Atlas: An Interactive Text Messaging Program Combining Weather Alerts With Hyper-Localized Resources & Actionable Insights for Addressing Climate Change.
Phase: NA
Conditions: Climate Change
Sponsor: Pro-Change Behavior Systems

 
atlas: An Interactive Text Messaging Program Combining Weather Alerts With  
Hyper-Localized Resources & Actionable Insights for Addressing Climate Change 
NCT06995755 
 
Unique Protocol ID: R43ES035344 
April 18, 2025 
 
 
 

Unique Protocol 
Objective: 
The purpose of this research is to develop and establish the feasibility and potential impact of 
the atlas in a 30-day pilot test. This interactive text messaging program leverages insights from 
behavior change science and integrates data from the National Weather Service to engage a 
broad spectrum of users with varying levels of concern about climate change and tailor the user 
experience.  
Design: 
As this is a Phase I study, it utilizes a single group, pre-post pilot test of the atlas program. 
The atlas text messaging program has various components: 
• 
providing information on current climate-related and environmental risks (e.g., high 
temperatures, air quality alerts, asthma triggers etc.) that might adversely affect a user’s 
current health conditions; 
• 
linking users to local zip-code matched resources to mitigate their specific risk (e.g., 
cooling centers, hurricane shelters)  
• 
implementing a full range of best practices in tailored health behavior change 
communications to personalize ongoing communications regarding the link between 
human actions and extreme weather based on the user’s level of concern about and 
belief in climate change;  
• 
providing customized actionable tips for addressing climate change to promote climate 
efficacy at the individual, community, and policy/advocacy level based on the user’s level 
of motivation. 
Methods: 
The protocol involves a a 30-day pilot test. The initial onboarding assessment (Session 1) 
begins with a brief screener that assesses age, level of concern about extreme weather, level of 
certainty that climate change is happening now, and extent to which users believe climate 
change is caused by human actions.  
 
Individuals under 18 years old and/or those who respond "not at all" to the screening questions 
will be excluded from the study with an option to explore helpful resources around climate 
change and extreme weather. 
 
All other users will be invited to provide informed consent to participate in the 30-day pilot test. 
Users who provide informed consent continue in Session 1, which includes:  
• 
A 3-item measure of response efficacy that assessed individual, community, and 
governmental/policy level efficacy 
• 
A question about frequency of taking action on climate change in the past year  
• 
A question about confidence for taking action in the next month  
• 
Individually tailored feedback on all questions 
• 
A brief demographic assessment  
 

All atlas users are opted into text messages that are activated by an API call from any weather 
alerts issued by the National Weather Service. Resources and tips for protecting oneself from 
the specific type of extreme weather are matched to the severity of the alert (e.g.,flood watch vs. 
flood warning) and regionalized (e.g., cooling centers and weatherization programs in the 
specific city in which participants reside).  
 
Following Session 1, up to 30 days of daily tailored text messages are queued for each user. 
Thus, even if they do not respond to subsequent assessment questions, they continue to 
receive personalized text tips and weather alerts. Every seven days, atlas prompts users to 
respond to additional brief assessments that enable their feedback to be further customized. 
 
Thirty days post-baseline, users are invited to complete an online follow-up assessment that re-
asked all baseline (Session 1) questions, anxiety, norms, unmet social needs, and intention to 
take climate action, as well as asking what climate actions the user has taken in the past month 
and intends to take in the next month. Users are also asked to respond to an evaluation of atlas 
that includes 11 Likert-scale response as well as a series of open-ended questions about what 
they liked best and least about atlas and how it could be improved. Up to 5 emails and/or text 
reminders and 2 phone calls to complete the follow-up assessment are sent. Participants 
receive a $35 gift card after they finish the first session of atlas and a $40 gift card after they 
complete the final survey.