Leveraging the power of Monday to promote men's sexual health

In recent years, the number of text and email-based health campaigns has skyrocketed, largely due to the cost-effectiveness and ease of use of such technologies. Text-based sexual health programs are starting to see evidence of success in preventing STDs and unwanted pregnancies. While evaluating outcomes is of course critical for any public health initiative, practitioners could potentially increase program impact by answering the following process-related questions: 1) How often should we be sending communications to program participants? and 2) When is the ideal window of time to be delivering these messages? These questions regarding “dosage” have yet to be adequately answered by the scientific community. However, current evidence suggests that weekly messages may be an ideal frequency to motivate people to start and maintain healthy sexual behaviors, and Monday may be the best day for such messages to be delivered. Several organizations have already taken advantage of the “Monday Effect” by promoting their sexual health programs on Mondays. The organizations include the Harlem Health Center in New York City, Planned Parenthood, and several universities around the US. The main goal of the promotion, called “Man Up Monday,” is to send a sex-positive message to young people that encourages them to go get tested for STDs and to restock their condom supplies every Monday. By leveraging the natural tendency to focus on health behaviors at the beginning of the week, these programs are able to boost participation levels and contribute to establishing a supportive social context for healthy behavior.