Text Messaging for HIV Appointment and Medication Reminders - Part I

We’ve discussed some of the uses of text messaging (also known as Short Messaging Service , or SMS) for HIV prevention and testing in previous posts (“R U Texting?” and “Texting 4 Health”). For the next few posts we’ll concentrate on using text messages for appointment and medication reminders. More and more clients are choosing to receive reminders about their upcoming visits or medications via text messages (limited to 140 characters) which are delivered to their mobile phones.

Justin Goforth,
Whitman-Walker Clinic

This week we’ll address some of the reasons why your organization or clinic might want to consider using texting reminders. In the following weeks, we’ll talk about how it’s done, the costs, and privacy considerations.

HIV Travel Policy

The AIDS.gov blog focuses on using new media in response to HIV/AIDS—but we frequently get questions about HHS’ policies related to HIV/AIDS. To respond to this need, we are creating a new biweekly post that will provide a paragraph about Federal HIV/AIDS issues and policies.

This week’s post covers questions about the U.S. policy on prospective visitors who are living with HIV.

Responding to HIV in the Native Community: Part II

Indian Country Today Audio Recordings

We discussed HIV and AIDS among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) in our previous post, and talked about what we know and don’t know about AI/AN new media access. This week we want to share additional insights from members of The Native Capacity Building Assistance Providers’ Network, and highlight some examples.

How can new media be used in the response to HIV and AIDS among American Indian and Alaskan Natives?

While issues still exist with respect to internet and mobile access, AI/AN leadership has shown a commitment to using new media as a channel (in addition to traditonal ones like radio) to reach their audiences. “New media played a key role in establishing our first National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on March 21, 2007,” said Dr. Pamela Thurman, Project Director/Senior Research Scientist at the Commitment to Action for 7^th-Generation Awareness & Education: HIV/AIDS Prevention Project . “We were able to reach a very wide tribal audience by electronic means.”

Responding to HIV in the Native Community: Part I

Indian Health Service HIV/AIDS Program

Last week, we gave a presentation on new media and American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) to the Office of Clinical and Preventive Services (OCPS) at the Indian Health Service. As Captain Scott Giberson, IHS HIV Principal Consultant, and Lt. Commander Dwayne Jarman, IHS Prevention Specialist, told us, “IHS is the Federal agency that fulfills the U.S. government’s responsibility for health among AI/AN communities. New media can enhance our ability to fulfill that role.” The presentation led us to some interesting findings and resources that we’d like to share with you in this week’s post.

Reflections on Our One-Year Anniversary

The AIDS.gov Team

On our one-year blogging anniversary, the AIDS.gov team wants to share with you some important things we’ve learned about new media and how we can use it in response to HIV and AIDS.

First, as we noted in last week's post, we've found that people living with HIV and AIDS are already using the Internet to access HIV and support information. That means those we serve are ahead of many of us in using new media.