A RE-AIM Analysis of a Mental Health App for Undergraduate and Medical Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 20; no. 13; p. 6266
• Main Authors: Berreta, Krisdaniel, Nguyen, Cynthia, Stoner, Alexis M, Ridgeway, Lindsey, Wilson, Angela, Fadel, Natalie, Biber, Duke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 30.06.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Brief Report; Colleges & universities; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Humans; Intervention; Maintenance; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Mobile Applications; Pandemics; Retrospective Studies; Smartphones; Social discrimination learning; Social interactions; Statistical analysis; Students; Students, Medical - psychology; Suicide; Undergraduate study; United States > US; COVID-19; digital health; mental health app; mental health
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20136266

The purpose of this study was to use the RE-AIM framework to evaluate the implementation of a mental health app designed for undergraduate and medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical ( = 270) and undergraduate students ( = 1386) from five universities in the Appalachian region in the United States participated in this study. Universities from the United States were recruited to deploy the Sharpen app for medical and undergraduate students. The Sharpen app provided psychoeducational modules in mental health literacy, social-emotional learning, mindfulness-based stress reduction, and suicide prevention to promote protective factors for students. The utilization of the Sharpen app was analyzed using the RE-AIM framework using a retrospective, cross-sectional design. Reach: A total of 12.72% of medical students and 6.00% of undergraduate students participated in the study. Medical students viewed significantly more pages, had a significantly higher unique page view average, and a statistically significant exit percentage when compared to undergraduate students. Adoption: A total of 100% of the universities that were recruited participated in the study. Five out of six implementation criteria were included, indicating high implementation. Maintenance: All of the universities continued using the Sharpen app following the end of data collection, resulting in a 100% maintenance rate. The RE-AIM framework indicated usability and maintenance by medical and undergraduate students. Future research needs to implement a more rigorous design to determine the impact of the Sharpen app on mental health outcomes in medical and undergraduate students.