Talking Sex Together (TxT) - A State-Wide Scalable Model Using Mobile Technology and Social Media to Generate Teen Peer-to-Peer Dialogue About Pregnancy Prevention

Program background: The Iowa Department of Human Services and EyesOpenIowa partnered with Fleishman-Hillard to create a statewide teen pregnancy prevention campaign aimed to motivate behavior change and impact teen attitudes and perceptions about sexual health. The Talking Sex Together (TxT) program encourages open peer-to-peer dialogue about teen pregnancy through text messaging, social networks and online channels, thereby speaking to teens in their own language through communication mediums they know and trust. Results: • Over 800 teens signed-up to receive via text weekly quizzes, facts and polls related to sexual health. • 63 percent of participating teens believed the campaign positively influenced attitudes, views, and/or behaviors related to sex. • Via an anonymous hotline, teens submitted hundreds of sexual health-related questions and received instant answers via text from a trained sex educator, enabling teens to receive accurate and timely safe sex education. • Formulated an active group of teen peer advocates, drove 17,000 visitors to website. Conclusions: Leveraging research findings and principles from proven behavior change models, Talking Sex Together (TxT) delivered a message that empowered teens to help one another make good decisions and stimulated on-going dialogue about sexual health. Efforts to affect health attitudes, perceptions and behavior change work best with the inclusion of relevant theoretical frameworks, audience segmentation, careful message design and appropriate channel selection. Implemented at the state level, this campaign serves as a scalable model for implementing a public health program to reach niche audiences with important health information and motivate intended action.