Health On You programme: Development and implementation of web-based health education intervention for university students

Abstract

Objective: Engaging in healthy behaviour while studying at university is a defining factor in terms of its impact on a person’s later health in life. Therefore, university students are a priority when it comes to health education interventions. This article describes the development and implementation of a web-based health programme intervention to enable students to acquire knowledge and strategies to allow them to make decisions that favour their health by adopting healthy and positive behaviours. Design: The design of the Health On You programme was based on the PRECEDE-PROCEED model and used an online platform designed to facilitate self-learning using interactive teaching strategies. The programme included six modules focusing on the following topics – Drinking responsibly; Living free of smoke; Saying no to illicit drugs and to self-medication; Balanced, Healthy and Sustainable Diet; Moving Yourself; and Preventing Sexually Transmitted Infections. Setting: Data collection took place in a public university in northern Portugal. Method: In 2021, a cross-sectional study was carried out with a convenience sample of 37 students attending a Portuguese university to assess the implementation process. Results: Overall assessment of the programme was fairly positive – 5.00 (with 5 being the highest mark), as well as for each of its developed modules (mean scores, 4.66–5.00). Conclusion: The Health On You programme appeared to be an innovative web-based health intervention due to the broad-based approach it adopted, both in terms of the topics tackled and the variety of teaching and learning strategies used to address each of the modules.