SMS Triggers for High Risk Participants

Description

The SMS Trigger feature in mEMA allows researchers and clinical teams to receive immediate text message alerts when a participant’s survey response meets a high-risk condition. This ensures timely interventions by notifying designated professionals via SMS, even when they are not logged into the platform.

Each SMS can include dynamic information about the participant, their response, and the context of the survey, making it easier to respond quickly and appropriately.

How to Set Up an SMS Trigger

Step 1. Add Your Phone Number

  1. Go to the My mEMA page.

  2. Click Edit Contact Information for your account.


  3. Enter your mobile phone number in the Mobile field (include area code).

  4. Click Submit Information.


Step 2. Configure the Trigger in Your Survey

  1. Go to the Create Survey page.

  2. Select the survey and create or edit the question where you want to set the trigger.

  3. Enable the SMS Trigger checkbox.


  4. Add the trigger condition (e.g., response ≥ 3, specific answer selected, etc.).

    • The condition is similar to setting up dependencies:

      1. The ID is set on the Question #

      2. The logical operator can be any of the following: 

        1. >, <, >=, <=



  1. From the dropdown list, select the phone number to receive the SMS.


    • The dropdown includes phone numbers from all professional accounts in your group who have added their mobile number.

    • Only one phone number per question/trigger condition can be selected.

Step 3. Customize the SMS Message

  1. Enter the text message you want to receive.


  2. You can include dynamic codes to automatically insert participant or survey details:

Code

Inserts

[MEMA_CODE]

Participant’s mobile code

[QUESTION_ID]

The ID of the triggering question

[QUESTION_TAG]

The short text of the question

[ANSWER_ID]

The ID of the selected answer

[ANSWER_TAG]

The short text of the selected answer

[SCORE]

Answer value × question value

[DATE]

Local date and time when the answer was selected

[SURVEY_ID]

Survey ID

[SURVEY_TAG]

Survey name/short text

 Example message template:

Your mEMA participant with MC [MEMA_CODE] has been flagged as high risk. Please review their status and initiate the appropriate support protocol.


Received SMS example:

Your mEMA participant with MC 12345678 has been flagged as high risk. Please review their status and initiate the appropriate support protocol. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.


Step 4. Optional: Add a Delivery Delay

  • You can set a delay before the SMS is sent after the trigger condition is met.

  • By default, the system checks for new SMS messages to deliver every 1 minute.


Step 5. Save the Trigger

  • Click Set Parameters to finalize the SMS trigger configuration.


 Example Scenarios

  1. Suicidal Ideation Screening

    • In a daily survey, if a participant answers “Yes” to “Have you had thoughts of harming yourself today?”, an SMS is immediately sent to the on-call clinician.

  2. Substance Use Monitoring

    • If a participant reports ≥3 drinks in a day, an SMS alert notifies the research coordinator to follow up.

  3. Medical Symptoms

    • A participant endorses “Severe chest pain” in a health check-in survey. The system sends an urgent SMS to the study physician.

  4. Location-Triggered Risk

    • When combined with geofence triggers, if a participant enters a flagged location and reports distress, an SMS is sent to the monitoring team.