Obuobi-Donkor, Gloria2025-08-262025-08-262025-08-25https://hdl.handle.net/10222/85401Populations like the public safety personnel, wildfire victims, and patients receiving mental healthcare are usually confronted with gaps in their psychological support. Supportive text interventions provide cost-effective and scalable solutions to bridge care gaps by delivering accessible daily support while improving mental health outcomes. Objectives • To assess the impact of Text4PTSI for Public Safety Personnel in Alberta, Canada. • To assess the impact of Text4Hope-AB and Text4Hope-NS for subscribers who experienced wildfires in Alberta and Nova Scotia, Canada. • To conduct a randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of Text4Support supportive text messaging programs for patients receiving mental healthcare in Nova Scotia, Canada. • To evaluate users’ satisfaction, receptiveness, and perceptions of the supportive text messaging programs among Public Safety Personnel, wildfire-affected individuals, and mental health patients. Methods This dissertation comprises three separate but related studies, employing both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. A longitudinal design was employed to implement and evaluate Text4PTSI, while both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs were adopted in the Text4Hope-AB and Text4Hope-NS programs. A randomized controlled trial design was employed to evaluate the Text4Support program. Self-reported validated tools assessed mental health conditions among all study participants. User satisfaction, receptiveness, and perceptions were assessed via Likert-scale surveys and qualitative feedback. Results All three programs demonstrated improvements in mental health outcomes. In the Text4PTSI study, a reduction was observed in all clinical conditions, and a statistically significant decrease in the mean anxiety score was noted over a six-month period. During the 2023 Alberta and Nova Scotia wildfires, affected participants with increased anxiety showed significant clinical improvements at six weeks and three months. Findings from the randomized controlled trial showed that the Text4Support program resulted in greater reductions in suicide ideation and sleep disturbance than the control group. Participants across all programs reported high satisfaction. Conclusion Supportive text messaging programs are a promising tool for prevention, intervention, and recovery in mental health care. Incorporating them into existing mental health systems could improve access and support for diverse populations. Future research should investigate how artificial intelligence and machine learning can be used to deliver personalized, real-time messaging that enhances user engagement and improves therapeutic outcomes.ensupportive text interventionpublic safety personnelwildfire victimspsychiatric patients