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. 2020 Oct;14(5):e5-e6.
doi: 10.1017/dmp.2020.114. Epub 2020 Apr 22.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: Health System and Community Response to a Text Message (Text4Hope) Program Supporting Mental Health in Alberta

Vincent I O Agyapong  1
Affiliations

Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: Health System and Community Response to a Text Message (Text4Hope) Program Supporting Mental Health in Alberta

Vincent I O Agyapong. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

In an effort to support the mental health of Albertans during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Alberta Health Services launched a supportive text message (Text4Mood) program on March 23, 2020. The program was simultaneously approved for funding by the 6 regional health foundations and launched within 1 week of conception. Residents of Alberta can subscribe to the program by texting "COVID19HOPE" to a sort code number. Each subscriber receives free daily supportive text messages, for 3 months, crafted by a team of clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health therapist, and mental health service users. Within 1 week of the launch of Text4Hope, 32 805 subscribers had signed up to the program, and there have been expressions of interests from other jurisdictions to implement a similar program to support the mental health of those in quarantine, isolation, or lockdown.

Keywords: Alberta; COVID19; Text4Hope; support; text messages.

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