Health, wellness and crisis organizations are adapting to a new environment where text messaging is a primary form of communication and the capabilities of wireless devices are dramatically increasing. TextAway Mobile provides services that enable these organizations to interact more effectively with their target audience and offer immediate care and guidance.
TextAway Mobile’s “TextConnect” service facilitates a 2-way mobile dialogue, where mobile users can reach out to an organization via text message and receive an immediate response. Its “Text2Mweb” service helps organizations create a mobile-friendly website, which can be viewed conveniently from any wireless phone.
Teen Crisis Program “mPower,” an organization geared towards helping teens that suffer from substance abuse, depression and other common teen problems, has been using TextAway Mobile’s services to connect with teens and offer immediate guidance and help. mPower is funded wholly by the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program, a component of the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin. mPower allows teens to sign up and receive text message alerts that remind them how to handle common teen crises and make responsible decisions.
TextAway Mobile has also designed a mobile-friendly website for mPower that guides teens to important information, including: general information about drugs and alcohol, assistance in dealing with dangerous situations and information about how to help someone struggling with drug and/or alcohol abuse. Teens can conveniently access the mobile website by clicking a link within text messages received from mPower.
“Our mobile campaign has been very successful in connecting with young people who appear to be more comfortable texting or surfing the mobile web rather than calling a hotline or talking to someone in person,” said Jenny Schroeder, mPower’s program director. This summer, the organization plans to make use of TextAway Mobile’s 2-way text messaging service, which would allow mPower to have a text message dialogue with teens as an immediate solution. For additional information on mPower, please visit www.mpowersupport.com.
