Influence of Two-Way Texting on Patient Engagement of Low-Income Pregnant or Postpartum Clients and Their Male Partners

Lack of prenatal care or delayed onset of prenatal care has been shown to demonstrate poor health outcomes such as pre-term delivery for pregnant women and/or low-birth weight for their babies. A community-based pregnancy center’s lack of a process improvement plan for increasing engagement with their online educational classes results in patients not receiving the benefits of prenatal care resources intended to improve their pregnancy health outcomes. Community-based pregnancy centers, bridge the gap for vulnerable populations by offering needed prenatal care and resources in local communities. Incorporation of social media, two-way text messaging and mobile phone applications for patient engagement are low-risk, low-cost interventions that could be timely and measurable components of a process improvement plan to ensure continued prenatal care. This paper critically appraises and synthesizes evidence-based research related to interactive communications on patient engagement. The evidence synthesis guided the development of an intervention piloting a texting service to send clients two-way messages. Increased engagement with the Center’s educational programs was evaluated by tracking class registrations, text responses, opt out rates and usage of the material resource program. Clients’ perception of confidence in problem-solving will be assessed pre- and post-implementation of texting.