A Digital Substance-Use Harm Reduction Intervention for Students in Higher Education (MyUSE): Protocol for Project...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Public Health
• Substance Use Interventions

Background:

• Illicit drug use among college students poses a significant public health challenge.
• Existing digital interventions for student substance use often lack user involvement and theoretical grounding.
• The My Understanding of Substance use Experiences (MyUSE) project addresses these limitations by integrating user-centered design and behavior change frameworks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and develop a digitally delivered harm reduction intervention for illicit drug use.
• To target drug use-related harm specifically among higher education students.
• To create an intervention that is economically viable, effective, usable, acceptable, and sustainable within higher education institutions.

Main Methods:

• The project employs a three-phase approach: exploratory, development, and evaluation.
• Phase 1 involved systematic reviews, surveys, and workshops to build an evidence base.
• Phase 2 utilizes the Behavior Change Wheel and user-centered design for intervention development.

Main Results:

• Exploratory Phase 1 was completed in December 2018.
• The development phase (Phase 2) is currently in progress.
• The evaluation phase (Phase 3) is scheduled to commence in September 2020.

Conclusions:

• Higher education institutions are well-positioned to address student illicit drug use but face resource constraints.
• The MyUSE project aims to overcome the sparseness and weaknesses of current digital interventions.
• The developed intervention is expected to be effective, user-friendly, and sustainable for long-term implementation.