IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i24p17073-d1008128.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lung Support Service: Implementation of a Nationwide Text Message Support Program for People with Chronic Respiratory Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Rebecca Raeside

    (Engagement and Co-Design Research Hub, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Anna C. Singleton

    (Engagement and Co-Design Research Hub, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Allyson Todd

    (Engagement and Co-Design Research Hub, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia)

  • Stephanie R. Partridge

    (Engagement and Co-Design Research Hub, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia)

  • Karice K. Hyun

    (Engagement and Co-Design Research Hub, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
    Department of Cardiology, Concord Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney, NSW 2137, Australia)

  • Helen Kulas

    (NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation, Sydney, NSW 2065, Australia)

  • Sally L. Wootton

    (Chronic Disease Community Rehabilitation Service, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW 2103, Australia
    Discipline of Physiotherapy, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia)

  • Marita T. Dale

    (Discipline of Physiotherapy, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia)

  • Jennifer A. Alison

    (Discipline of Physiotherapy, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
    Allied Health Research and Education Unit, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia)

  • Zoe McKeough

    (Discipline of Physiotherapy, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia)

  • Renae J. McNamara

    (Discipline of Physiotherapy, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
    Department of Physiotherapy, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia
    Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, NSW 2037, Australia)

  • Lissa Spencer

    (Department of Physiotherapy, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia)

  • Christine Jenkins

    (Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia)

  • Julie Redfern

    (Engagement and Co-Design Research Hub, Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
    The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2042, Australia)

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns led to the closure of most in-person pulmonary rehabilitation programs in Australia. Text message programs are effective for delivering health support to aid the self-management of people with chronic diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of a six-month pre-post text message support program (Texting for Wellness: Lung Support Service), and the enablers and barriers to its adoption and implementation. Methods: This mixed-methods pre-post study used the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework to evaluate the Texting for Wellness: Lung Support Service, which is an automated six-month text message support program that included evidence-based lifestyle, disease-self management and COVID-19-related information. Reach was measured by the proportion of participant enrolments and demographic characteristics. Adoption enablers and barriers were measured using text message response data and a user feedback survey (five-point Likert scale questions and free-text responses). Implementation was evaluated to determine fidelity including text message delivery data, opt-outs, and intervention costs to promote and deliver the program. Results: In total, 707/1940 (36.4%) participants enrolled and provided e-consent, with a mean age (±standard deviation) of 67.9 (±9.2) years old (range: 23–87 years). Of participants who provided feedback, (326/707) most ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ that the text messages were easy to understand (98.5%), helpful them to feel supported (92.3%) and helped them to manage their health (88.0%). Factors influencing engagement included a feeling of support and reducing loneliness, and its usefulness for health self-management. Messages were delivered as planned (93.7% successfully delivered) with minimal participant dropouts (92.2% retention rate) and low cost ($AUD24.48/participant for six months). A total of 2263 text message replies were received from 496 unique participants. There were no reported adverse events. Conclusion: Texting for Wellness: Lung Support Service was implemented quickly, had a broad reach, with high retention and acceptability among participants. The program was low cost and required minimal staff oversight, which may facilitate future implementation. Further research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of text messaging for the improvement of lung health outcomes and strategies for long-term pulmonary rehabilitation program maintenance.

Suggested Citation

  • Rebecca Raeside & Anna C. Singleton & Allyson Todd & Stephanie R. Partridge & Karice K. Hyun & Helen Kulas & Sally L. Wootton & Marita T. Dale & Jennifer A. Alison & Zoe McKeough & Renae J. McNamara &, 2022. "Lung Support Service: Implementation of a Nationwide Text Message Support Program for People with Chronic Respiratory Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:24:p:17073-:d:1008128
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/17073/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/17073/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:24:p:17073-:d:1008128. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.