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Text Messaging for Mental Health Promotion With Migrants Returning to Mexico: Content Development and Piloting With a
Marcela Tiburcio1, Sarahí Alanís Navarro2, Shoshana Berenzon2,3
1Departamento de Ciencias Sociales en Salud, Dirección de Investigaciones Epidemiológicas y Psicosociales, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, Mexico.
JMIR Formative Research
|May 26, 2026
Summary
Returning migrants can use a new WhatsApp program for self-care and mental health support. This psychoeducational tool, developed with user input, showed high engagement and effectiveness in a pilot study.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Mental Health Interventions
- Digital Health
Background:
- Returning migrants face significant challenges integrating into Mexico, impacting their life trajectory and well-being.
- These challenges include disruptions to family dynamics, long-term projects, and short-term planning, leading to uncertainty.
- There is a need for accessible support systems to address the mental health and substance use risks faced by this population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the coproduction process for developing a WhatsApp-based psychoeducational program for returning migrants.
- To promote self-care behaviors and reduce risks of mental health and substance use problems.
- To enhance the adaptation and integration of returning migrants through accessible digital tools.
Main Methods:
- A four-phase approach was used: situational diagnosis, content design/development, expert evaluation, and pilot testing.
- The program,
- Here Again: Coping With Return,
- focused on emotional risk factors, coping strategies, barriers to care, and technological feasibility.
- Eighty WhatsApp messages were developed, with 65% addressing mental health and 25% alcohol use, using a motivational, instructional, and reinforcement sequence.
Main Results:
- Expert evaluation simplified technical language, improving clarity for the target audience.
- A pilot study with 14 migrants achieved a 78.6% completion rate over 16 weeks.
- Participants successfully applied emotional management tools and preferred text-based messages to conserve data.
Conclusions:
- A coproduction approach successfully integrated user needs and expert experience to develop a culturally sensitive psychoeducational program.
- The WhatsApp-based intervention effectively addresses emotional management, self-care, and substance use prevention for returning migrants.
- High acceptability and retention rates in the pilot study indicate the program's potential for autonomous and effective application of mental health tools.
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