Researchers at the Cluj School of Public Health at Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania used TextIt to deliver SMS interventions to prevent smoking relapse in participants after giving birth.
The project sought to, "develop, implement, and disseminate effective and sustainable interventions to prevent and reduce smoking in families over their reproductive life span". The study focused on a group of women who quit smoking during pregnancy and their partners. The participants began to receive SMS interventions starting immediately after giving birth and for 6 weeks postpartum. 600 messages were developed and loaded into the TextIt platform to be sent out in flows and sub-flows each day of the 6-week intervention.
We spoke with Andreea Hoștină, PhD(c), a research assistant who worked on the project's team, some questions about the group's experience using TextIt in their case study:
How did you and your team learn about TextIt?
Andreea: We needed a platform that could help us deliver the SMS part of our intervention. We reviewed the literature and this is how we came across TextIt.
Why did you ultimately choose to use TextIt in your case study?
Andreea: When it came to deciding, TextIt seemed to offer us the tools that we needed. Another advantage was the customer support that was always prompt and eager to help us.
What benefits did you find in using the platform?
Andreea: The platform is very user-friendly and allows us to control the SMS delivery very well. All the functions are explained in the tutorials, and if you encounter some other difficulties, the team is always finding solutions.
Would you recommend using TextIt in other research/case studies and why?
Andreea: Yes, I would recommend TextIt for other studies because it is easy to use, the payment scheme is clear for everyone, and the team behind the platform is very nice and professional. To sum up, TextIt is offering the necessary tools to implement any SMS-based intervention.
To learn more about the project's design & methods, team of researchers, and publications, visit the Cluj School of Public Health's website here.
It is important to note that this study was supported by a grant of Ministry of Research and Innovation, CNCS - UEFISCDI (project number PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0632, within PNCDI III).