Conclusions
HBC
DISEASE
Given the rising prevalence of non-communicable disease and lifestyle-related illnesses in LMICs, there is burgeoning need for research on how mHealth implementation can support and enhance the effectiveness of health programs through greater reach and tailored content to vulnerable communities. The primary purpose of this report was to disseminate to other researchers working in similar contexts our proposed development steps for building custom SMS systems, as well as the specific factors and decisions that the These SMS development steps were presented in what we hoped was a logical order; in real-world practice, however, these steps are not necessarily addressed in this specific order. An iterative design and testing process can be utilized [Our suggested recommendations provide additional ideas with unique detail specific to SMS. We broadly recommend researchers be focused on creating mobile SMS messaging that is highly aligned with tenets of the program’s core curriculum so that messages bolster exposure to the therapeutic components of the intervention. Messaging should also be developed using theoretically sound methods from behavioral science to ensure messaging strategies are evidence-based, and therefore more likely to effectively support HBC. We believe having this set of SMS-specific guidelines (e.g., engaging a CAB, inter-rater translation methods, technology development and testing), that have been developed from mostly first-hand experience and also build upon extant literature, offer an effective “checklist” of sorts for other researchers planning to integrate SMS into HBC programs in LMICs.The case study was conducted in a very specific international population (i.e., Xhosa-speaking Black Africans living in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, SA), so we recognize that not all of the situationally-specific barriers faced and decisions made by the 