S5: SMS for safer sex and sun safety

Risky sexual behaviour and excessive sun exposure have potentially serious health consequences for young people. Both can lead to significant problems in the short term (eg: acquiring a sexually transmitted infection (STI), sunburn) and in the long term (eg: development of pelvic inflammatory disease which can lead to infertility, development of skin cancer).

New and innovative methods are needed to reach young people about these important health issues. We have shown in the past that SMS (mobile phone text messages) can be effective in promoting health to young people.

Completed

The S5 project involved 7,600 young people in Victoria who had agreed to receive mobile advertising from one telecommunications provider. Half were assigned to receive messages about safer sex, and half were assigned to receive messages about sun safety. From December 2008 until April 2009, each group received six SMS and two MMS about these topics.

To judge whether the messages led to an improvement in knowledge and behaviour related to safer sex and sun safety, all 7,600 were invited to complete a baseline survey in December 2008 (before any messages were sent) and a follow up survey in May 2009 (after all the messages had been sent). The survey was developed so that it could be completed online using a mobile phone.