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ERIC Number: EJ1053866
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1038-2569
EISSN: N/A
Using SMS as a Harm Reduction Strategy: An Evaluation of the RAGE (Register and Get Educated) Project
Crockett, Belinda; Keleher, Helen; Rudd, Annette; Klein, Ruth; Locke, Beth; Roussy, Véronique
Youth Studies Australia, v32 n3 p26-36 2013
The RAGE (Register And Get Educated) project explored the feasibility of SMS (Short Messaging Service) as a means for communicating harm reduction messages in relation to alcohol and other drugs to young people residing in the City of Knox, Victoria. Almost 700 young people aged 12-26 years registered their mobile phone numbers to receive a series of text messages about five drugs over a period of five months. Twenty invitations were sent to randomly selected individuals from the total number of registrations to participate in the evaluation, which involved qualitative phone interviews at the end of each round of messages. A further nine young people participated in a final series of evaluation questions conducted via phone at the end of the project. The evaluation data revealed that the messages were effective in terms of content, language used and the times at which the messages were sent. Young people reported gaining new knowledge and there was some evidence of a shift in attitude towards specific drugs. This evaluation suggests mobile phone technology is an effective communication tool for health messages in terms of convenience, anonymity, accessibility and relevance for young people. Future research incorporating a pre and post trial design (using drug/alcohol measures) to test the RAGE intervention further would provide more definitive insight into the effectiveness of SMS based amongst young people. Nevertheless, this project demonstrates that provided text messages are developed in a participatory manner to ensure relevance, SMS technology has potential to increase young people's knowledge of drugs and influence attitudes towards specific drugs.
Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies. University of Tasmania Private Bag 64, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia. Tel: +61-3-6226-2591; Fax: +61-3-6226-2578; e-mail: information@acys.utas.edu.au; Web site: http://www.acys.info/journal/overview
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A