TY - JOUR
T1 - Engagement with and Acceptability of Digital Media Platforms for Use in Improving Health Behaviors among Vulnerable Families
T2 - Systematic Review
AU - Eppes, Elisabet V.
AU - Augustyn, Marycatherine
AU - Gross, Susan M.
AU - Vernon, Paris
AU - Caulfield, Laura E.
AU - Paige, David M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a subaward from the Hopkins and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Participant Research Innovation Laboratory for Enhancing Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Services, a cooperative agreement between the USDA Food and Nutrition Service and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Cooperative Agreement Number #OPS-WIC-PRIL-JH-2018. The findings and conclusions in this publication are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or US Government determination or policy. Two representatives of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Karen Castellanos-Brown, PhD, MSW, and Kavitha Sankavaram, PhD, reviewed the manuscript and provided feedback before submission. The authors are also grateful for the assistance of Donna Hesson, MLS, Public Health Informationist at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by a subaward from the Hopkins and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Participant Research Innovation Laboratory for Enhancing Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children Services, a cooperative agreement between the USDA Food and Nutrition Service and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Cooperative Agreement Number #OPS-WIC-PRIL-JH-2018. The findings and conclusions in this publication are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or US Government determination or policy.
Publisher Copyright:
©Elisabet V Eppes, Marycatherine Augustyn, Susan M Gross, Paris Vernon, Laura E Caulfield, David M Paige.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Background: The use of digital communication platforms to improve health behaviors has increased dramatically over the last decade. Public health practitioners have adopted digital communication technologies such as text messages, mobile apps, and social media to reach diverse populations. However, the effectiveness of digital communication platforms used by community-serving agencies remains unclear, and patterns of engagement and acceptability of different platforms have not been studied. Objective: This review aimed to identify the types of digital communication strategies used by community-serving organizations to promote healthy behaviors, assess the strength of evidence for health behavioral change, and describe the degree of consumer engagement with and acceptability of these strategies. The study population included low-income pregnant women, parents of young children, and adolescents. Methods: A systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, and APA PsycInfo, covering research conducted from 2009 to 2022. Studies were included if they examined the use of digital communication (ie, texting, mobile apps, or social media) to promote healthy behaviors in the target population. Risk of bias and strength of evidence were assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Risk of Bias tool and criteria from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, respectively. Results: Twenty-three peer-reviewed research studies published between 2012 and 2022, conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, were included in the review. The sample comprised studies exploring the use of texting (n=12), apps (n=6), social media (n=3), and multiple platforms (n=2; eg, texting and mobile apps). Targeted health behaviors included healthy diet, physical activity, obesity prevention, healthy pregnancy, breastfeeding, vaccine use, smoking cessation, and nutrition benefit redemption. The sample included 8 randomized controlled trials, 6 pretest-posttest design, 3 mixed methods studies, 2 pilot studies, 1 feasibility study, 1 prospective cohort study, 1 descriptive study, and 1 cross-sectional study. The median sample size was 77.5. There was no strong evidence to suggest the effectiveness of digital media campaigns in improving health behaviors; however, there were moderate to high levels of engagement and high levels of acceptability across digital platforms. Conclusions: Low-income pregnant women, parents of young children, and adolescents demonstrated moderate levels of engagement with and high levels of acceptability of digital media health campaigns conducted by community-serving agencies. The effectiveness of these strategies in improving health behaviors was inconclusive. Additional rigorous studies with larger sample sizes are required. In addition, more research is required to consistently measure and report participants’ engagement with each platform. Digital communication platforms are critical tools for public health practitioners, and future investigations of the effectiveness of these platforms in engaging clients and improving health behaviors will maximize client services.
AB - Background: The use of digital communication platforms to improve health behaviors has increased dramatically over the last decade. Public health practitioners have adopted digital communication technologies such as text messages, mobile apps, and social media to reach diverse populations. However, the effectiveness of digital communication platforms used by community-serving agencies remains unclear, and patterns of engagement and acceptability of different platforms have not been studied. Objective: This review aimed to identify the types of digital communication strategies used by community-serving organizations to promote healthy behaviors, assess the strength of evidence for health behavioral change, and describe the degree of consumer engagement with and acceptability of these strategies. The study population included low-income pregnant women, parents of young children, and adolescents. Methods: A systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines using PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL, and APA PsycInfo, covering research conducted from 2009 to 2022. Studies were included if they examined the use of digital communication (ie, texting, mobile apps, or social media) to promote healthy behaviors in the target population. Risk of bias and strength of evidence were assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Risk of Bias tool and criteria from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, respectively. Results: Twenty-three peer-reviewed research studies published between 2012 and 2022, conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, were included in the review. The sample comprised studies exploring the use of texting (n=12), apps (n=6), social media (n=3), and multiple platforms (n=2; eg, texting and mobile apps). Targeted health behaviors included healthy diet, physical activity, obesity prevention, healthy pregnancy, breastfeeding, vaccine use, smoking cessation, and nutrition benefit redemption. The sample included 8 randomized controlled trials, 6 pretest-posttest design, 3 mixed methods studies, 2 pilot studies, 1 feasibility study, 1 prospective cohort study, 1 descriptive study, and 1 cross-sectional study. The median sample size was 77.5. There was no strong evidence to suggest the effectiveness of digital media campaigns in improving health behaviors; however, there were moderate to high levels of engagement and high levels of acceptability across digital platforms. Conclusions: Low-income pregnant women, parents of young children, and adolescents demonstrated moderate levels of engagement with and high levels of acceptability of digital media health campaigns conducted by community-serving agencies. The effectiveness of these strategies in improving health behaviors was inconclusive. Additional rigorous studies with larger sample sizes are required. In addition, more research is required to consistently measure and report participants’ engagement with each platform. Digital communication platforms are critical tools for public health practitioners, and future investigations of the effectiveness of these platforms in engaging clients and improving health behaviors will maximize client services.
KW - breastfeeding
KW - community
KW - engagement
KW - health promotion
KW - low-income
KW - maternal and child health
KW - mobile app
KW - mobile phone
KW - nutrition and physical activity
KW - pregnancy
KW - social media
KW - text messaging
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U2 - 10.2196/40934
DO - 10.2196/40934
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36735286
AN - SCOPUS:85147458159
SN - 1439-4456
VL - 25
JO - Journal of medical Internet research
JF - Journal of medical Internet research
M1 - e40934
ER -