Baby Steps Text: Feasibility Study of an SMS-Based Tool for Tracking Children's Developmental Progress
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Published on: June 20, 2020
Hyewon Suh1, John R Porter1, Robert Racadio1
1University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
Insights
Baby Steps Text, an automated child development screening tool via text messages, proved feasible for families lacking internet or medical access. This convenient system effectively supports parents in monitoring their child's developmental progress.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health
- Pediatric Health
- Health Communication
Background:
- Reaching underserved populations with health tools is challenging.
- Traditional screening methods may not reach all children.
- Innovative digital health solutions are needed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and implement an automated text message-based screening tool called Baby Steps Text.
- To evaluate the feasibility and usability of this tool with families.
- To assess its potential for reaching children without consistent internet or medical care.
Main Methods:
- Preliminary user research using storyboarding and prototyping.
- Development of a fully functional text message-based screening system.
- A one-month deployment study with fourteen families to assess feasibility and error rates.
Main Results:
- 13 out of 14 participants successfully learned and used the text message response structure with a low error rate (2.88%).
- Participants completed child development screeners entirely via text messages.
- Post-study surveys and interviews confirmed the tool was understandable, easy to use, convenient, and provided timely information.
Conclusions:
- Text message-based screening is a feasible approach for monitoring child development.
- Baby Steps Text can effectively reach and support parents in underserved populations.
- This tool offers a convenient and accessible method for tracking developmental milestones.
Abstract:
To help reach populations of children without consistent Internet access or medical care, we designed and implemented Baby Steps Text, an automated text message-based screening tool. We conducted preliminary user research via storyboarding and prototyping with target populations and then developed a fully functional system. In a one-month deployment study, we evaluated the feasibility of Baby Steps Text with fourteen families. During a one-month study, 13 out of 14 participants were able to learn and use the response structure (yielding 2.88% error rate) and complete a child development screener entirely via text messages. All post-study survey respondents agreed Baby Steps Text was understandable and easy to use, which was also confirmed through post-study interviews. Some survey respondents expressed liking Baby Steps Text because it was easy, quick, convenient to use, and delivered helpful, timely information. Our initial deployment study shows text messaging is a feasible tool for supporting parents in tracking and monitoring their child's development.
