary clinics, agricultural stations. They can unite to supply a number of convenience people, rich people, and love for the people's business through the message, voice, WAP and other forms to meet the needs of farmers. Besides, the paper points out that those farmers can order information on personalized service.

The costs and benefits of technology-enabled, home-based cardiac rehabilitation measured in a randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Whittaker, Frank; Wade, Victoria

2014-10-01

We conducted a cost benefit analysis of a home telehealth-based cardiac rehabilitation programme compared to the standard hospital-based programme. A total of 120 participants were enrolled in a trial, with 60 randomised to the telehealth group and 60 randomised to usual care. Participants in the telehealth group received a mobile phone, Wellness Diary and a Wellness web portal, with daily text messaging. Participants in the usual care group received the standard 6-week hospital-based outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programme, including gym sessions. The cost of delivery by telehealth was slightly lower than for patients attending a rehabilitation service in person. From the provider's perspective, the telehealth intervention could be delivered for $1633 per patient, compared to $1845 for the usual care group. From the participant's perspective, patient travel costs for home rehabilitation were substantially less than for hospital attendance ($80 vs $400). Cardiac rehabilitation by telehealth offers obvious advantages and the option should be available to all patients who are eligible for cardiac rehabilitation. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions:]br]sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Adolescent HIV Prevention: An Application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Metzler, April E.; Weiskotten, David; Morgen, Keith J.

Ninth grade students (n=298) participated in a study to examine the influence source credibility, message, quality, and personal relevance on HIV prevention message efficacy. A pilot study with adolescent focus groups created the high and low quality messages, as well as the high (HIV+) and low (worried parent) credibility sources. Participants…

47 CFR 80.327 - Urgency signals and messages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Urgency signals and messages. 80.327 Section 80... Safety Procedures § 80.327 Urgency signals and messages. (a) The urgency signal indicates that the... vehicle, or the safety of a person. The urgency signal must be sent only on the authority of the master or...

47 CFR 80.327 - Urgency signals and messages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Urgency signals and messages. 80.327 Section 80... Safety Procedures § 80.327 Urgency signals and messages. (a) The urgency signal indicates that the... vehicle, or the safety of a person. The urgency signal must be sent only on the authority of the master or...

Love Styles, Self-Monitoring, and Relational Message Interpretation: What's Being in Love Got To Do with It?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mongeau, Paul A.; And Others

A study tested the notion that falling in love causes changes in love styles, relational message interpretations, and personality characteristics such as self-monitoring. Subjects, 209 undergraduate communication students, completed measures of love styles, self-monitoring, and relational message interpretations. In addition, participants…

The Reduction of Aggressive Behavior: Behavioral Strategies and Contingency Messages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paul, Stephen C.; Thelen, Mark H.

College students were instigated by a confederate and then interacted with that same person on a reaction time completion task. The confederate informed half of the treatment subjects of the response strategy he intended to adopt. The other half received an irrelevant message. Subjects in both message conditions then competed against the…

47 CFR 80.327 - Urgency signals and messages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Urgency signals and messages. 80.327 Section 80... Safety Procedures § 80.327 Urgency signals and messages. (a) The urgency signal indicates that the... vehicle, or the safety of a person. The urgency signal must be sent only on the authority of the master or...

47 CFR 80.327 - Urgency signals and messages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Urgency signals and messages. 80.327 Section 80... Safety Procedures § 80.327 Urgency signals and messages. (a) The urgency signal indicates that the... vehicle, or the safety of a person. The urgency signal must be sent only on the authority of the master or...

47 CFR 80.327 - Urgency signals and messages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Urgency signals and messages. 80.327 Section 80... Safety Procedures § 80.327 Urgency signals and messages. (a) The urgency signal indicates that the... vehicle, or the safety of a person. The urgency signal must be sent only on the authority of the master or...

Text2Quit: results from a pilot test of a personalized, interactive mobile health smoking cessation program.

PubMed

Abroms, Lorien C; Ahuja, Meenakshi; Kodl, Yvonne; Thaweethai, Lalida; Sims, Justin; Winickoff, Jonathan P; Windsor, Richard A

2012-01-01

Text messaging programs on mobile phones have shown some promise in helping people quit smoking. Text2Quit is an automated, personalized, and interactive mobile health program that sends text messages and e-mails timed around a participant's quit date over the course of 3 months. The text messages include pre- and post-quit educational messages, peer ex-smoker messages, medication reminders and relapse messages, and multiple opportunities for interaction. Study participants were university students (N = 23) enrolled in the Text2Quit program. Participants were surveyed at baseline and at 2 and 4 weeks after enrollment. The majority of participants agreed that they liked the program at 2 and 4 weeks after enrollment (90.5% and 82.3%, respectively). Support for text messages was found to be moderate and higher than that of the e-mail and web components. Of participants, 75% reported reading most or all of the texts. On average, users made 11.8 responses to the texts over a 4-week period, although responses declined after the quit date. The interactive feature for tracking cigarettes was the most used interactive feature, followed by the craving trivia game. This pilot test provides some support for the Text2Quit program. A future iteration of the program will include additional tracking features in both the pre-quit and post-quit protocols and an easier entry into the not-quit protocol. Future studies are recommended that identify the value of the interactive and personalized features that characterize this program.

Text2Quit: Results from a Pilot Test of a Personalized, Interactive Mobile Health Smoking Cessation Program

PubMed Central

ABROMS, LORIEN C.; AHUJA, MEENAKSHI; KODL, YVONNE; THAWEETHAI, LALIDA; SIMS, JUSTIN; WINICKOFF, JONATHAN; WINDSOR, RICHARD A.

2012-01-01

Text messaging programs on mobile phones have shown some promise in helping people quit smoking. Text2Quit is an automated, personalized and interactive mobile health program that sends text messages and emails timed around a participant’s quit date over the course of 3 months. The text messages include pre- and post-quit educational messages, peer ex-smoker messages, medication reminders and relapse messages, as well as multiple opportunities for interaction. Study participants were university students (n=23) enrolled in the Text2Quit program. Participants were surveyed at baseline and at 2 and 4 weeks post-enrollment. The vast majority of participants agreed that they liked the program at 2 and 4 weeks post-enrollment (90.5% and 82.3%, respectively). Support for text messages was found to be moderate, and higher than that of the email and web components. Seventy-five percent of participants reported reading most or all of the texts. On average, users made 11.8 responses to the texts over a 4 week period, although responses declined following the quit date. The interactive feature for tracking cigarettes was the most used interactive feature, followed by the craving trivia game. This pilot test provides some support for the Text2Quit program. A future iteration of the program will include additional tracking features in both the pre-quit and post-quit protocol and an easier entry into the not-quit protocol. Future studies are recommended that identify the value of the interactive and personalized features that characterize this program. PMID:22548598

JMS Proxy and C/C++ Client SDK

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wolgast, Paul; Pechkam, Paul

2007-01-01

JMS Proxy and C/C++ Client SDK (JMS signifies "Java messaging service" and "SDK" signifies "software development kit") is a software package for developing interfaces that enable legacy programs (here denoted "clients") written in the C and C++ languages to communicate with each other via a JMS broker. This package consists of two main components: the JMS proxy server component and the client C library SDK component. The JMS proxy server component implements a native Java process that receives and responds to requests from clients. This component can run on any computer that supports Java and a JMS client. The client C library SDK component is used to develop a JMS client program running in each affected C or C++ environment, without need for running a Java virtual machine in the affected computer. A C client program developed by use of this SDK has most of the quality-of-service characteristics of standard Java-based client programs, including the following: Durable subscriptions; Asynchronous message receipt; Such standard JMS message qualities as "TimeToLive," "Message Properties," and "DeliveryMode" (as the quoted terms are defined in previously published JMS documentation); and Automatic reconnection of a JMS proxy to a restarted JMS broker.

Efficacy of bowel cancer appeals for promoting physical activity.

PubMed

Jalleh, Geoffrey; Donovan, Robert J; Slevin, Terry; Dixon, Helen

2005-08-01

To investigate the potential efficacy of bowel cancer prevention messages in increasing intentions to be more physically active. A convenience sample of 281 physically inactive persons aged 30-60 years was recruited in the Perth city centre and randomly assigned to a bowel cancer and physical activity message or a heart disease and physical activity message. After reading a booklet containing information about physical activity and its link either to bowel cancer (n = 141) or cardiovascular disease (n = 140), respondents filled in a self-completion questionnaire. The main response measures were impact on intentions to be more physically active, and perceived believability and relevance of the message. Perceived believability of the message was high in both conditions. Perceived personal relevance of the message was substantially lower in the bowel cancer than the cardiovascular disease condition. Overall, the cardiovascular disease condition achieved somewhat higher behavioural intentions than the bowel cancer condition. The finding that two in three respondents in the bowel cancer condition had increased intention to increase their level of physical activity provides support for the potential efficacy of promoting physical activity in reducing the risk of bowel cancer.

A Dietary Feedback System for the Delivery of Consistent Personalized Dietary Advice in the Web-Based Multicenter Food4Me Study.

PubMed

Forster, Hannah; Walsh, Marianne C; O'Donovan, Clare B; Woolhead, Clara; McGirr, Caroline; Daly, E J; O'Riordan, Richard; Celis-Morales, Carlos; Fallaize, Rosalind; Macready, Anna L; Marsaux, Cyril F M; Navas-Carretero, Santiago; San-Cristobal, Rodrigo; Kolossa, Silvia; Hartwig, Kai; Mavrogianni, Christina; Tsirigoti, Lydia; Lambrinou, Christina P; Godlewska, Magdalena; Surwiłło, Agnieszka; Gjelstad, Ingrid Merethe Fange; Drevon, Christian A; Manios, Yannis; Traczyk, Iwona; Martinez, J Alfredo; Saris, Wim H M; Daniel, Hannelore; Lovegrove, Julie A; Mathers, John C; Gibney, Michael J; Gibney, Eileen R; Brennan, Lorraine

2016-06-30

Despite numerous healthy eating campaigns, the prevalence of diets high in saturated fatty acids, sugar, and salt and low in fiber, fruit, and vegetables remains high. With more people than ever accessing the Internet, Web-based dietary assessment instruments have the potential to promote healthier dietary behaviors via personalized dietary advice. The objectives of this study were to develop a dietary feedback system for the delivery of consistent personalized dietary advice in a multicenter study and to examine the impact of automating the advice system. The development of the dietary feedback system included 4 components: (1) designing a system for categorizing nutritional intakes; (2) creating a method for prioritizing 3 nutrient-related goals for subsequent targeted dietary advice; (3) constructing decision tree algorithms linking data on nutritional intake to feedback messages; and (4) developing personal feedback reports. The system was used manually by researchers to provide personalized nutrition advice based on dietary assessment to 369 participants during the Food4Me randomized controlled trial, with an automated version developed on completion of the study. Saturated fatty acid, salt, and dietary fiber were most frequently selected as nutrient-related goals across the 7 centers. Average agreement between the manual and automated systems, in selecting 3 nutrient-related goals for personalized dietary advice across the centers, was highest for nutrient-related goals 1 and 2 and lower for goal 3, averaging at 92%, 87%, and 63%, respectively. Complete agreement between the 2 systems for feedback advice message selection averaged at 87% across the centers. The dietary feedback system was used to deliver personalized dietary advice within a multi-country study. Overall, there was good agreement between the manual and automated feedback systems, giving promise to the use of automated systems for personalizing dietary advice. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01530139; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01530139 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6ht5Dgj8I).

A Text Message Program as a Booster to In-Person Brief Interventions for Mandated College Students to Prevent Weekend Binge Drinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suffoletto, Brian; Merrill, Jennifer E.; Chung, Tammy; Kristan, Jeffrey; Vanek, Marian; Clark, Duncan B.

2016-01-01

Objective: To evaluate a text message (SMS) program as a booster to an in-person alcohol intervention with mandated college students. Participants: Undergraduates (N = 224; 46% female) who violated an on-campus alcohol policy over a 2-semester period in 2014. Methods: The SMS program sent drinking-related queries each Thursday and Sunday and…

A text messaging intervention to improve heart failure self-management after hospital discharge in a largely African-American population: before-after study.

PubMed

Nundy, Shantanu; Razi, Rabia R; Dick, Jonathan J; Smith, Bryan; Mayo, Ainoa; O'Connor, Anne; Meltzer, David O

2013-03-11

There is increasing interest in finding novel approaches to reduce health disparities in readmissions for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). Text messaging is a promising platform for improving chronic disease self-management in low-income populations, yet is largely unexplored in ADHF. The purpose of this pre-post study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a text message-based (SMS: short message service) intervention in a largely African American population with ADHF and explore its effects on self-management. Hospitalized patients with ADHF were enrolled in an automated text message-based heart failure program for 30 days following discharge. Messages provided self-care reminders and patient education on diet, symptom recognition, and health care navigation. Demographic and cell phone usage data were collected on enrollment, and an exit survey was administered on completion. The Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (SCHFI) was administered preintervention and postintervention and compared using sample t tests (composite) and Wilcoxon rank sum tests (individual). Clinical data were collected through chart abstraction. Of 51 patients approached for recruitment, 27 agreed to participate and 15 were enrolled (14 African-American, 1 White). Barriers to enrollment included not owning a personal cell phone (n=12), failing the Mini-Mental exam (n=3), needing a proxy (n=2), hard of hearing (n=1), and refusal (n=3). Another 3 participants left the study for health reasons and 3 others had technology issues. A total of 6 patients (5 African-American, 1 White) completed the postintervention surveys. The mean age was 50 years (range 23-69) and over half had Medicaid or were uninsured (60%, 9/15). The mean ejection fraction for those with systolic dysfunction was 22%, and at least two-thirds had a prior hospitalization in the past year. Participants strongly agreed that the program was easy to use (83%), reduced pills missed (66%), and decreased salt intake (66%). Maintenance (mean composite score 49 to 78, P=.003) and management (57 to 86, P=.002) improved at 4 weeks, whereas confidence did not change (57 to 75, P=.11). Of the 6 SCHFI items that showed a statistically significant improvement, 5 were specifically targeted by the texting intervention. Over half of ADHF patients in an urban, largely African American community were eligible and interested in participating in a text messaging program following discharge. Access to mobile phones was a significant barrier that should be addressed in future interventions. Among the participants who completed the study, we observed a high rate of satisfaction and preliminary evidence of improvements in heart failure self-management.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Text Message-Based Smoking Cessation Program for Young Adults in Lima, Peru: Pilot Study

PubMed Central

Zevallos, Karine; Samolski, M Reuven; Requena, David; Velarde, Chaska; Briceño, Patricia; Piazza, Marina; Ybarra, Michele L

2017-01-01

Background In Peru’s urban communities, tobacco smoking generally starts during adolescence and smoking prevalence is highest among young adults. Each year, many attempt to quit, but access to smoking cessation programs is limited. Evidence-based text messaging smoking cessation programs are an alternative that has been successfully implemented in high-income countries, but not yet in middle- and low-income countries with limited tobacco control policies. Objective The objective was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an short message service (SMS) text message-based cognitive behavioral smoking cessation program for young adults in Lima, Peru. Methods Recruitment included using flyers and social media ads to direct young adults interested in quitting smoking to a website where interested participants completed a Google Drive survey. Inclusion criteria were being between ages 18 and 25 years, smoking at least four cigarettes per day at least 6 days per week, willing to quit in the next 30 days, owning a mobile phone, using SMS text messaging at least once in past year, and residing in Lima. Participants joined one of three phases: (1) focus groups and in-depth interviews whose feedback was used to develop the SMS text messages, (2) validating the SMS text messages, and (3) a pilot of the SMS text message-based smoking cessation program to test its feasibility and acceptability among young adults in Lima. The outcome measures included adherence to the SMS text message-based program, acceptability of content, and smoking abstinence self-report on days 2, 7, and 30 after quitting. Results Of 639 participants who completed initial online surveys, 42 met the inclusion criteria and 35 agreed to participate (focus groups and interviews: n=12; validate SMS text messages: n=8; program pilot: n=15). Common quit practices and beliefs emerged from participants in the focus groups and interviews informed the content, tone, and delivery schedule of the messages used in the SMS text message smoking cessation program. A small randomized controlled pilot trial was performed to test the program’s feasibility and acceptability; nine smokers were assigned to the SMS text message smoking cessation program and six to a SMS text message nutrition program. Participant retention was high: 93% (14/15) remained until day 30 after quit day. In all, 56% of participants (5/9) in the SMS text message smoking cessation program reported remaining smoke-free until day 30 after quit day and 17% of participants (1/6) in the SMS text message nutrition program reported remaining smoke-free during the entire program. The 14 participants who completed the pilot reported that they received valuable health information and approved the delivery schedule of the SMS text messages. Conclusions This study provides initial evidence that a SMS text message smoking cessation program is feasible and acceptable for young adults residing in Lima. PMID:28778850

Toward a Theory of Psychological Type Congruence for Advertisers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McBride, Michael H.; And Others

Focusing on the impact of advertisers' persuasive selling messages on consumers, this paper discusses topics relating to the theory of psychological type congruence. Based on an examination of persuasion theory and relevant psychological concepts, including recent cognitive stability and personality and needs theory and the older concept of…

Democratic Parenting: Paradoxical Messages in Democratic Parent Education Theories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oryan, Shlomit; Gastil, John

2013-01-01

Some prominent parent education theories in the United States and other Western countries base their educational viewpoint explicitly on democratic values, such as mutual respect, equality and personal freedom. These democratic parenting theories advocate sharing power with children and including them in family decision making. This study presents…

Health tweets: an exploration of health promotion on twitter.

PubMed

Donelle, Lorie; Booth, Richard G

2012-09-30

Twitter® is a popular microblogging site that allows users to disseminate information in 140 characters of text or less. A review of literature indicated that, to date, there has been little inquiry into the health based discussions conceptualized and enacted within and among Twitter users. Methods for this qualitative study included a directed content analysis, guided by the Public Health Agency of Canada's Determinant of Health (DOH) framework was completed to explore health based discussions on Twitter. A 24-hour cross-section of tweets (N=2400) containing the word or hashtag 'health' were collected for analysis. Findings revealed predominant themes of health services, personal health practices, and education. Many of the tweeted messages reflected existing political and social issues publicized within the global mass media. This study also considered the evolving dynamic behind the conceptualization of health and how it is co-constructed through news media, advertising, and social network technologies. Discussion of the emerging themes and implications for practice are presented.

STAR Online Meta-Data Collection Framework: Integration with the Pre-existing Controls Infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arkhipkin, D.; Lauret, J.

2017-10-01

One of the STAR experiment’s modular Messaging Interface and Reliable Architecture framework (MIRA) integration goals is to provide seamless and automatic connections with the existing control systems. After an initial proof of concept and operation of the MIRA system as a parallel data collection system for online use and real-time monitoring, the STAR Software and Computing group is now working on the integration of Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) with MIRA’s interfaces. This integration goals are to allow functional interoperability and, later on, to replace the existing/legacy Detector Control System components at the service level. In this report, we describe the evolutionary integration process and, as an example, will discuss the EPICS Alarm Handler conversion. We review the complete upgrade procedure starting with the integration of EPICS-originated alarm signals propagation into MIRA, followed by the replacement of the existing operator interface based on Motif Editor and Display Manager (MEDM) with modern portable web-based Alarm Handler interface. To achieve this aim, we have built an EPICS-to-MQTT [8] bridging service, and recreated the functionality of the original Alarm Handler using low-latency web messaging technologies. The integration of EPICS alarm handling into our messaging framework allowed STAR to improve the DCS alarm awareness of existing STAR DAQ and RTS services, which use MIRA as a primary source of experiment control information.

Gain versus loss-framed messaging and colorectal cancer screening among African Americans: A preliminary examination of perceived racism and culturally targeted dual messaging.

PubMed

Lucas, Todd; Hayman, Lenwood W; Blessman, James E; Asabigi, Kanzoni; Novak, Julie M

2016-05-01

This preliminary study examined the effect of gain versus loss-framed messaging as well as culturally targeted personal prevention messaging on African Americans' receptivity to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. This research also examined mechanistic functions of perceived racism in response to message framing. Community samples of African Americans (N = 132) and White Americans (N = 50) who were non-compliant with recommended CRC screening completed an online education module about CRC, and were either exposed to a gain-framed or loss-framed message about CRC screening. Half of African Americans were exposed to an additional and culturally targeted self-control message about personal prevention of CRC. Theory of planned behavior measures of attitudes, normative beliefs, perceived behavioural control, and intentions to obtain a CRC screen served as primary outcomes. The effect of messaging on perceived racism was also measured as an outcome. Consistent with prior research, White Americans were more receptive to CRC screening when exposed to a loss-framed message. However, African Americans were more receptive when exposed to a gain-framed message. The contrary effect of loss-framed messaging on receptivity to screening among African Americans was mediated by an increase in perceived racism. However, including an additional and culturally targeted prevention message mitigated the adverse effect of a loss-framed message. This study identifies an important potential cultural difference in the effect of message framing on illness screening among African Americans, while also suggesting a culturally relevant linking mechanism. This study also suggests the potential for simultaneously presented and culturally targeted messaging to alter the effects of gain and loss-framed messaging on African Americans. What is already known on this subject? African Americans are at an increased risk of both developing and dying from colorectal cancer (CRC). These disparities can be attributed in large part to deficits in the use of CRC screening among African Americans. Guided by prospect theory, available literature suggests that selectively pairing gain and loss-framed messaging with illness prevention and detection can better promote adaptive health behaviour. Specifically, loss-framed messages that emphasize the potential costs of failing to act may promote better use of illness detection behaviours, such as CRC screening. Emerging literature highlights the potential for cultural differences in the effects of gain and loss messaging on health behaviour, especially among collectivist or interdependent cultures. What does this study add? This study is the first to identify a potential and important cultural difference in the effect of message framing on cancer screening among African Americans, whereby gain-framed messaging better compelled receptivity to CRC screening. This study is also the first to show that the use of loss-framed messaging may reduce receptivity to CRC screening among African Americans by increasing perceived racism. This study demonstrates that simultaneously including a culturally targeted personal prevention message may attenuate the negative effects of loss-framed messaging on CRC screening among African Americans. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Help a buddy take a knee: creating persuasive messages for military service members to encourage others to seek mental health help.

PubMed

Clark-Hitt, Rose; Smith, Sandi W; Broderick, Jordan S

2012-01-01

Helping service members returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who need mental health help is an important problem for the United States military. Tanielian and Jaycox (2008) estimated that approximately 14%, or 300,000, of the service members returning from the wars have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet just over half of those needing psychological help seek it despite the availability of effective treatments. This article reports the focus group responses of military personnel about message factors associated with persuading individuals to encourage others to seek mental health help. The results have theoretical and practical implications for future message design for promoting increased usage of mental health services among members of this population. Responses are presented in terms of the communication variables of source, message, channel, and receiver factors.

'TXT2BFiT' a mobile phone-based healthy lifestyle program for preventing unhealthy weight gain in young adults: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Hebden, Lana; Balestracci, Kate; McGeechan, Kevin; Denney-Wilson, Elizabeth; Harris, Mark; Bauman, Adrian; Allman-Farinelli, Margaret

2013-03-18

Despite international efforts to arrest increasing rates of overweight and obesity, many population strategies have neglected young adults as a target group. Young adults are at high risk for unhealthy weight gain which tends to persist throughout adulthood with associated chronic disease health risks. TXT2BFiT is a nine month two-arm parallel-group randomized controlled trial aimed at improving weight management and weight-related dietary and physical activity behaviors among young adults. Participants are recruited via general practice (primary medical care) clinics in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. All participants receive a mailed resource outlining national physical activity and dietary guidelines and access to the study website. Additional resources accessible to the intervention arm via the study website include Smartphone mobile applications, printable handouts, an interactive healthy weight tracker chart, and a community blog. The study consists of two phases: (1) Intensive phase (weeks 1 to 12): the control arm receives four short message service (SMS) text messages; the intervention arm receives eight SMS messages/week tailored to their baseline stage-of-change, one Email/week, and personalized coaching calls during weeks 0, 2, 5, 8, and 11; and (2) Maintenance phase (weeks 14 to 36): the intervention arm receives one SMS message/month, one Email/month and booster coaching calls during months 5 and 8. A sample of N = 354 (177 per arm) is required to detect differences in primary outcomes: body weight (kg) and body mass index (kg/m2), and secondary outcomes: physical activity, sitting time, intake of specific foods, beverages and nutrients, stage-of-change, self-efficacy and participant well-being, at three and nine months. Program reach, costs, implementation and participant engagement will also be assessed. This mobile phone based program addresses an important gap in obesity prevention efforts to date. The method of intervention delivery is via platforms that are highly accessible and appropriate for this population group. If effective, further translational research will be required to assess how this program might operate in the broader community. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12612000924853.

Integration of Geographical Information Systems and Geophysical Applications with Distributed Computing Technologies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pierce, M. E.; Aktas, M. S.; Aydin, G.; Fox, G. C.; Gadgil, H.; Sayar, A.

2005-12-01

We examine the application of Web Service Architectures and Grid-based distributed computing technologies to geophysics and geo-informatics. We are particularly interested in the integration of Geographical Information System (GIS) services with distributed data mining applications. GIS services provide the general purpose framework for building archival data services, real time streaming data services, and map-based visualization services that may be integrated with data mining and other applications through the use of distributed messaging systems and Web Service orchestration tools. Building upon on our previous work in these areas, we present our current research efforts. These include fundamental investigations into increasing XML-based Web service performance, supporting real time data streams, and integrating GIS mapping tools with audio/video collaboration systems for shared display and annotation.

TDRSS Augmentation Service for Satellites (TASS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heckler, Gregory W.; Gramling, Cheryl; Valdez, Jennifer; Baldwin, Philip

2016-01-01

In 2015, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) reinvigorated the development of the TDRSS Augmentation Service for Satellites (TASS). TASS is a global, space-based, communications and navigation service for users of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). TASS leverages the existing TDRSS to provide an S-band beacon radio navigation and messaging source to users at orbital altitudes 1400 km and below.

Preferred Tone of Nutrition Text Messages for Young Adults: Focus Group Testing

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background Young adults are a particularly hard to reach group using conventional health promotion practices as they do not see nutrition messages as personally relevant to them. Text messaging (short message service, SMS) offers an innovative approach to reaching young adults to support and promote dietary behavior change. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and test tonal preferences for nutrition text messages among young adults using focus groups. Methods A total of 39 young adults aged 18-30 years residing in Perth, Western Australia participated in four focus groups. Participants briefly discussed their perception of healthy eating and their responses to messages about increasing fruit and vegetables, and reducing “junk food” and alcohol intake. They ranked their preference for 15 nutrition messages across 3 dietary behaviors (fruit and vegetables, junk food, and alcohol) with 5 different message tones (authoritative, empathetic, generation Y, solutions, and substitutions) and identified the messages most likely to persuade young adults to change their diet. A 5-point ranking of the nutrition messages was from the most likely to least likely to persuade (1-5). The focus groups were conducted by a trained facilitator and observer and were recorded. Data driven content analysis was used to explore themes. Tonal preferences and potential motivators were collated and frequencies presented. Results Participants ranked offering substitutes (29%, 11/39) and using empathy (22%, 9/39) as the most persuasive message techniques in improving diets of young adults, with low responses for Generation Y (17%, 7/39), solutions (17%, 7/39), and authoritative (15%, 6/39) tones. Females were more likely to consider substitution messages persuasive (35%, 7/20) compared with males (22%, 4/19). A greater proportion of males compared with females considered authoritative messages persuasive: (22%, 4/19) compared with (7%, 1/20). There is a strong preference for a substitution tone for fruit and vegetable messages (52%, 20/39), and no overall message tone preference for junk food and alcohol messages. Substitutions were viewed as helpful and practical. Empathy was liked as it acknowledged previous efforts. Responses to authoritative tone were mixed with some feeling guilt while others found them informative. Acceptability of the solutions depended on the behavioral change and acceptability of the solution proposed. Generation Y tone had some support for junk food and alcohol messages, and if favored, was considered casual, humorous, catchy, and motivational. Conclusions Substitutions and tone of empathy were favored as the most likely execution styles to motivate nutrition behavior change across all participants. There is no “one size fits all” with different tones preferred by individuals for different dietary behaviors. Although text messaging provides instant message delivery direct to the individual, these results demonstrate the complexity of developing motivational nutrition message for young adults. These findings reveal the importance of considering the tone and content and pretesting messages for health promotion text message interventions. PMID:26787115

Perfect Storm of Inpatient Communication Needs and an Innovative Solution Utilizing Smartphones and Secured Messaging.

PubMed

Patel, Neha; Siegler, James E; Stromberg, Nathaniel; Ravitz, Neil; Hanson, C William

2016-08-10

In hospitals, effective and efficient communication among care providers is critical to the provision of high-quality patient care. Yet, major problems impede communications including the frequent use of interruptive and one-way communication paradigms. This is especially frustrating for frontline providers given the dynamic nature of hospital care teams in an environment that is in constant flux. We conducted a pre-post evaluation of a commercially available secured messaging mobile application on 4 hospital units at a single institution for over one year. We included care providers on these units: residents, hospitalists, fellows, nurses, social workers, and pharmacists. Utilization metrics and survey responses on clinician perceptions were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney U test where appropriate. Between May 2013 and June 2014, 1,021 providers sent a total of 708,456 messages. About 85.5% of total threads were between two providers and the remaining were group messages. Residents and social workers/clinical resource coordinators were the largest per person users of this communication system, sending 9 (IQR 2-20) and 9 (IQR 2-22) messages per person per day, and receiving 18 (IQR 5-36) and 14 (IQR 5-29) messages per person per day, respectively (p=0.0001). More than half of the messages received by hospitalists, residents, and nurses were read within a minute. Communicating using secured messaging was found to be statistically significantly less disruptive to workflow by both nursing and physician survey respondents (p<0.001 for each comparison). Routine adoption of secured messaging improved perceived efficiency among providers on 4 hospital units. Our study suggests that a mobile application can improve communication and workflow efficiency among providers in a hospital. New technology has the potential to improve communication among care providers in hospitals.

From a Distance: Robust Reference Service via Instant Messaging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meulemans, Yvonne Nalani; Carr, Allison; Ly, Pearl

2010-01-01

Reference service via instant messaging (IM) has significant potential to benefit distance learners. There has been wide experimentation with IM to expand reference services in libraries across the US, with mixed results. Concern has been expressed that IM cannot provide the same reference experience as face-to-face interactions. One academic…

"Can You Get Pregnant When U R in the Pool?": Young People's Information Seeking from a Sexual Health Text Line

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Willoughby, Jessica Fitts; Jackson, Kennon, Jr.

2013-01-01

Young people have questions about sex and development but may have trouble getting answers to them. Text messaging services can serve as a resource. This study analysed 1351 text messages sent to a sexual health text message service designed for young people in North Carolina to determine the types of questions asked of a confidential, accurate…

Scalable Integrated Multi-Mission Support System (SIMSS) Simulator Release 2.0 for GMSEC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kim, John; Velamuri, Sarma; Casey, Taylor; Bemann, Travis

2012-01-01

Scalable Integrated Multi-Mission Support System (SIMSS) Simulator Release 2.0 software is designed to perform a variety of test activities related to spacecraft simulations and ground segment checks. This innovation uses the existing SIMSS framework, which interfaces with the GMSEC (Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center) Application Programming Interface (API) Version 3.0 message middleware, and allows SIMSS to accept GMSEC standard messages via the GMSEC message bus service. SIMSS is a distributed, component-based, plug-and-play client-server system that is useful for performing real-time monitoring and communications testing. SIMSS runs on one or more workstations, and is designed to be user-configurable, or to use predefined configurations for routine operations. SIMSS consists of more than 100 modules that can be configured to create, receive, process, and/or transmit data. The SIMSS/GMSEC innovation is intended to provide missions with a low-cost solution for implementing their ground systems, as well as to significantly reduce a mission s integration time and risk.

Optimising text messaging to improve adherence to web-based smoking cessation treatment: a randomised control trial protocol.

PubMed

Graham, Amanda L; Jacobs, Megan A; Cohn, Amy M; Cha, Sarah; Abroms, Lorien C; Papandonatos, George D; Whittaker, Robyn

2016-03-30

Millions of smokers use the Internet for smoking cessation assistance each year; however, most smokers engage minimally with even the best designed websites. The ubiquity of mobile devices and their effectiveness in promoting adherence in other areas of health behaviour change make them a promising tool to address adherence in Internet smoking cessation interventions. Text messaging is used by most adults, and messages can proactively encourage use of a web-based intervention. Text messaging can also be integrated with an Internet intervention to facilitate the use of core Internet intervention components. We identified four aspects of a text message intervention that may enhance its effectiveness in promoting adherence to a web-based smoking cessation programme: personalisation, integration, dynamic tailoring and message intensity. Phase I will use a two-level full factorial design to test the impact of these four experimental features on adherence to a web-based intervention. The primary outcome is a composite metric of adherence that incorporates general utilisation metrics (eg, logins, page views) and specific feature utilisation shown to predict abstinence. Participants will be N=860 adult smokers who register on an established Internet cessation programme and enrol in its text message programme. Phase II will be a two-arm randomised trial to compare the efficacy of the web-based cessation programme alone and in conjunction with the optimised text messaging intervention on 30-day point prevalence abstinence at 9 months. Phase II participants will be N=600 adult smokers who register to use an established Internet cessation programme and enrol in text messaging. Secondary analyses will explore whether adherence mediates the effect of treatment condition on outcome. This protocol was approved by Chesapeake IRB. We will disseminate study results through peer-reviewed manuscripts and conference presentations related to the methods and design, outcomes and exploratory analyses. NCT02585206. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

The carbon footprint of behavioural support services for smoking cessation.

PubMed

Smith, Anna Jo Bodurtha; Tennison, Imogen; Roberts, Ian; Cairns, John; Free, Caroline

2013-09-01

To estimate the carbon footprint of behavioural support services for smoking cessation: text message support, telephone counselling, group counselling and individual counselling. Carbon footprint analysis. Publicly available data on National Health Service Stop Smoking Services and per unit carbon emissions; published effectiveness data from the txt2stop trial and systematic reviews of smoking cessation services. Carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) per 1000 smokers, per lifetime quitter, and per quality-adjusted life year gained, and cost-effectiveness, including social cost of carbon, of smoking cessation services. Emissions per 1000 participants were 8143 kg CO2e for text message support, 8619 kg CO2e for telephone counselling, 16 114 kg CO2e for group counselling and 16 372 kg CO2e for individual counselling. Emissions per intervention lifetime quitter were 636 (95% CI 455 to 958) kg CO2e for text message support, 1051 (95% CI 560 to 2873) kg CO2e for telephone counselling, 1143 (95% CI 695 to 2270) kg CO2e for group counselling and 2823 (95% CI 1688 to 6549) kg CO2e for individual counselling. Text message, telephone and group counselling remained cost-effective when cost-effectiveness analysis was revised to include the environmental and economic cost of damage from carbon emissions. All smoking cessation services had low emissions compared to the health gains produced. Text message support had the lowest emissions of the services evaluated. Smoking cessation services have small carbon footprints and were cost-effective after accounting for the societal costs of greenhouse gas emissions.

Insights into targeting young male drivers with anti-speeding advertising: An application of the Step approach to Message Design and Testing (SatMDT).

PubMed

Lewis, I; White, K M; Ho, B; Elliott, B; Watson, B

2017-06-01

In Australia, young drivers aged 17-25 years comprise 13% of the population yet account for 22% of all road deaths with young males over-represented in such trauma. Speeding represents a major contributing factor and advertising campaigns have long focused on promoting anti-speeding messages in the effort to reduce drivers' speeds. Positioned within a larger program of research aimed at developing, piloting, and evaluating a range of theoretically-informed anti-speeding messages, the current study reports results relating to the final phase of the research, the evaluation. Six messages were devised in accordance with the guiding framework, the Step approach to Message Design and Testing ([SatMDT]; Lewis et al., 2016) and based on the findings emerging from earlier qualitative and quantitative studies within the program of research. N=938 licensed drivers (n=455 males, 48%) aged 17-62 years completed an online survey. To ensure a controlled test of the persuasiveness of the message content, the messages were presented in an audio-based format and thus were devoid of potential confounds, such as images. The messages sought to address a particular belief (i.e., behavioural, normative, control) and to focus either on emphasising the positive aspects which make speeding less likely or challenging the negative aspects which make speeding more likely. Thus, key to this evaluation was to test the persuasiveness of the message content in terms of the particular belief and focus it was addressing. Participants were randomly assigned to either the Control condition (i.e., no exposure to a message) or the Intervention condition (i.e., exposed to one of the six messages presented as an audio-recorded message within the survey). Persuasiveness was assessed via a range of outcome measures including both direct (i.e., third-person perceptions, message rejection) as well as indirect measures (i.e., intentions, willingness to speed). Age, gender, and message type were independent variables (IVs), together with issue involvement as a covariate (or IV) in the study's analyses. Overall, positive persuasive effects, and a relative absence of any negative, dissuasive effects, were found for two messages, Glass Cars and The Lift. These messages addressed the same salient belief, control beliefs, with the former emphasising the factors which discourage speeding and the latter message challenging those factors which encourage speeding. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the insights they offer for the key content of future anti-speeding messages. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient perceptions of text-messages, email, and video in dermatologic surgery patients.

PubMed

Hawkins, Spencer D; Barilla, Steven; Williford, Phillip Williford M; Feldman, Steven R; Pearce, Daniel J

2017-04-14

We developed dermatology patient education videos and a post-operative text message service that could be accessed universally via web based applications. A secondary outcome of the study was to assess patient opinions of text-messages, email, and video in the health care setting which is reported here. An investigator-blinded, randomized, controlled intervention was evaluated in 90 nonmelanoma MMS patients at Wake Forest Baptist Dermatology. Patients were randomized 1:1:1:1 for exposure to: 1) videos with text messages, 2) videos only, 3) text messages-only, or 4) standard of care. Assessment measures were obtained by the use of REDCap survey questions during the follow up visit. 1) 67% would like to receive an email with information about the procedure beforehand 2) 98% of patients reported they would like other doctors to use educational videos as a form of patient education 3) 88% of our patients think it is appropriate for physicians to communicate to patients via text message in certain situations. Nearly all patients desired physicians to use text-messages and video in their practice and the majority of patients preferred to receive an email with information about their procedure beforehand.

Acceptability and Feasibility of a Sexual Health Intervention for Young Adult Black Women.

PubMed

Montgomery, Tiffany M; Mays, Vickie M; Heilemann, MarySue V; Nyamathi, Adey; Bauermeister, Jose A; Koniak-Griffin, Deborah

2018-05-16

To assess the acceptability and feasibility of S2S, a newly adapted behavior intervention to address high-risk sexual behavior. Pilot randomized controlled trial. The Internet and text messages with no in-person interactions. Eighty-eight Black women, ages 18 to 24 years, were randomly assigned to the intervention or control groups and self-enrolled in the respective text message program. Participants in the intervention group were sent text messages about sexual health, whereas those in the control group were sent text messages about diet and/or exercise. Participants in each group received 24 text messages, including text-only messages, memes, and infopics. Participants in the intervention group also received videos links. All text messages were sent three times per week for 8 weeks. Quantitative methods were used to analyze data from the message and video platform reports. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze participants' responses to an acceptability and feasibility survey. Overall, the delivery of health promotion text messages was viewed as acceptable and feasible by participants in both groups. Most of the short answer responses from participants were favorable, and responses to the acceptability and feasibility survey yielded a total mean score of 4.01 on a 5-point scale. Results from this study support the idea that evidence-based interventions can be adapted for delivery by text message. This delivery modality is acceptable to young adult Black women and may help decrease barriers that would otherwise prevent them from receiving health promotion messages. Copyright © 2018 AWHONN, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Coding into the Great Unknown: Analyzing Instant Messaging Session Transcripts to Identify User Behaviors and Measure Quality of Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maximiek, Sarah; Rushton, Erin; Brown, Elizabeth

2010-01-01

After one year of providing virtual reference service through an instant messaging (IM) service, Binghamton University (BU) Libraries, under the purview of its Digital Reference Committee (DRC), undertook a study of collected session transcripts. The goals of this work were to determine who was using the IM service and why; if staffing for the…

Randomized trial of a smartphone mobile application compared to text messaging to support smoking cessation.

PubMed

Buller, David B; Borland, Ron; Bettinghaus, Erwin P; Shane, James H; Zimmerman, Donald E

2014-03-01

Text messaging has successfully supported smoking cessation. This study compares a mobile application with text messaging to support smoking cessation. Young adult smokers 18-30 years old (n = 102) participated in a randomized pretest-posttest trial. Smokers received a smartphone application (REQ-Mobile) with short messages and interactive tools or a text messaging system (onQ), managed by an expert system. Self-reported usability of REQ-Mobile and quitting behavior (quit attempts, point-prevalence, 30-day point-prevalence, and continued abstinence) were assessed in posttests. Overall, 60% of smokers used mobile services (REQ-Mobile, 61%, mean of 128.5 messages received; onQ, 59%, mean of 107.8 messages), and 75% evaluated REQ-Mobile as user-friendly. A majority of smokers reported being abstinent at posttest (6 weeks, 53% of completers; 12 weeks, 66% of completers [44% of all cases]). Also, 37% (25%of all cases) reported 30-day point-prevalence abstinence, and 32% (22% of all cases) reported continuous abstinence at 12 weeks. OnQ produced more abstinence (p<0.05) than REQ-Mobile. Use of both services predicted increased 30-day abstinence at 12 weeks (used, 47%; not used, 20%; p = 0.03). REQ-Mobile was feasible for delivering cessation support but appeared to not move smokers to quit as quickly as text messaging. Text messaging may work better because it is simple, well known, and delivered to a primary inbox. These advantages may disappear as smokers become more experienced with new handsets. Mobile phones may be promising delivery platforms for cessation services using either smartphone applications or text messaging.

Building the dental dream team: behavioral styles in the practice.

PubMed

Boswell, S

2000-08-15

There are four different behavioral styles evident in a dental team and in patients. The styles are based on observable behaviors relating to degrees of "assertiveness" and "responsiveness." The Behavioral Style model helps to clarify why some people relate positively with each other and why others may conflict. Using finely tuned observational skills and an understanding of these styles, interpersonal transactions can be more effective, dental teams become more cohesive, and patients will be more satisfied with service provided in the dental practice. Each member of the team should understand his/her own personal style and those of teammates. Once that understanding is gained by all, it may be effectively applied to understanding patients. Behavior modification is at the heart of this concept. Adjusting your own behavior to the needs of others enables a patient to achieve more comfort with the dental team, and they are more likely to hear your verbal messages.

A volunteer citizen-servant pilot program using tailored messages to empower Alabamians to live healthier lives.

PubMed

McMillan, Libba R; Smith-Hendricks, Constance; Gore, Teresa

2010-01-01

This study examines the use of tailored messages as a learning tool to volunteer citizen servants to promote health and empower Alabama citizens to live healthier lives. Descriptive data of formative and summative questionnaires were analyzed from convenience sampling in this study, which encompassed 12 months. Researchers formed unique partnerships among community service organizations (CSO), faith-based organizations (FBO), author affiliated school of nursing, and community organizations to implement Healthy People 2010 goals. The program provided "health information stations" to focus on delivery of monthly culturally relevant messages to meet the health needs in the community. This program provided tailored health messages to 11 CSO and FBO. Outcome measures include an increase in health promotion knowledge, desire for furtherance and expansion of programs, and improved contacts within the community. The results from this study provide achievement of overall program goals, suggestions for improved evaluation strategies, implementation plans, and examples of specific topical messages. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[Effects of message and personal involvement on risk perception and acceptance].

PubMed

Masuchi, A; Takigawa, T

1999-10-01

The present study analyzed people's risk perception regarding driving a car with studded or non-studded winter tires. Subjects were 252 residents of Sapporo, where a recent municipal ordinance prohibited studded tires, allowing only non-studded ones. Questionnaire data were examined concerning (1) the relationship between risk perception and its acceptance, (2) the effect of an inserted message, which was either positive or negative about the use of non-studded tires, and (3) the role of personal involvement, assessed with Personal Involvement Inventory (Zaichkowsky, 1985), regarding winter driving. Results were as follows: (1) The use of non-studded tires was favorably judged because of social benefit, but subjects hesitated to choose them because of a higher perceived possibility of an accident. (2) The inserted message had significant effects on benefit evaluation and perceived accident possibility. The effects were weaker for drivers who had experienced driving a car with studded tires. And (3) personal involvement had a weak correlation with risk judgements of the present study.

A combination SMS and transportation reimbursement intervention to improve HIV care following abnormal CD4 test results in rural Uganda: a prospective observational cohort study.

PubMed

Siedner, Mark J; Santorino, Data; Lankowski, Alexander J; Kanyesigye, Michael; Bwana, Mwebesa B; Haberer, Jessica E; Bangsberg, David R

2015-07-06

Up to 50 % of HIV-infected persons in sub-Saharan Africa are lost from care between HIV diagnosis and antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. Structural barriers, including cost of transportation to clinic and poor communication systems, are major contributors. We conducted a prospective, pragmatic, before-and-after clinical trial to evaluate a combination mobile health and transportation reimbursement intervention to improve care at a publicly operated HIV clinic in Uganda. Patients undergoing CD4 count testing were enrolled, and clinicians selected a result threshold that would prompt early return for ART initiation or further care. Participants enrolled in the pre-intervention period (January - August 2012) served as a control group. Participants in the intervention period (September 2012 - November 2013) were randomized to receive daily short message service (SMS) messages for up to seven days in one of three formats: 1) messages reporting an abnormal result directly, 2) personal identification number-protected messages reporting an abnormal result, or 3) messages reading "ABCDEFG" to confidentially convey an abnormal result. Participants returning within seven days of their first message received transportation reimbursements (about $6USD). Our primary outcomes of interest were time to return to clinic and time to ART initiation. There were 45 participants in the pre-intervention period and 138 participants in the intervention period (46, 49, and 43 in the direct, PIN, and coded groups, respectively) with low CD4 count results. Median time to clinic return was 33 days (IQR 11-49) in the pre-intervention period and 6 days (IQR 3-16) in the intervention period (P < 0.001); and median time to ART initiation was 47 days (IQR 11-75) versus 12 days (IQR 5-19), (P < 0.001). In multivariable models, participants in the intervention period had earlier return to clinic (AHR 2.32, 95 %CI 1.53 to 3.51) and earlier time to ART initiation (AHR 2.27, 95 %CI 1.38 to 3.72). All three randomized message formats improved time to return to clinic and time to ART initiation (P < 0.01 for all comparisons versus the pre-intervention period). A combination of an SMS laboratory result communication system and transportation reimbursements significantly decreased time to clinic return and time to ART initiation after abnormal CD4 test results. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01579214 , approved 13 April 2012.

Standardizing intensive care device data to enable secondary usages.

PubMed

Ingenerf, Josef; Kock, Ann-Kristin; Poelker, Marcel; Seidl, Konrad; Zeplin, Georg; Mersmann, Stefan; Handels, Heinz

2012-01-01

To represent medical device observations in a format that is consumable by clinical software, standards like HL7v3 and ISO/IEEE 11073 should be used jointly. This is demonstrated in a project with Dräger Medical GmbH focusing on their Patient Data Management System (PDMS) in intensive care, called Integrated Care Manager (ICM). Patient and device data of interest should be mapped to suitable formats to enable data exchange and decision support. Instead of mapping device data to target formats bilaterally we use a generic HL7v3 Refined Message Information Model (RMIM) with device specific parts adapted to ISO/IEEE 11073 DIM. The generality of the underlying model (based on Yuksel et al. [1]) allows the flexible inclusion of IEEE 11073 conformant device models of interest on the one hand and the generation of needed artifacts for secondary usages on the other hand, e.g. HL7 V2 messages, HL7 CDA documents like the Personal Health Monitoring Report (PHMR) or web services. Hence, once the medical device data are obtained in the RMIM format, it can quite easily be transformed into HL7-based standard interfaces through XSL transformations because these interfaces all have their building blocks from the same RIM. From there data can be accessed uniformly, e.g. as needed by Dräger´s decision support system SmartCare [2] for automated control and optimization of weaning from mechanical ventilation.

Promoting good health in the age of reform: the medical publications of Henry H. Porter of Philadelphia, 1829-32.

PubMed

Horrocks, T A

1995-01-01

In the early 1830s, the Philadelphia publisher Henry H. Porter rapidly published five journals, six books, and an almanac, works having a particular emphasis on health and personal hygiene. Porter's health publications linked the traditional message about the importance of personal hygiene to health to the messages conveyed by the flourishing American reform movements at the time, and his Journal of Health was among the first American medically oriented periodicals published for the layperson. Yet Porter did not survive in the intensely competitive and financially unstable book trade. This study examines Porter's health publications, attempting to explain why he chose to publish what he did, the message(s) his works contained, the audience(s) he tried to reach, and the failure of his business.

The Effect of Locus of Control on Message Acceptance and Recall.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, Catherine A.; Singh, Surendra

Locus of control is a personality trait that influences human behavior in many situations. Internal-external control reactions to a persuasive message and the recall of the message were examined in two studies. In the first study, 35 undergraduate students' locus of control was measured using Duttweiler's Internal Control Measure. On the basis of…

The Relationship of Ego-Involvement to Message Perception and Retention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ambler, Robert Steven

Prior attitudes and personal involvement with the subject of a message do not necessarily affect a listener's recollection of the speech or his assessment of the speaker's position. This is the conclusion of a study in which subjects listened to messages presenting positions for, against, and neutral on the topic of legalizing the use of…

What is the Risk for Exposure to Vector-Borne Pathogens in United States National Parks?

PubMed Central

EISEN, LARS; WONG, DAVID; SHELUS, VICTORIA; EISEN, REBECCA J.

2015-01-01

United States national parks attract >275 million visitors annually and collectively present risk of exposure for staff and visitors to a wide range of arthropod vector species (most notably fleas, mosquitoes, and ticks) and their associated bacterial, protozoan, or viral pathogens. We assessed the current state of knowledge for risk of exposure to vector-borne pathogens in national parks through a review of relevant literature, including internal National Park Service documents and organismal databases. We conclude that, because of lack of systematic surveillance for vector-borne pathogens in national parks, the risk of pathogen exposure for staff and visitors is unclear. Existing data for vectors within national parks were not based on systematic collections and rarely include evaluation for pathogen infection. Extrapolation of human-based surveillance data from neighboring communities likely provides inaccurate estimates for national parks because landscape differences impact transmission of vector-borne pathogens and human-vector contact rates likely differ inside versus outside the parks because of differences in activities or behaviors. Vector-based pathogen surveillance holds promise to define when and where within national parks the risk of exposure to infected vectors is elevated. A pilot effort, including 5–10 strategic national parks, would greatly improve our understanding of the scope and magnitude of vector-borne pathogen transmission in these high-use public settings. Such efforts also will support messaging to promote personal protection measures and inform park visitors and staff of their responsibility for personal protection, which the National Park Service preservation mission dictates as the core strategy to reduce exposure to vector-borne pathogens in national parks. PMID:23540107

Asynchronous Message Service Reference Implementation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burleigh, Scott C.

2011-01-01

This software provides a library of middleware functions with a simple application programming interface, enabling implementation of distributed applications in conformance with the CCSDS AMS (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems Asynchronous Message Service) specification. The AMS service, and its protocols, implement an architectural concept under which the modules of mission systems may be designed as if they were to operate in isolation, each one producing and consuming mission information without explicit awareness of which other modules are currently operating. Communication relationships among such modules are self-configuring; this tends to minimize complexity in the development and operations of modular data systems. A system built on this model is a society of generally autonomous, inter-operating modules that may fluctuate freely over time in response to changing mission objectives, modules functional upgrades, and recovery from individual module failure. The purpose of AMS, then, is to reduce mission cost and risk by providing standard, reusable infrastructure for the exchange of information among data system modules in a manner that is simple to use, highly automated, flexible, robust, scalable, and efficient. The implementation is designed to spawn multiple threads of AMS functionality under the control of an AMS application program. These threads enable all members of an AMS-based, distributed application to discover one another in real time, subscribe to messages on specific topics, and to publish messages on specific topics. The query/reply (client/server) communication model is also supported. Message exchange is optionally subject to encryption (to support confidentiality) and authorization. Fault tolerance measures in the discovery protocol minimize the likelihood of overall application failure due to any single operational error anywhere in the system. The multi-threaded design simplifies processing while enabling application nodes to operate at high speeds; linked lists protected by mutex semaphores and condition variables are used for efficient, inter-thread communication. Applications may use a variety of transport protocols underlying AMS itself, including TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), UDP (User Datagram Protocol), and message queues.

MedTxting: Learning based and Knowledge Rich SMS-style Medical Text Contraction

PubMed Central

Liu, Feifan; Moosavinasab, Soheil; Houston, Thomas K.; Yu, Hong

2012-01-01

In mobile health (M-health), Short Message Service (SMS) has shown to improve disease related self-management and health service outcomes, leading to enhanced patient care. However, the hard limit on character size for each message limits the full value of exploring SMS communication in health care practices. To overcome this problem and improve the efficiency of clinical workflow, we developed an innovative system, MedTxting (available at http://medtxting.askhermes.org), which is a learning-based but knowledge-rich system that compresses medical texts in a SMS style. Evaluations on clinical questions and discharge summary narratives show that MedTxting can effectively compress medical texts with reasonable readability and noticeable size reduction. Findings in this work reveal potentials of MedTxting to the clinical settings, allowing for real-time and cost-effective communication, such as patient condition reporting, medication consulting, physicians connecting to share expertise to improve point of care. PMID:23304328

A native Bayesian classifier based routing protocol for VANETS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bao, Zhenshan; Zhou, Keqin; Zhang, Wenbo; Gong, Xiaolei

2016-12-01

Geographic routing protocols are one of the most hot research areas in VANET (Vehicular Ad-hoc Network). However, there are few routing protocols can take both the transmission efficient and the usage of ratio into account. As we have noticed, different messages in VANET may ask different quality of service. So we raised a Native Bayesian Classifier based routing protocol (Naive Bayesian Classifier-Greedy, NBC-Greedy), which can classify and transmit different messages by its emergency degree. As a result, we can balance the transmission efficient and the usage of ratio with this protocol. Based on Matlab simulation, we can draw a conclusion that NBC-Greedy is more efficient and stable than LR-Greedy and GPSR.

Provision Increases Reported PPE Use for Mexican Immigrant Farmworkers: An mHealth Pilot Study.

PubMed

Snipes, Shedra Amy; Smyth, Joshua M; Murphy, Dennis; Miranda, Patricia Y; Ishino, Francisco Alejandro Montiel

2015-12-01

Personal protective equipment (PPE) reduces pesticide exposures, but many farmworkers complain that it is difficult to obtain. We examined if PPE provision increased usage. We also delivered motivational messaging aimed to promote PPE use. First, we delivered a daily survey through a mobile phone app to assess PPE use. Farmworkers subsequently received a daily, individualized motivational message based on their PPE use and reported difficulties. PPE use was evaluated at baseline and at the close of the study. PPE behaviors improved for gloves (P ≤ 0.01) and safety glasses (P ≤ 0.001). Use of long-sleeved shirts, hats, and long pants were already consistently used at baseline and did not exhibit significant change. Our findings demonstrate that PPE provision and delivery of motivational messaging through mobile phones may increase PPE usage for farmworkers.

Mobile Telephone Text Messaging for Medication Adherence in Chronic Disease: A Meta-analysis.

PubMed

Thakkar, Jay; Kurup, Rahul; Laba, Tracey-Lea; Santo, Karla; Thiagalingam, Aravinda; Rodgers, Anthony; Woodward, Mark; Redfern, Julie; Chow, Clara K

2016-03-01

Adherence to long-term therapies in chronic disease is poor. Traditional interventions to improve adherence are complex and not widely effective. Mobile telephone text messaging may be a scalable means to support medication adherence. To conduct a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials to assess the effect of mobile telephone text messaging on medication adherence in chronic disease. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, and CINAHL (from database inception to January 15, 2015), as well as reference lists of the articles identified. The data were analyzed in March 2015. Randomized clinical trials evaluating a mobile telephone text message intervention to promote medication adherence in adults with chronic disease. Two authors independently extracted information on study characteristics, text message characteristics, and outcome measures as per the predefined protocol. Odds ratios and pooled data were calculated using random-effects models. Risk of bias and study quality were assessed as per Cochrane guidelines. Disagreement was resolved by consensus. Sixteen randomized clinical trials were included, with 5 of 16 using personalization, 8 of 16 using 2-way communication, and 8 of 16 using a daily text message frequency. The median intervention duration was 12 weeks, and self-report was the most commonly used method to assess medication adherence. In the pooled analysis of 2742 patients (median age, 39 years and 50.3% [1380 of 2742] female), text messaging significantly improved medication adherence (odds ratio, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.52-2.93; P < .001). The effect was not sensitive to study characteristics (intervention duration or type of disease) or text message characteristics (personalization, 2-way communication, or daily text message frequency). In a sensitivity analysis, our findings remained robust to change in inclusion criteria based on study quality (odds ratio, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.21-2.29; P = .002). There was moderate heterogeneity (I2 = 62%) across clinical trials. After adjustment for publication bias, the point estimate was reduced but remained positive for an intervention effect (odds ratio, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.18-2.39). Mobile phone text messaging approximately doubles the odds of medication adherence. This increase translates into adherence rates improving from 50% (assuming this baseline rate in patients with chronic disease) to 67.8%, or an absolute increase of 17.8%. While promising, these results should be interpreted with caution given the short duration of trials and reliance on self-reported medication adherence measures. Future studies need to determine the features of text message interventions that improve success, as well as appropriate patient populations, sustained effects, and influences on clinical outcomes.

Processing of Alcohol-Related Health Threat in At-Risk Drinkers: An Online Study of Gender-Related Self-Affirmation Effects.

PubMed

Kamboj, Sunjeev K; Place, Hannah; Barton, Jessica A; Linke, Stuart; Curran, H Valerie; Harris, Peter R

2016-11-01

Defensiveness in response to threatening health information related to excessive alcohol consumption prevents appropriate behaviour change. Alternatively, self-affirmation may improve cognitive-affective processing of threatening information, thus contributing to successful self-regulation. Effects of an online self-affirmation procedure were examined in at-risk university student drinkers. Participants were randomly assigned to a self-affirmation (writing about personally relevant values) or control task (writing about values relevant to another person) prior to presentation of alcohol-related threatening information. Assessment of prosocial feelings (e.g. 'love') after the task served as a manipulation check. Generic and personalized information regarding the link between alcohol use and cancer was presented, followed by assessment of perceived threat, message avoidance and derogation. Page dwell-times served as indirect indices of message engagement. Alcohol consumption and intention to drink less were assessed during the first online session and at 1-week and 1-month follow-up. Although self-affirmation resulted in higher levels of prosocial feelings immediately after the task, there was no effect on behaviour in the self-affirmation group. Effects on intention were moderated by gender, such that men showed lower intention immediately after self-affirmation, but this increased at 1-week follow-up. Women's intention to reduce consumption in the self-affirmation group reduced over time. Trend-level effects on indices of derogation and message acceptance were in the predicted direction only in men. It is feasible to perform self-affirmation procedures in an online environment with at-risk drinkers. However, use of internet-based procedures with this population may give rise to (gender-dependent) effects that are substantially diluted compared with lab-based experiments. © The Author 2016. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

SMSaúde: Design, Development, and Implementation of a Remote/Mobile Patient Management System to Improve Retention in Care for HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis Patients.

PubMed

Nhavoto, José António; Grönlund, Åke; Chaquilla, Walter Ponce

2015-03-09

The widespread and low cost of mobile phones and the convenience of short message service (SMS) text messaging suggest potential suitability for use with alternative strategies for supporting retention in care and adherence to the treatment of various chronic diseases, such as HIV and tuberculosis (TB). Despite the growing body of literature reporting positive outcomes of SMS text message-based communication with patients, there is yet very little research about the integration of communication technologies and electronic medical records or electronic patient tracking systems. To design, develop, and implement an integrated mobile phone text messaging system used to follow up with patients with HIV and TB in treatment in Mozambique. Following the design science research methodology, we developed a Web-based system that provides support to patients. A case study involving three health care sites in Mozambique was a basis for discussing design issues for this kind of system. We used brainstorming techniques to solicit usability requirements, focus group meetings to discuss and define system architecture, and prototyping to test in real environments and to improve the system. We found six sets of system requirements that need to be addressed for success: data collection, telecommunication costs, privacy and data security, text message content, connectivity, and system scalability. A text messaging system was designed and implemented in three health facilities. These sites feed data into a central data repository, which can be used for analysis of operations and decision support. Based on the treatment schedule, the system automatically sent SMS text message appointment reminders, medication reminders, as well as motivational and educational messages to patients enrolled in antiretroviral therapy and TB treatment programs. We successfully defined the requirements for, designed, and implemented a mobile phone text messaging system to support HIV and TB treatments. Implementation of this system could improve patients' self-management skills and strengthen communication between patients and health care providers.

Using Instant Messaging for Online Reference Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forster, Shirley

2006-01-01

Many libraries are using co-browsing chat products to provide reference services to their patrons, whilst their patrons are online and using the internet. The concept of such an online service is highly desirable, but many libraries are concerned that they will never be able to afford such a system. This may have changed: Instant Messaging (IM)…

Design for Social Presence and Exploring Its Mediating Effect in Mobile Data Communication Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ogara, Solomon Omondi

2011-01-01

The mobility, flexibility, convenience, and ubiquity of mobile data services (MDS) have contributed to their enormous growth and popularity with users. MDS allow users to communicate through mobile texting (mTexting), mobile Instant Messaging (mIM), multimedia messaging services (MMS), and email. A unique feature of MDS that enhances its…

An Examination of Adolescent Recall of Anti-Smoking Messages: Attitudes, Message Type, and Message Perceptions.

PubMed

Bigsby, Elisabeth; Monahan, Jennifer L; Ewoldsen, David R

2017-04-01

Delayed message recall may be influenced by currently held accessible attitudes, the nature of the message, and message perceptions (perception of bias and message elaboration). This study examined the potential of message perceptions to mediate the influence of valenced attitude accessibility and message type on unaided recall of anti-smoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In a field experiment, ninth grade students (N = 244) watched three PSAs and responded to items on laptop computers. Twelve weeks later, follow-up telephone surveys were conducted to assess unaided recall. Both valenced attitude accessibility and message type were associated with message perceptions. However, only perception of message bias partially mediated the relationship between message type and unaided recall.

Efficiency and security problems of anonymous key agreement protocol based on chaotic maps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoon, Eun-Jun

2012-07-01

In 2011, Niu-Wang proposed an anonymous key agreement protocol based on chaotic maps in [Niu Y, Wang X. An anonymous key agreement protocol based on chaotic maps. Commun Nonlinear Sci Simulat 2011;16(4):1986-92]. Niu-Wang's protocol not only achieves session key agreement between a server and a user, but also allows the user to anonymously interact with the server. Nevertheless, this paper points out that Niu-Wang's protocol has the following efficiency and security problems: (1) The protocol has computational efficiency problem when a trusted third party decrypts the user sending message. (2) The protocol is vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS) attack based on illegal message modification by an attacker.

Mobile phone text message reminders: Measuring preferences of people with antipsychotic medication.

PubMed

Kauppi, Kaisa; Kannisto, Kati A; Hätönen, Heli; Anttila, Minna; Löyttyniemi, Eliisa; Adams, Clive E; Välimäki, Maritta

2015-10-01

Mobile technology use, including Short Messaging Service (SMS) text messaging, has increased in health care services. Preferences regarding the type or timing of text messages sent by healthcare providers to people with antipsychotic medication have not yet been fully investigated. This study examines the relationship between patients' demographic characteristics and the tailored messages they select. The study ("Mobile.Net", 27704027) includes a structured analysis of a random sub-sample of participants who received messages for 12months. The data were collected in 24 sites and 45 psychiatric hospitals in Finland and analyzed with descriptive statistics and Poisson regression models. The study sample involved 562 people on antipsychotic medication, and a total of 2112 text messages (2 to 25 monthly) were analysed. Regarding message content, there was no significant variation in the proportions relating to 'medication', 'treatment appointments' or 'free time'. Monday was the most popular day to receive messages and morning was preferred to later in the day. Age was most closely associated with 'number of messages' and 'time of messages'. Older women and younger men preferred higher numbers of messages (p=0.0031). Participants preferred positive, encouraging and slightly humorous messages. The findings suggest that messages may be acceptable for difficult to access groups in follow-up. This type of intervention may be useful for various types of patients especially for younger males. To further support the evidence about factors related to message utilization and use, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of text messages in psychiatric care. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

iFall: an Android application for fall monitoring and response.

PubMed

Sposaro, Frank; Tyson, Gary

2009-01-01

Injuries due to falls are among the leading causes of hospitalization in elderly persons, often resulting in a rapid decline in quality of life or death. Rapid response can improve the patients outcome, but this is often lacking when the injured person lives alone and the nature of the injury complicates calling for help. This paper presents an alert system for fall detection using common commercially available electronic devices to both detect the fall and alert authorities. We use an Android-based smart phone with an integrated tri-axial accelerometer. Data from the accelerometer is evaluated with several threshold based algorithms and position data to determine a fall. The threshold is adaptive based on user provided parameters such as: height, weight, and level of activity. The algorithm adapts to unique movements that a phone experiences as opposed to similar systems which require users to mount accelerometers to their chest or trunk. If a fall is suspected a notification is raised requiring the user's response. If the user does not respond, the system alerts pre-specified social contacts with an informational message via SMS. If a contact responds the system commits an audible notification, automatically connects, and enables the speakerphone. If a social contact confirms a fall, an appropriate emergency service is alerted. Our system provides a realizable, cost effective solution to fall detection using a simple graphical interface while not overwhelming the user with uncomfortable sensors.

Defining strategies for promoting product through 'drink responsibly' messages in magazine ads for beer, spirits and alcopops.

PubMed

Smith, Katherine Clegg; Cukier, Samantha; Jernigan, David H

2014-09-01

Neither federal regulations nor industry voluntary codes require 'responsibility' statements in alcohol advertising. Stand alone 'public service' responsibility campaigns have been found to convey pro-drinking themes. We analyzed responsibility statements placed in conventional alcohol advertising to consider how responsible drinking is presented, and potential communicative goals for responsibility messages. We conducted a descriptive textual analysis of 'drink responsibly' messages appearing in all advertisements pertaining to beer, spirits and alcopop products placed in U.S. national, newsstand magazines from 2008 to 2010 (N=1795). We coded advertisements for presence, prominence and content of responsibility messages. Using a qualitative approach, we created a taxonomy of product promotional elements within the responsibility messages. Analysis revealed that 87% of the advertisements included a responsibility message (N=1555); responsibility messages were less prominent than any included tagline (product slogan). Messages never defined responsible drinking or promoted abstinence. No link was made between warnings and activities conveyed in the advertisements. There were 197 unique responsibility messages, 88% of which (N=174) were promotional of the advertised product. Responsibility promotional content was categorized into 5 strategies: Product name, Consumption information, Product qualities, Product promise, Qualities of the drinker. Responsibility messages were overwhelmingly used to promote product rather than convey relevant public health information. Based on this analysis, existing responsibility messages are largely ineffective at conveying relevant public health information, and should be supplemented by or replaced with prominently placed, externally developed, cognitively tested warnings that do not reinforce marketing messages. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

A qualitative study to explore Prospect theory and message framing and diet and cancer prevention-related issues among African American adolescents

PubMed Central

Satia, Jessie A.; Barlow, Jameta; Armstrong-Brown, Janelle; Watters, Joanne L.

2010-01-01

Aims To develop and test cancer prevention messages based on Prospect theory on motivation to improve dietary intake in African American adolescents, and to explore other salient factors that may inform dietary intervention design and implementation in this population. Methods Semi-structured in-person qualitative interviews were conducted with 13 African-American male and female adolescents, 12-16 years, in North Carolina. Prospect theory and message framing were used to guide the design of the four sets of diet-related messages related to cancer prevention: short-term gain-, long-term gain-, short-term loss-, and long-term loss-framed messages. Data were also collected on demographic, behavioral, and psychological factors; usual health behaviors; and preferences for intervention delivery. Results The majority of respondents found the gain-framed, short-term messages most salient for both fruits/vegetables (8 (61.5%)), and fat consumption (7 (53.8%)). For fat consumption only, 2 (15.4%) found the loss-framed, short-term messages pertinent; none found the loss-framed, long-term messages relevant for either dietary variable. All indicated interest in participating in a dietary intervention/education program; most preferred the Internet as a channel for intervention delivery. Participants expressed diverse views regarding knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding healthy eating. Conclusions Researchers conducting dietary interventions and education initiatives and medical professionals who counsel African American adolescents should consider using Prospect Theory as a theoretical framework, should focus on gain-framed short-term messages regarding cancer prevention, and should employ the Internet for data collection and intervention and information delivery. PMID:20142738

[Descriptive analysis of the e-mail list "Neurología-RedIRIS" (http://listserv.rediris.es/neurologia.html): an active, plural instrument having scientific quality at the reach of the Spanish speaking neurology sector].

PubMed

Serrano-Castro, P J; Arjona Padillo, A; Guardado Santervás, P

2004-10-01

In recent years, professional mailing-lists (PML) have experienced wide diffusion in the field of the medicine thanks to their educational and academic potential. In neurology and in Spanish, Neurología list belonging to RedIRIS has played the lead in the history of PML. Since the year 1997, it has maintained approximately 200 persons related with neurology in communication and has exceeded more of 7,300 messages. We analyzed retrospectively the activity recorded in the Neurología PML between January and December 2003, recording variables related to the activity and scientific quality of the PML and to the origin and content of the messages. 758 messages were registered (2.07 messages/day; 3.73 messages/subscriber). 93 of 203 subscribers (45.81 %) participated on at least one occasion. 83 % of the messages came from Spain, there being an inverse relationship between the neurologists relative endowment and degree of participation in the PML. The most frequent messages referred to clinical cases followed by debate of topics of management and scientific consultations. The scientific quality of Neurología PML is comparable to other English language based PML analyzed based on the number of publications in Index Medicus and of the impact factor of its subscribers. Neurología PML has reached a level of maturity and enjoys a critical mass and a number of subscribers of high scientific level that assures its immediate future. Besides its educational and consultation functions, it may become an opinion forum for the Spanish neurologists without their losing their independence or Latin-American vocation.

Questioning the Value of Realism: Young Adults' Processing of Messages in Alcohol-Related Public Service Announcements and Advertising.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andsager, Julie L.; Austin, Erica Weintraub; Pinkleton, Bruce E.

2001-01-01

Finds that: (1) perceived realism and themes that students could identify with are important factors in increasing the salience and persuasiveness of alcohol-related public service announcements (PSAs) among undergraduate students; (2) realistic but logic-based PSAs were not as effective as unrealistic but enjoyable ads; and (3) low production…

An innovative use of instant messaging technology to support a library's single-service point.

PubMed

Horne, Andrea S; Ragon, Bart; Wilson, Daniel T

2012-01-01

A library service model that provides reference and instructional services by summoning reference librarians from a single service point is described. The system utilizes Libraryh3lp, an open-source, multioperator instant messaging system. The selection and refinement of this solution and technical challenges encountered are explored, as is the design of public services around this technology, usage of the system, and best practices. This service model, while a major cultural and procedural change at first, is now a routine aspect of customer service for this library.

Competency-Based Curriculum for Prevocational Exploration. Personal Service.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall Univ., Huntington, WV. Dept. of Occupational, Adult, and Safety Education.

This competency-based curriculum was designed to aid teachers in West Virginia to provide students with information about careers in the personal services occupational cluster. The curriculum guide contains 43 lessons, organized into the four areas of attendant services, barber and beauty services, commercial services, and residential services,…

Texting Teens in Transition: The Use of Text Messages in Clinical Intervention Research

PubMed Central

Nicholas, David B

2014-01-01

Background The rapidly growing population of young adults living with congenital heart disease (CHD), currently challenging ill-prepared cardiac care systems, presents a novel population in which to consider the use of mHealth. This methodological study was part of a larger study that tested the effectiveness of a clinic-based nursing intervention to prepare teens for transfer from pediatric to adult cardiology care. The intervention included creation of a MyHealth Passport and subsequently SMS (short message service) text messages between the intervention nurse and study participant. Objective Our aim was to determine (1) the preference of teens with CHD to be contacted via text message following the nursing intervention, (2) the effectiveness of texting to collect data regarding the use of MyHealth Passport after participation in the intervention, (3) the nature of the texting interaction, and (4) the risks and benefits of texting. Methods Participants were recruited through the intervention study (n=24) by either choosing to receive information from the study coordinator through text message, or texting a question to the study nurses. Inclusion criteria were age 15-17 years, diagnosed with moderate or complex heart disease, and currently being followed by the Division of Cardiology at Stollery Children’s Hospital. Exclusion criteria were heart transplantation and/or less than a 6th grade reading and comprehension ability. Text message transcripts were analyzed by qualitative inductive content analysis. Results Two-thirds of teens (16/24, 67%) chose text messaging as their preferred contact, making them eligible for the study. Texting was effective in collecting information regarding the MyHealth Passport; all but one teen had their MyHealth Passport on them, and many reported carrying it with them wherever they went. All teens reported showing their MyHealth Passport to at least one person. Seven themes were identified in the texting transcripts: mixing formal and informal language, the passive teen, interaction with health care providers, texting teens in transition, texting as a mechanism to initiate other forms of communication, affirmation, and the nurse as an educator. Benefits of texting were identified as flexibility, ability to respond over time, information presented in byte-sized amounts, and information directly related to patient questions. Risks of texting were identified as the possibility that interactions may not be in-depth, distraction of teen and researcher, and invasiveness. Conclusions Text messaging was useful in collecting data regarding the use of the MyHealth Passport. Text messaging resulted in conversations with the teens that were sometimes in-depth and meaningful, especially when combined with other communication modalities. Using text messaging in a manner resulting in full conversations with the patients requires more study and may benefit from protocols and the use of solid theoretical foundations that would standardize the interaction so that more conclusions could be drawn. PMID:25379624

Texting teens in transition: the use of text messages in clinical intervention research.

PubMed

Rempel, Gwen R; Ballantyne, Ross T; Magill-Evans, Joyce; Nicholas, David B; Mackie, Andrew S

2014-11-06

The rapidly growing population of young adults living with congenital heart disease (CHD), currently challenging ill-prepared cardiac care systems, presents a novel population in which to consider the use of mHealth. This methodological study was part of a larger study that tested the effectiveness of a clinic-based nursing intervention to prepare teens for transfer from pediatric to adult cardiology care. The intervention included creation of a MyHealth Passport and subsequently SMS (short message service) text messages between the intervention nurse and study participant. Our aim was to determine (1) the preference of teens with CHD to be contacted via text message following the nursing intervention, (2) the effectiveness of texting to collect data regarding the use of MyHealth Passport after participation in the intervention, (3) the nature of the texting interaction, and (4) the risks and benefits of texting. Participants were recruited through the intervention study (n=24) by either choosing to receive information from the study coordinator through text message, or texting a question to the study nurses. Inclusion criteria were age 15-17 years, diagnosed with moderate or complex heart disease, and currently being followed by the Division of Cardiology at Stollery Children's Hospital. Exclusion criteria were heart transplantation and/or less than a 6th grade reading and comprehension ability. Text message transcripts were analyzed by qualitative inductive content analysis. Two-thirds of teens (16/24, 67%) chose text messaging as their preferred contact, making them eligible for the study. Texting was effective in collecting information regarding the MyHealth Passport; all but one teen had their MyHealth Passport on them, and many reported carrying it with them wherever they went. All teens reported showing their MyHealth Passport to at least one person. Seven themes were identified in the texting transcripts: mixing formal and informal language, the passive teen, interaction with health care providers, texting teens in transition, texting as a mechanism to initiate other forms of communication, affirmation, and the nurse as an educator. Benefits of texting were identified as flexibility, ability to respond over time, information presented in byte-sized amounts, and information directly related to patient questions. Risks of texting were identified as the possibility that interactions may not be in-depth, distraction of teen and researcher, and invasiveness. Text messaging was useful in collecting data regarding the use of the MyHealth Passport. Text messaging resulted in conversations with the teens that were sometimes in-depth and meaningful, especially when combined with other communication modalities. Using text messaging in a manner resulting in full conversations with the patients requires more study and may benefit from protocols and the use of solid theoretical foundations that would standardize the interaction so that more conclusions could be drawn.

MESA: Message-Based System Analysis Using Runtime Verification

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shafiei, Nastaran; Tkachuk, Oksana; Mehlitz, Peter

2017-01-01

In this paper, we present a novel approach and framework for run-time verication of large, safety critical messaging systems. This work was motivated by verifying the System Wide Information Management (SWIM) project of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). SWIM provides live air traffic, site and weather data streams for the whole National Airspace System (NAS), which can easily amount to several hundred messages per second. Such safety critical systems cannot be instrumented, therefore, verification and monitoring has to happen using a nonintrusive approach, by connecting to a variety of network interfaces. Due to a large number of potential properties to check, the verification framework needs to support efficient formulation of properties with a suitable Domain Specific Language (DSL). Our approach is to utilize a distributed system that is geared towards connectivity and scalability and interface it at the message queue level to a powerful verification engine. We implemented our approach in the tool called MESA: Message-Based System Analysis, which leverages the open source projects RACE (Runtime for Airspace Concept Evaluation) and TraceContract. RACE is a platform for instantiating and running highly concurrent and distributed systems and enables connectivity to SWIM and scalability. TraceContract is a runtime verication tool that allows for checking traces against properties specified in a powerful DSL. We applied our approach to verify a SWIM service against several requirements.We found errors such as duplicate and out-of-order messages.

The BlackBerry Project: Capturing the Content of Adolescents' Text Messaging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Underwood, Marion K.; Rosen, Lisa H.; More, David; Ehrenreich, Samuel E.; Gentsch, Joanna K.

2012-01-01

This article presents an innovative method for capturing the content of adolescents' electronic communication on handheld devices: text messaging, e-mail, and instant messaging. In an ongoing longitudinal study, adolescents were provided with BlackBerry devices with service plans paid for by the investigators, and use of text messaging was…

Mitigating Psychological Reactance: The Role of Message-Induced Empathy in Persuasion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shen, Lijiang

2010-01-01

This article examines the role of message-induced state empathy in persuasion. Message-induced empathy is conceptualized as a perception-action process that consists of affective, cognitive, and associative components. Twenty professionally produced public service announcements (PSAs) were used as stimuli messages in a 2 (high vs. low empathy) x 2…

'SMS' for mental health—feasibility and acceptability of using text messages for mental health promotion among young women from urban low income settings in India.

PubMed

Chandra, Prabha S; Sowmya, H R; Mehrotra, Seema; Duggal, Mona

2014-10-01

The current study assesses the acceptability and feasibility of mobile text messages for promoting positive mental health and as a helpline among young women in urban slums of Bangalore. Forty girls in the age range of 16-18 years from urban slums received messages every day for a month. They could call or message back or give a 'missed call' to the same number whenever they had emotional problems or felt like talking to a counselor. The received responses in the form of return texts, missed calls and return phone calls were recorded. Feedback about the feasibility and acceptability of the mobile messages was collected after a month. 25 out of 40 (62.5%) participants called back, asking for mental health services and to say they felt good about the messages. 23 of 40 (57.5%) messaged back regarding their feelings. 62% reported that they felt supported with the mental health messages. Male family members of nearly half of the participants called back to check the authenticity of the source. Most women did not face any problems because of the messages. This pilot qualitative study indicates that mobile text messages are a feasible and culturally acceptable method for mental health promotion and prevention among young women from urban slums in India. Issues such as consent from the woman and family, ensuring confidentiality and providing authentic and reliable support services, need to be taken into account before attempting to scale up such a service, particularly in vulnerable groups. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Randomized Trial of a Smartphone Mobile Application Compared to Text Messaging to Support Smoking Cessation

PubMed Central

Borland, Ron; Bettinghaus, Erwin P.; Shane, James H.; Zimmerman, Donald E.

2014-01-01

Abstract Background: Text messaging has successfully supported smoking cessation. This study compares a mobile application with text messaging to support smoking cessation. Materials and Methods: Young adult smokers 18–30 years old (n=102) participated in a randomized pretest–posttest trial. Smokers received a smartphone application (REQ-Mobile) with short messages and interactive tools or a text messaging system (onQ), managed by an expert system. Self-reported usability of REQ-Mobile and quitting behavior (quit attempts, point-prevalence, 30-day point-prevalence, and continued abstinence) were assessed in posttests. Results: Overall, 60% of smokers used mobile services (REQ-Mobile, 61%, mean of 128.5 messages received; onQ, 59%, mean of 107.8 messages), and 75% evaluated REQ-Mobile as user-friendly. A majority of smokers reported being abstinent at posttest (6 weeks, 53% of completers; 12 weeks, 66% of completers [44% of all cases]). Also, 37% (25%of all cases) reported 30-day point-prevalence abstinence, and 32% (22% of all cases) reported continuous abstinence at 12 weeks. OnQ produced more abstinence (p<0.05) than REQ-Mobile. Use of both services predicted increased 30-day abstinence at 12 weeks (used, 47%; not used, 20%; p=0.03). Conclusions: REQ-Mobile was feasible for delivering cessation support but appeared to not move smokers to quit as quickly as text messaging. Text messaging may work better because it is simple, well known, and delivered to a primary inbox. These advantages may disappear as smokers become more experienced with new handsets. Mobile phones may be promising delivery platforms for cessation services using either smartphone applications or text messaging. PMID:24350804

Electronic communication based interventions for hazardous young drinkers: A systematic review.

PubMed

O Rourke, L; Humphris, G; Baldacchino, A

2016-09-01

Previous reviews have specifically looked at computer-based or Internet-based approaches. However, there has been no systematic review focused upon electronic communication based interventions for hazardous young drinkers. Out of 3298 relevant citations, 13 papers consisting of 11 studies met the inclusion criteria. Effectiveness of intervention delivery was assessed using behavioural outcomes. Eight papers delivered interventions using the Web, three implemented text messaging, one used a mobile phone app and the remaining paper used a social networking site. The ability to provide personalized electronic feedback resulted in a reduction in alcohol consumption, frequency of binge drinking, and drinking in a non-risky way. However, intervention length did not appear to have an impact on overall effectiveness. Usage of text messaging and Social Network Sites (SNS) increased accessibility and ease of engaging in an intervention that is appealing and acceptable for young adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A nutrition strategy to reduce the burden of diet related disease: access to dietician services must complement population health approaches.

PubMed

Segal, Leonie; Opie, Rachelle S

2015-01-01

Poor diet quality is implicated in almost every disease and health issue. And yet, in most advanced market economies diet quality is poor, with a minority meeting guidelines for healthy eating. Poor diet is thus responsible for substantial disease burden. Societies have at their disposal a range of strategies to influence diet behaviors. These can be classified into: (i) population level socio-educational approaches to enhance diet knowledge; (ii) pricing incentives (subsidies on healthy foods, punitive taxes on unhealthy foods); (iii) regulations to modify the food environment, and (iv) the provision of clinical dietetic services. There is little evidence that societies are active in implementing the available strategies. Advertising of "junk foods" is largely unchecked, contrasting with strict controls on advertising tobacco products, which also attract punitive taxes. Access to dieticians is restricted in most countries, even in the context of universal health care. In Australia in 2011 there were just 2,969 practicing dieticians/nutritionists or 1.3 clinicians per 10,000 persons, compared with 5.8 physiotherapists per 10,000 persons, 14.8 general practitioners (family physicians) per 10,000 persons or 75 nurses per 10,000 persons. It is time to implement comprehensive national nutrition strategies capable of effecting change. Such strategies need to be multi-component, incorporating both public health approaches and expanded publicly funded dietetic services. Access to individualized dietetic services is needed by those at risk, or with current chronic conditions, given the complexity of the diet message, the need for professional support for behavior change and to reflect individual circumstances. The adoption of a comprehensive nutrition strategy offers the promise of substantial improvement in diet quality, better health and wellbeing and lower health care costs.

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of an Internet-Based Alcohol Intervention in a Workplace Setting.

PubMed

Brendryen, Håvar; Johansen, Ayna; Duckert, Fanny; Nesvåg, Sverre

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a brief and an intensive self-help alcohol intervention and to assess the feasibility of recruiting to such interventions in a workplace setting. Employees who screened positive for hazardous drinking (n = 85) received online personalized normative feedback and were randomly assigned to one out of two conditions: either they received an e-booklet about the effects of alcohol or they received a self-help intervention comprising 62 web-based, fully automated, and interactive sessions, plus reminder e-mails, and mobile phone text messages (Short Message Service). Two months after baseline, the responders in the intensive condition drank an average of five to six drinks less per week compared to the responders in the brief condition (B = 5.68, 95% CI = 0.48-10.87, P = .03). There was no significant difference between conditions, using baseline observation carried forward imputation (B = 2.96, 95% CI = -0.50-6.42, P = .09). Six months after baseline, no significant difference was found, neither based on complete cases nor intent-to-treat (B = 1.07, 95% CI = -1.29-3.44, P = .37). Challenges with recruitment are thoroughly reported. The study supports the feasibility and the safety of use for both brief and intensive Internet-based self-help in an occupational setting. The study may inform future trials, but due to recruitment problems and low statistical power, the findings are inconclusive in terms of the intensive program being more effective than brief intervention alone. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01931618.

The Keck Task Library (KTL)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lupton, W. F.; Conrad, A. R.

1992-01-01

KTL is a set of routines which eases the job of writing applications which must interact with a variety of underlying sub-systems (known as services). A typical application is an X Window user interface coordinating telescope and instruments. In order to connect to a service, application code specifies a service name--typically an instrument name--and a style, which defines the way in which the application will interact with the service. Two styles are currently supported: keyword, where the application reads and writes named keywords and the resulting inter-task message traffic is hidden; and message, where the application deals directly with messages. The keyword style is intended mainly for user interfaces, and the message style is intended mainly for lower-level applications. KTL applications are event driven: a typical application first connects to all its desired services, then expresses interest in specified events. The application then enters an event dispatch loop in which it waits for events and calls the appropriate service's event-handling routine. Each event is associated with a call-back routine which is invoked when the event occurs. Call-back routines may (and typically do) interact with other sub-systems and KTL provides the means of doing so without blocking the application (vital for X Window user interfaces). This approach is a marriage of ideas culled from the X window, ADAM, Keck instrument, and Keck telescope control systems. A novel feature of KTL is that it knows nothing about any services or styles. Instead it defines a generic set of routines which must be implemented by all services and styles (essentially open(), ioctl(), read(), write(), event(), and close()) and activates sharable libraries at run-time. Services have been implemented (in both keyword and message styles) for HIRES (the Keck high resolution echelle spectrograph built by Lick Observatory), LWS (the Keck long wavelength spectrometer built by UC San Diego), and the Keck telescope. Each of these implementations uses different underlying message systems: the Lick MUSIC system, RPC's, and direct sockets (respectively). Services for the remaining three front-line Keck instruments will be implemented over the next few months.

Text Messaging for Psychiatric Outpatients: Effect on Help-Seeking and Self-Harming Behaviors.

PubMed

Kodama, Toyohiko; Syouji, Hiroko; Takaki, Sachiko; Fujimoto, Hirokazu; Ishikawa, Shinichi; Fukutake, Masaaki; Taira, Masaru; Hashimoto, Takeshi

2016-04-01

A mobile phone intervention was developed and tested with 30 psychiatric outpatients with mental illness, who had high ideation for suicide. The intervention involved promoting help-seeking behaviors by sending text messages, including information about social welfare services and reminders about medical appointments, for 6 months. After the intervention period, the number of participants who used social services significantly increased, and more than 80% of participants reported that the text messaging service was helpful and useful. Compared to baseline, participants' self-harming behaviors decreased and the attending psychiatrists rated their suicide ideation as weaker. This is the first intervention study to promote psychiatric patients' help-seeking using text messaging, and although it was not a randomized controlled trial, this intervention has practical value and may lead to the prevention of suicide. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

Design and Multi-Country Validation of Text Messages for an mHealth Intervention for Primary Prevention of Progression to Hypertension in Latin America.

PubMed

Diez-Canseco, Francisco; Zavala-Loayza, J Alfredo; Beratarrechea, Andrea; Kanter, Rebecca; Ramirez-Zea, Manuel; Rubinstein, Adolfo; Martinez, Homero; Miranda, J Jaime

2015-02-18

Mobile health (mHealth) has been posited to contribute to the reduction in health gaps and has shown fast and widespread growth in developing countries. This growth demands understanding of, and preparedness for, local cultural contexts. To describe the design and validation of text messages (short message service, SMS) that will be used for an mHealth behavioral change intervention to prevent hypertension in three Latin American countries: Argentina, Guatemala, and Peru. An initial set of 64 SMS text messages were designed to promote healthy lifestyles among individuals in different stages of behavior change, addressing four key domains: salt and sodium intake, fruit and vegetable intake, consumption of high fat and sugar foods, and physical activity. The 64 SMS text messages were organized into nine subsets for field validation. In each country 36 people were recruited, half of them being male. Of the participants, 4 per country evaluated each subset of SMS text messages, which contained between 6 and 8 SMS text messages regarding different key domains and stages of change. The understanding and appeal of each SMS text message was assessed using a 7-item questionnaire. The understanding and appeal ratings were used to reach a final set of 56 SMS text messages. Overall, each of the 64 SMS text messages received a total of 12 evaluations (4 per country). The majority of evaluations-742 out of a total of 767 (96.7%) valid responses-revealed an adequate understanding of the key idea contained in the SMS text message. On a scale from 1 to 10, the average appeal score was 8.7 points, with a range of 4 to 10 points. Based on their low scores, 8 SMS text messages per country were discarded. Once the final set of 56 SMS text messages was established, and based on feedback obtained in the field, wording and content of some SMS text messages were improved. Of the final set, 9, 8, and 16 of the SMS text messages were improved based on participant evaluations from Argentina, Guatemala, and Peru, respectively. Most SMS text messages selected for the final set (49/56, 88%) were the same in all countries, except for small wording differences. The final set of SMS text messages produced had very high rates of understanding and appeal in three different Latin American countries. This study highlights the importance of developing and validating a package of simple, preventative SMS text messages, grounded in evidence and theory, across three different Latin American countries with active engagement of end users.

Design and Multi-Country Validation of Text Messages for an mHealth Intervention for Primary Prevention of Progression to Hypertension in Latin America

PubMed Central

Diez-Canseco, Francisco; Zavala-Loayza, J Alfredo; Beratarrechea, Andrea; Kanter, Rebecca; Ramirez-Zea, Manuel; Rubinstein, Adolfo; Martinez, Homero

2015-01-01

Background Mobile health (mHealth) has been posited to contribute to the reduction in health gaps and has shown fast and widespread growth in developing countries. This growth demands understanding of, and preparedness for, local cultural contexts. Objective To describe the design and validation of text messages (short message service, SMS) that will be used for an mHealth behavioral change intervention to prevent hypertension in three Latin American countries: Argentina, Guatemala, and Peru. Methods An initial set of 64 SMS text messages were designed to promote healthy lifestyles among individuals in different stages of behavior change, addressing four key domains: salt and sodium intake, fruit and vegetable intake, consumption of high fat and sugar foods, and physical activity. The 64 SMS text messages were organized into nine subsets for field validation. In each country 36 people were recruited, half of them being male. Of the participants, 4 per country evaluated each subset of SMS text messages, which contained between 6 and 8 SMS text messages regarding different key domains and stages of change. The understanding and appeal of each SMS text message was assessed using a 7-item questionnaire. The understanding and appeal ratings were used to reach a final set of 56 SMS text messages. Results Overall, each of the 64 SMS text messages received a total of 12 evaluations (4 per country). The majority of evaluations—742 out of a total of 767 (96.7%) valid responses—revealed an adequate understanding of the key idea contained in the SMS text message. On a scale from 1 to 10, the average appeal score was 8.7 points, with a range of 4 to 10 points. Based on their low scores, 8 SMS text messages per country were discarded. Once the final set of 56 SMS text messages was established, and based on feedback obtained in the field, wording and content of some SMS text messages were improved. Of the final set, 9, 8, and 16 of the SMS text messages were improved based on participant evaluations from Argentina, Guatemala, and Peru, respectively. Most SMS text messages selected for the final set (49/56, 88%) were the same in all countries, except for small wording differences. Conclusions The final set of SMS text messages produced had very high rates of understanding and appeal in three different Latin American countries. This study highlights the importance of developing and validating a package of simple, preventative SMS text messages, grounded in evidence and theory, across three different Latin American countries with active engagement of end users. PMID:25693595

"Please Don't Send Us Spam!" A Participative, Theory-Based Methodology for Developing an mHealth Intervention.

PubMed

Toefy, Yoesrie; Skinner, Donald; Thomsen, Sarah

2016-08-17

Mobile health solutions have the potential of reducing burdens on health systems and empowering patients with important information. However, there is a lack of theory-based mHealth interventions. The purpose of our study was to develop a participative, theory-based, mobile phone, audio messaging intervention attractive to recently circumcised men at voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) clinics in the Cape Town area in South Africa. We aimed to shift some of the tasks related to postoperative counselling on wound management and goal setting on safe sex. We place an emphasis on describing the full method of message generation to allow for replication. We developed an mHealth intervention using a staggered qualitative methodology: (1) focus group discussions with 52 recently circumcised men and their partners to develop initial voice messages they felt were relevant and appropriate, (2) thematic analysis and expert consultation to select the final messages for pilot testing, and (3) cognitive interviews with 12 recent VMMC patients to judge message comprehension and rank the messages. Message content and phasing were guided by the theory of planned behavior and the health action process approach. Patients and their partners came up with 245 messages they thought would help men during the wound-healing period. Thematic analysis revealed 42 different themes. Expert review and cognitive interviews with more patients resulted in 42 messages with a clear division in terms of needs and expectations between the initial wound-healing recovery phase (weeks 1-3) and the adjustment phase (weeks 4-6). Discussions with patients also revealed potential barriers to voice messaging, such as lack of technical knowledge of mobile phones and concerns about the invasive nature of the intervention. Patients' own suggested messages confirmed Ajzen's theory of planned behavior that if a health promotion intervention can build trust and be relevant to the recipient's needs in the first contacts, then the same recipients will perceive subsequent motivational messages more favorably. The health action process approach was also a useful tool for guiding the phasing of the messages. Participants were more positive and salutogenic than public health experts. The system showed how a process of consultation can work with a set of potential recipients of an mHealth service to ensure that their needs are included. Classic behavioral theories can and should be used to design modern mHealth interventions. We also believe that patients are the best source of messaging, ensuring that messages are culturally relevant and interesting to the recipient.

Short message service (SMS) text messaging as an intervention medium for weight loss: A literature review.

PubMed

Shaw, Ryan; Bosworth, Hayden

2012-12-01

Nearly 68% of American adults are obese or overweight. Mobile devices such as mobile phones have emerged as a mode of intervention delivery to help people improve their health, particularly in relation to weight loss. This literature review examines the relationship between the use of short message service (SMS) text messaging as an intervention medium and weight loss. Results from this literature review (n = 14) suggest that SMS as an intervention tool for weight loss is still in its infancy. Initial results are promising but continued investigation is needed. We offer several recommendations for future research.

The effects of message framing, involvement, and nicotine dependence on anti-smoking public service announcements.

PubMed

Jung, Wan S; Villegas, Jorge

2011-01-01

Anti-smoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs) typically emphasize the negative consequences of failing to quit smoking (negative frame), as opposed to emphasizing the benefits of quitting (positive frame). However, stressing the benefits of quitting sometimes produces better communication outcomes. Previous research on message framing has tried to identify factors affecting the impact of positive framing and negative framing. Data were collected on 188 undergraduates attending a southeastern university in the United States who were assigned randomly to view either positive or negative messages. Our study found that involvement and nicotine dependence moderated the impact of framed smoking-cessation messages on attitude toward the ad.

Usage of the hybrid encryption in a cloud instant messages exchange system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kvyetnyy, Roman N.; Romanyuk, Olexander N.; Titarchuk, Evgenii O.; Gromaszek, Konrad; Mussabekov, Nazarbek

2016-09-01

A new approach for constructing cloud instant messaging represented in this article allows users to encrypt data locally by using Diffie - Hellman key exchange protocol. The described approach allows to construct a cloud service which operates only by users encrypted messages; encryption and decryption takes place locally at the user party using a symmetric AES encryption. A feature of the service is the conferences support without the need for messages reecryption for each participant. In the article it is given an example of the protocol implementation on the ECC and RSA encryption algorithms basis, as well as a comparison of these implementations.

Get real: how current behavior influences perceptions of realism and behavioral intent for public service announcements.

PubMed

Nelson, Michelle R; Zhu, Xuan; Li, Yingying; Fiese, Barbara; Koester, Brenda

2015-01-01

This research examined how realism and current behavior influence message reception and processing for public service announcements (PSAs) designed to help parents with meal planning. Findings from 19 in-depth interviews revealed that the perceived realism of the message, the similarity, and the wishful identification with informants' lives influenced message acceptance, in line with the Message Interpretation Process (MIP) model. Results of an online survey with mothers show that realism matters more for those individuals who already engage in the featured behavior. In line with theory, "experts" (meal planners) show increased behavioral intent of the featured behaviors when viewing the more realistic PSA.

Self-Deprecating Humor Versus Other-Deprecating Humor in Health Messages

PubMed Central

LEE, JI YOUNG; SLATER, MICHAEL D.; TCHERNEV, JOHN

2016-01-01

Humor is sometimes employed in health messages. However, little is known about contingencies under which different types of humor may or may not be effective. This experiment crossed humorous vs. non-humorous and self- vs. other-deprecating messages about binge drinking, and tested how differences in personal investment in alcohol use moderates the effects of such messages on college binge drinkers. Results showed significant three-way interaction effects on subjective norms and behavioral intentions largely consistent with hypotheses. Assessment of significant differences in the interactions indicated that for binge drinkers who weren’t high in personal investment in alcohol use, other-deprecating humor tended to reduce their perceived subjective norms about the acceptability of binge drinking behavior and their behavioral intentions. The effect of the experimental manipulation on subjective norms among these binge drinkers was shown to mediate the effect on intentions to binge drink in the future. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. PMID:26020507

Derivation and validation of the Personal Support Algorithm: an evidence-based framework to inform allocation of personal support services in home and community care.

PubMed

Sinn, Chi-Ling Joanna; Jones, Aaron; McMullan, Janet Legge; Ackerman, Nancy; Curtin-Telegdi, Nancy; Eckel, Leslie; Hirdes, John P

2017-11-25

Personal support services enable many individuals to stay in their homes, but there are no standard ways to classify need for functional support in home and community care settings. The goal of this project was to develop an evidence-based clinical tool to inform service planning while allowing for flexibility in care coordinator judgment in response to patient and family circumstances. The sample included 128,169 Ontario home care patients assessed in 2013 and 25,800 Ontario community support clients assessed between 2014 and 2016. Independent variables were drawn from the Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care and interRAI Community Health Assessment that are standardised, comprehensive, and fully compatible clinical assessments. Clinical expertise and regression analyses identified candidate variables that were entered into decision tree models. The primary dependent variable was the weekly hours of personal support calculated based on the record of billed services. The Personal Support Algorithm classified need for personal support into six groups with a 32-fold difference in average billed hours of personal support services between the highest and lowest group. The algorithm explained 30.8% of the variability in billed personal support services. Care coordinators and managers reported that the guidelines based on the algorithm classification were consistent with their clinical judgment and current practice. The Personal Support Algorithm provides a structured yet flexible decision-support framework that may facilitate a more transparent and equitable approach to the allocation of personal support services.

Optimising mHealth helpdesk responsiveness in South Africa: towards automated message triage

PubMed Central

Engelhard, Matthew; Copley, Charles; Watson, Jacqui; Pillay, Yogan; Barron, Peter

2018-01-01

In South Africa, a national-level helpdesk was established in August 2014 as a social accountability mechanism for improving governance, allowing recipients of public sector services to send complaints, compliments and questions directly to a team of National Department of Health (NDoH) staff members via text message. As demand increases, mechanisms to streamline and improve the helpdesk must be explored. This work aims to evaluate the need for and feasibility of automated message triage to improve helpdesk responsiveness to high-priority messages. Drawing from 65 768 messages submitted between October 2016 and July 2017, the quality of helpdesk message handling was evaluated via detailed inspection of (1) a random sample of 481 messages and (2) messages reporting mistreatment of women, as identified using expert-curated keywords. Automated triage was explored by training a naïve Bayes classifier to replicate message labels assigned by NDoH staff. Classifier performance was evaluated on 12 526 messages withheld from the training set. 90 of 481 (18.7%) NDoH responses were scored as suboptimal or incorrect, with median response time of 4.0 hours. 32 reports of facility-based mistreatment and 39 of partner and family violence were identified; NDoH response time and appropriateness for these messages were not superior to the random sample (P>0.05). The naïve Bayes classifier had average accuracy of 85.4%, with ≥98% specificity for infrequently appearing (<50%) labels. These results show that helpdesk handling of mistreatment of women could be improved. Keyword matching and naïve Bayes effectively identified uncommon messages of interest and could support automated triage to improve handling of high-priority messages. PMID:29713508