Text Message Reminders + Literacy Promotion for Childhood Language Development

Overseen By Jennifer Hemler, PhD

Age: 18+

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Disqualifiers: Genetic disorders, Developmental delays, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: Unknown

Duration: 9 months

630 Participants Needed

Trial Summary

What is the purpose of this trial?

This study tests the extent to which tailored outreach text messages that provide a cue to action and an intervention that enhances access to poverty-reducing resources, in combination with standard primary care literacy promotion, can improve child language and social- emotional skill acquisition among low-income Latino children.

Research Team

Manuel E Jimenez, MD, MS

Principal Investigator

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Eligibility Criteria

This study is for Latino/a/x primary caregivers, aged 18 or older, who speak English or Spanish and own a cell phone. They must care for a child between 6-12 months old and be willing to receive texts and join one of three study groups. It's not for those planning to leave their pediatric clinic soon, unable to consent, or with children having certain congenital/genetic disorders.

Inclusion Criteria

You own a cell phone.

I am willing to be assigned to any of the study groups.

Primary language English or Spanish

Exclusion Criteria

My child has genetic disorders and developmental delays.

Discontinued care at one of the three pediatric clinics / recruitment sites

I plan to stop receiving care at my current children's clinic.

Timeline

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Treatment

Participants receive literacy promotion interventions, including Reach Out and Read (ROR), tailored outreach text messages, and enhanced access to community resources

9 months

Regular visits as part of primary care

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for language and social-emotional skill acquisition, as well as other outcomes

9 months

Long-term Follow-up

Continued monitoring of child development outcomes and caregiver engagement

18 months

Treatment Details

Interventions

• Connection to community resources
• Text messages
• Usual care including ROR

Trial Overview The trial examines if special text messages combined with access to resources that reduce poverty can boost language and social skills in low-income Latino children when added to standard literacy promotion in primary care.

Participant Groups

Group I: ROR plus text messages plus connection to community resources Experimental Treatment 3 Interventions

In addition to ROR and text messages, participants will be referred to a county-based single point of entry system for referrals to community resources. This system simplifies access to poverty-reducing resources by creating a centralized access point, maintaining an updated data base of resources with existing capacity to support families, and providing case management.

Group II: ROR plus text messages Experimental Treatment 2 Interventions

In addition to ROR, participants will receive three text messages per week, plus one interactive follow-up message per month, for the study period with scheduled breaks.

Group III: Usual care including ROR Active Control 1 Intervention

Literacy promotion is a pediatric standard of care. Participants in this group will receive usual care that includes ROR, a primary care literacy promotion intervention.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Lead Sponsor

Trials

471

Recruited

81,700+

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Collaborator

Trials

2,103

Recruited

2,760,000+