A Text Messaging Intervention to Increase Engagement and Retention of Men in a Community-Based Father Involvement Program

Abstract

Cell phone technology is increasingly used in health and social work services for information delivery, engagement, and retention in research protocols. In this study, we explored the use of text messaging to increase engagement, participation, and retention in a responsible fatherhood program. In this mixed-methods study, men who enrolled in the program over a one year period (N = 212) were randomly assigned to receive an intervention consisting of twice-weekly messages for 12 weeks. This study employed a concurrent nested mixed methods design with a main quantitative experimental methodology and a supplemental qualitative methodology. Measures of program engagement and participation were collected at 6- and 12-weeks post-enrollment, as well as overall retention in both the fatherhood program and the research protocol. Qualitative interviews with a sub-sample of study participants were conducted after 6 weeks of services. No statistically significant differences were found in the quantitative portion of the study across randomized groups but participants reported positive experiences with the intervention in both program feedback and qualitative interviews. Text messaging may be a low-cost, viable mechanism for engaging fathers in interventions, but further research is needed to determine the impact on program outcomes.

Keywords:

• Cell phone
• engagement
• fathers
• retention
• texting

Acknowledgement

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families or the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network. The authors would like to thank the program and research staff at the Suffolk County Fatherhood Initiative: Romarie McCue, Maria Sanchez, Diane Saunders, Nancy Medina, Alfredo Rosario, Bruce Petrucci, Michael Pirozzi, Howard Treadwell-Smith, Ekta Kohli, and Tiana DeJesus for their dedicated service to fathers and families.

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by a grant from the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network, Grant: 90PR0006 which provided financial and ongoing technical support for this study. Funding for the larger fatherhood program project was provided by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Programs, Grant: 90FK0104. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families or the Fatherhood Research and Practice Network.