London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

​​Young people aged 16-24 have a higher prevalence of genital chlamydia and gonorrhoea than other age groups. With users, we developed the theory-based safetxt intervention delivered by text message to reduce sexually transmitted infection (STI) by increasing partner notification, condom use, and STI testing before sex with new partners. We evaluated the safetxt intervention in the UK using a mixed-methods design, including a parallel-group randomised controlled trial (RCT, n=6248 participants), and a linked qualitative study (semi-structured interviews with n=18 and free-text comments of n=3526 trial participants). During this STIRIG seminar, we will present results of both, the RCT and qualitative study.​ 

Speakers

​​Dr Caroline Free, LSHTM

​​Dr Caroline Free is a Professor of Primary Care and Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), a General Practitioner in south-east London and Honorary Consultant in Sexual and Reproductive Health at Kings College Hospital. Her main interest is the design, evaluation and subsequent implementation of effective primary care interventions. All interventions are co-developed in collaboration with potential users to ensure they are accessible and relevant across socio-economic groups. Cari was the principal investigator for the txt2stop trial, which was the first trial to demonstrate that smoking cessation support delivered by text message more than doubled biochemically verified smoking cessation at 6 months. Most recently Cari has been the principal investigator for the NIHR funded Safetxt trial designed to evaluate the effect of a safer sex intervention delivered by mobile phone on STI infection at one year. She is also working on an NIHR funded project for the development and pilot trial of a weight management after pregnancy intervention delivered by mobile phone. Other current work focuses on development and evaluation of interventions for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, interventions to increase use of contraception and digital contraception services in the UK and internationally. She is joint senior author for two Cochrane systematic reviews funded by WHO on the effect of targeted client communication delivered by mobile phone for maternal, neonatal and child health and sexual and reproductive health. She is also an adviser to the WHO M-health working groups for non-communicable disease and the WHO advisory group for maternal, reproductive, neonatal, and child health. 

​ ​Dr Sima Berendes, LSHTM

​Dr Sima Berendes joined the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in 2019 to work as a Research Fellow on the SAFETXT trial evaluating a digital safer sex intervention. Together with another team member she completed the qualitative component of the evaluation. Sima is currently Principal Investigator for the VIP-IDEAL study on vaccination in pregnancy. ​Prior to joining LSHTM, after completing her MD at Freiburg University and her MPH at Johns Hopkins University, Sima continued her research at the Johns Hopkins University project in Blantyre Malawi and subsequently at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine within the areas of sexual and reproductive health, as well as health policy and systems research. Contact & connect with her on Twitter @BerendesSima 

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