Improving health promotion at universities through student participation: cross-sectional analysis of who, why, and...

Participation is defined as having a genuine influence on the decisions made and methods employed and is a key component of health promotion. This also applies to health promotion in the university setting. Yet while its advantages are clear, motivating students to participate is difficult, and there is limited information on 'how' universities can encourage participation. Accordingly, this article employed a cross-sectional survey at a German university to determine who is willing to participate in student health management (SHM), what motivates students to participate, and which organizational parameters are necessary. Additionally, it analyses the personal and study-related influencing factors of students' motives. Group comparisons Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and linear regression found that female students are more inclined to participate than their male counterparts and that participation varied by major and study load. Students' motives for participating in SHM are significantly associated with gender, age, major, and year of study. The most important motives are 'career' and 'values'. Finally, participation was promoted by good overall organization, successful coordination, and appropriate communication and feedback. By thus revealing who is willing to participate and why, our study suggests ways of organizing student participation to encourage students to join in SHM. Our results will aid university stakeholders in ensuring suitable conditions for participation and in addressing specific motives to promote diversity and ensure equal opportunities, leading to higher participation rates and therefore increasing the chances of target group-specific, accepted, and effective interventions.