Postnatal mHealth Intervention Development
Condition: Health Attitude; Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Postpartum Depression; Acceptability of Health Care
MeSH terms: Depression, Postpartum
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study is a six-week exploratory developmental phase (phase 1) of a larger project to
      develop an mHealth intervention targeting health education and social support for Indian
      women in the postnatal period. Phase 1 of the trial exposes study participants to various
      intervention modalities and seeks to understand their experiences and perspectives on these
      using mixed-methods. Results from this trial will inform modifications to the intervention to
      be tested in Phase 2.
    

Detailed description: 
      Most mHealth interventions for maternal and child health (MCH) in low and middle-income
      countries, including India, have focused on unidirectional and non-interactive approaches,
      primarily text messaging. However, ample evidence suggests that provider-led, interactive
      educational programming and social support are key for improving health behaviors and
      outcomes. Thus innovative mHealth approaches that promote interactive education and
      facilitate social support have great potential to improve MCH outcomes. The two-phase
      development of MeSSSSage will include Phase 1: exploratory development on functions and
      platforms and Phase 2: a mixed-methods randomized pilot study using a factorial design of
      specific intervention functions and platforms confirmed in Phase 1. Study activities
      described herein are associated with Phase 1. The study's specific aim is: To develop optimal
      intervention functions, processes, and mHealth platforms for education and peer support among
      postnatal women in rural India. In Phase 1, the investigators will explore potential
      interactive education and peer support group intervention functions (education, emotional
      support, instrumental support, referrals, linkages, follow-up on postnatal visits), processes
      (group interactions; frequency, length and timing of groups; engagement opportunities,
      participant profiles) and mHealth delivery platforms (voice, text chat, app options,
      interaction features). This six-week developmental component will include up to four groups
      (n=48; 12 per group) to assess different modalities and functions. The investigators will
      ascertain women's preferences for functions, processes, and platform features using survey
      and in-depth interviews (IDIs), and capture levels of engagement via back-end data. This
      process will also inform the intervention's health information content. Findings will be used
      to formalize the group mobile intervention details to be examined in Phase 2.
    

Intervention name(s): MESSAGE - mHealth intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): A group-based moderated six-week intervention with didactic, discussion, and text communication components.
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Intervention model description: Non-randomized quasi-experimental exploratory study. All small groups will receive the same intervention which is exposure to a variety of intervention modalities (3 main modalities: information delivery, facilitation strategy, text management).
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention