One afternoon last month, Dr. Jennifer Roth called to check on a patient and got no answer. It turned out the Veteran was at the gym.
Dr. Roth, a graduate psychologist at the St. Cloud VA Medical Center in Minnesota, was thrilled by this news – but not just because her patient was getting a healthy workout. “This individual had withdrawn from other people socially and really wasn’t leaving the house anymore,” she explains.
So, what made the difference? Annie did.
If you’re wondering, “Who’s Annie?” the question is better asked, “What’s Annie?”
Annie is VA’s new mobile text messaging system that reminds Veterans to tend to their own self-care between VA appointments. It can be customized to send Veterans text messages with reminders, like – “Hello, this is Annie reminding you to take your medication. Please reply ‘med yes’ or ‘med no,’” or “Hi, this is Annie. Just a quick reminder that your glucose readings are due.”
In this case, Roth customized Annie to remind her patients to take time for themselves and do a mood-elevating activity. First, Veterans are asked to text back with a number that rates their mood: Low (1-3) – Moderate (4-6) – High (7-10). Then, they receive a second text asking them to use the same scale to rate the energy/effort level they are willing to give an activity. Once they do, Annie sends a final message with a brief self-care activity that matches their mood/energy responses. Things like brush your teeth (low), unplug
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