Empowering Saudi pharmacy students: A nudge-based intervention for improved health behaviors

To promote healthy habits among pharmacy students through curriculum-embedded challenges. Student well-being is a growing concern in Saudi pharmacy education, with high rates of stress and poor health behaviors reported among students. Traditional interventions often fall short in bridging the gap between awareness and action.

A quasi-experimental design was conducted from September to December 2024 at Taibah University. Four month-long challenges targeting smartphone use, physical activity, sleep, and gratitude were integrated into a required hospital pharmacy course. The intervention was grounded in behavioral economics principles (salience and inertia) and delivered via Blackboard LMS with minimal extrinsic incentives. A reflective survey assessed participation, motivations, baseline behaviors, and post-intervention intentions.

Of 198 enrolled students, 155 (78.3%) engaged in at least one challenge. Participation was highest in the smartphone challenge (64.1%) and lowest in the gratitude challenge (28.8%). Key motivators included extra credit and interest in the challenging outcomes. A large majority (89.7%-98.7%) reported intentions to sustain the positive behaviors post-intervention, particularly among those who had not previously adopted them. Intrinsic motivation, such as the desire for personal well-being, showed a significant positive correlation with the intention to continue.

Embedding nudge-based challenges into pharmacy curricula is a feasible and culturally responsive strategy for enhancing student well-being. Further research should evaluate long-term impacts and scalability across educational settings.