There’s a lot of attention paid to why people don’t take prescribed medications or other treatments.

Joseph Kvedar, director of the Center for Connected Health, thinks one reason is often underestimated: people just plain old forget.

To that end, his organization (a division of Partners HealthCare), has studied text messaging, among other methods, as a way of gently reminding people to take their meds or engage in other health-benefiting behaviors, such as applying sunscreen. Now Kvedar and colleagues have published a pilot study suggesting that text messages can be an effective way to encourage eczema patients to take medications and otherwise manage their condition.

The study was small — 25 adults and adolescents aged 14 and up — and didn’t have a control group. But researchers wanted to get a preliminary idea of whether the messages boosted self-reported treatment adherence, self-care behaviors, disease severity and quality of life. All improved significantly after the six-week study.

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/