Director's Blog
Health Marketing Musings
from Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH
The most important platform in the world for collecting and delivering targeted and tailored health information during the first half of the 21st Century will be mobile phones. Mobile phones and integrated wireless devices will revolutionize the practice of public health and touch billions of lives around the world.
As part of our commitment to innovative research and practice in the application of mobile phones to public health, I am proud to share information about the upcoming Texting4Health Conference brought to you by CDC in partnership with the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University. This one-day conference will be held on February 29, 2008, at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, with optional workshops on February 28 and March 1. This will be the premiere conference for learning how text messaging can promote better health by showcasing ideas and insights, and providing real-life applications for designing and launching a mobile campaign.
Mobile text messaging (SMS) can benefit many areas of public health, including early warning systems for outbreaks or public health emergencies, chronic disease self-management, medication adherence, diet and physical activity self-monitoring and tailored messaging, and many other health promotion issues. In my previous academic work, I led a randomized, controlled study that found that individuals receiving wireless text messages tailored to their drinking behaviors reported lower levels of alcohol consumption during the study period compared with control group participants.
The Texting4Health Conference will feature experts in public health, representatives working on mobile systems from world-class technology companies, and innovative leaders in non-profit and social entrepreneurship sectors. Together, they will begin creating a community of people interested in using texting to improve health. The conference will bring together the following groups:
- Health policy professionals from both the public and private sectors, including the CDC, the American Heart Association, and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
- Academic institutions, including the Stanford Center on Longevity, University of California San Diego, the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Science, the Institute for the Future, and Nokia Research.
- Text messaging application developers such as SmartReply, Qualcomm, 4INFO, Healthphone Solutions, Kadoink, and Mosoci.
- Non-profit agencies working in this area, including Internet Sexuality Information Services, Kiwanja.net, and Internet Solutions for Kids.
In addition to the regular conference, optional workshops will be offered before and after: An Introduction to Text Messaging (Friday, February 28), and How to Create Your Own SMS Service (Saturday, March 1).
I encourage you to attend this important and groundbreaking conference, and learn more about how mobile health messages will revolutionize public health. Click on the links to find out more about the Conference and the Program. Contact B.J. Fogg for additional information.
Posted by Jay on Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 12:00pm ET
Submit a comment
Jay,
I think this is wonderful that Stanford has put together a one-day workshop on such a vital, untapped public health marketing resource. I went to register myself and a team of health marketing and outreach specialists from my Community Health Center, when I found that Stanford is charging $549 per person to attend! Charging this much money takes the “public” out of public health. It is ridiculous that Stanford University can't find some way to sponsor an event like this. Especially considering that the University was recently receiving critical review from congress because it is the third richest endowment in the nation at $17.1 billion and ranked #1 in the nation among Universities for fundraising at $832 million last year (SF Chronicle 2/21/08).
Aaron Lones, MPH
Tri-City Health Center
Fremont, CA
Comment
CDC sincerely regrets that information about the Texting4Health early registration deadlines and special discounts for non-profit, government and volunteers (free) did not reach you before I included information about it in our blog. We asked our partners, the National Public Health Information Coalition, to post an online promotion and send several messages to their membership, inviting them to attend. I'm sorry you didn't hear about it until now. As of last Friday, February 22, we've been told the conference is sold out.
I encourage you and others who are interested in joining the Texting4Health community to visit the Texting4Health web site after the conference. They will post a list of resources. It is their intent, as well as CDC's, to build a community of people and organizations that want to tap the enormous potential of using SMS to motivate behavior change.
Posted by Jay on Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 11:00am ETComment
Dr. Bernhardt,
Congratulations on the success of Texting4Health. Working around-the-clock on the front line of emergency health care, the men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department are eager to see much of your work, and that of Texting4Health participants, come to fruition. Knowledge is power, and communication is the key!
Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,
Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Paramedic
Public Information Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department
Comment
Jay,
The good news here is that people from Aaron's organization did end up attending a Texting4Health workshop (see the first comment).
But let me also point out that despite Stanford's success in fundraising, this money doesn't help my lab host an event. We did offer free and low registration prices at the start. We discounted the registration for nonprofits until about two weeks before the event. We raised prices at the end because we didn't want to say "sold out" and exclude people who really needed to attend. But adding people a few days before the event start is a problem. Hence, the extra cost.
Note that if the event lost money, I would be responsible to pay for the loss, from my lab funds or from my personal savings account (probably the latter). We have no fall back or deep pockets to bail us out. In other words, our event had no financial backing from Stanford and no access to Stanford's endowment. For this reason we are so thankful to CDC and others for being sponsors. It's the only way our small lab can host such an event.
Thank you to everyone who helped make it a success. We were all pleased with the outcome, including the people from Aaron's organization who attended.
BJ Fogg
Director, Persuasive Tech Lab
Stanford University
Comment
Jay,
Just wanted to tell you that your Health Marketing site has been very helpful. I am teaching a course at the University of South Florida this summer on public sector and nonprofit marketing and find your Health Marketing site very helpful.
Best Regards,
Jim Mintz
Director, Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing
Ottawa and Toronto
Comment