Development and Feasibility of a Novel mHealth Resource for Food Insecurity: Mixed Methods Cohort Study.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Mobile Health Interventions
• Food Insecurity Research

Background:

• Pediatric guidelines advocate for addressing food insecurity (FI) in routine care.
• Health systems lack effective methods to connect families with FI to community food resources.
• SMS text messaging offers a feasible, user-friendly, and equitable solution for resource delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel mobile health intervention for families to access local food resources.
• To evaluate the reach, engagement, usability, and acceptability of this SMS-based intervention over a 1-year pilot.

Main Methods:

• An automated SMS system was designed to send geographically tailored food resource information to families with FI post-hospital discharge.
• Caregivers of hospitalized children with a positive FI screen were enrolled.
• System and caregiver reports measured reach, engagement, usability (SUS score), and acceptability via interviews.

Main Results:

• The intervention reached 94% of eligible families, with 58% engaging with text messages and 37% clicking links.
• Among respondents, 46% used the information to search for food resources.
• The system achieved a high usability score (median SUS 86.1) and acceptability (97%), with caregivers preferring text messages over paper handouts.

Conclusions:

• Automated, tailored SMS text messaging for food resource delivery post-discharge is feasible, usable, and acceptable.
• SMS text messaging is a preferred and promising low-intensity method for health systems to provide social resources.
• Future research should focus on effectiveness and strategies to increase clinical uptake.