Supporting Secondary School Student Wellbeing Through a Mobile App and Wearable Biofeedback

Plain-language summary

This study aims to investigate the effects of an app and wearable device on the wellbeing of secondary school students. The app will offer support for stress management, sleep improvement, and time management. Additionally, it will provide access to educational resources, text-based coaching, and biofeedback monitoring through the wearable device. The device, worn around the wrist, will measure heart rate variability as an indicator of stress response. Throughout the study, students will complete bi-monthly surveys on sleep, stress, and overall wellbeing. To assess the specific impact of each feature, the app features will be released incrementally over the course of a year. The intervention group, comprising students in their last two years of secondary school, will have access to the app and wearable device, while a control group within the same class will not use the system but will complete the same wellness surveys. Coaches on this platform will come from the Centre for Positive Health Sciences MSc in Positive Health Coaching as part of their continued training in coaching. Coaching will be asynchronous so that students can post questions at any time during the day, but coaches will respond within 24 hours, during office hours. It will be made clear that this is not a therapeutic service and will be directed to other resources for these services. Coaches will file an incident report if a risk arises from a message with participants. Participants will be given guidelines for the type of questions they can ask such as asking for advice for setting goals related to their digital habits and sleeping better. The study\'s findings will provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of the app and wearable device in enhancing student wellbeing leading up to their leaving certification exams.

Who can participate

What they're measuring

Trial details