Design, develop, and pilot test a digital platform to enhance student well-being: Protocol for a mixed-methods study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Background: Well-being is a multidimensional concept and has been extended to many areas. Student well-being has garnered attention over the last decade due to raised concerns. Digital health interventions have the potential to enhance and improve student well–being. OBJECTIVE Objective: The objective of the study is to design, develop and pilot test a digital health platform to enhance student well-being. METHODS Methods: A sample size of five thousand participants will be recruited across Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, India. Students will be enrolled from, Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat, and Panimalar Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, (PMCHRI), Panimalar Engineering College, Panimalar Institute of Technology and Panimalar College of Nursing, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Current undergraduate and graduate students consenting to participate will be recruited using convenience sampling from these institutes. The study will collect baseline data to construct the student well-being index. Based on the risk profile, a random subset of the population will be provided access to the digital health intervention that will deliver tailored interactive messages addressing the various dimensions of well-being among undergraduate and graduate students. The eligible study participants will be of 18 years and older, enrolled in these institutes, and willing to give their consent to participate in the study. RESULTS Results: The proposed research is an unfunded study. The enrolment of the individuals in study will begin from October 2022. Data gathered will be analyzed using SAS v9.3 and results will be reported as 95% CI and p-values. CONCLUSIONS Conclusions: The proposed study will help to determine the factors affecting well-being among college students and help in designing digital health intervention to improve the well-being of the undergraduate and graduate students. CLINICALTRIAL