Texting4Health

Coming Soon: Texting 4 Health the book

richard — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:11:27 +0000

BJ Fogg and I (Richard Adler) are serving as editors for a book based on the Texting 4 Health conference. Most of the conference presenters have agreed to contribute chapters to the book, which we hope to have in print by summer. Stay tuned for more details.

Resource Guide and Blog

adam — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 04:26:37 +0000

Thank you one and all for your interest in the area of using text messaging to improve health. We at the Persuasive Technology Lab would like to thank all attendees of the Texting 4 Health conference for an enthusiastic exchange of ideas and hope that the connections made at the event will prove fruitful in your work. Indeed it is your passion that inspired BJ Fogg to compile a first draft of a Texting 4 Health Resource Directory. This directory aspires to be a comprehensive guide to public and private initiatives, policies, actors, studies, etc. in the area of the use of text messaging for health.

The directory is intended to be a living document with contributions from the community of theoreticians and practitioners warmly welcomed. As a living document the directory will also need gentle pruning and care for it to grow. Dr. Kevin Patrick and Linsday Dillon of UCSD have graciously offered to be the first gardeners. They will be main caretakers until October 1 when the role of gardener will be taken over by the Institute for the Future. Thank you to both organizations for volunteering to take on this task. Yet the success of the directory depends on all of us. As such we would like to ask that whenever you encounter a resource that would be useful to us all, please send a note to Lindsay Dillon.

Also, over the past few days we have launched theTexting4Health blog. This blog is intended to be a more informal means for exchanging any and all thoughts, information, news, ideas, etc. relating to our field with members of the community and the world. Please post and let’s make the blog the go-to place for an interchange on any and all aspects of this exciting nascent field.

Please enjoy both resources by making use of and contributing to them!

Thank you BJ for the conference, thank you to our donors and all speakers at the conference, thank you to all who helped lay the cornerstones of this new field, and thank you Kara especially for all your hard work behind the scenes on the website, program and so much more.

–Adam Tolnay

Program Director, Texting4Health Conference

Great people, great content @ Texting4Health

bjfogg — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:24:29 +0000

From what I can tell, everyone was pleased with the Texting4Health event at Stanford last week. About 150 people gathered to explore and learn how to use text messaging to improve health behaviors.

Thursday’s preview workshop helped texting newbies learn to text. This was a fun session, and everyone left with the basics of texting mastered. (Some parents who texted their kids for the first time were surprised with the positive reactions, like “I can’t believe you’re texting me. Awesome. Welcome to the 21st century!”)

Friday’s main event featured over 25 speakers giving 10-minute talks. For most of us, this was a welcome wave of info. The speakers are among the world’s leaders in texting and behavior change. We’ve posted many of their slides online.

To our surprise, Saturday’s optional workshop was perhaps even better than Friday’s main event. About 55 people who attended learned from four texting companies. What made Saturday fascinating was how much confidence everyone gained. Most people went from thinking, “Yeah, I want to start texting4health, but I’m not quite sure about my next steps” to a confident “I’m ready to go home and get started. I know just what to do!”

Thanks to everyone for making this event a success.

–BJ Fogg

Event Director &

Director of Stanford’s Persuasive Technology Lab