College Health (liveWell)

liveWell: A Healthy Foundation for Life is an online, multimedia program designed to help college students improve their exercise, eating, and stress management habits.

liveWell is a two-part, self-administered program that includes:

• Online computer tailored intervention (CTI) with questions and feedback individualized to each student

• Dynamic web activities matched to the individual’s readiness to change (e.g., instructional exercise videos; list of dorm snacks and grocery shopping tips on a budget to promote healthy eating; stress management tools, including how to budget)

The program leverages state of the science best practices for tailoring of behavior change messages.  In the CTI, students receive a unique combination of fully tailored (exercise) and optimally tailored (fruit and vegetable intake and stress management) messages to maximize outcomes while minimizing response burden.

Once the CTI is completed, the dynamic portal home page appears. The portal provides more content and specifics on how to apply each of the processes and principles of change users were encouraged to use in the CTI. The portal activities address well-being, exercise, fruit and vegetable/healthy eating, and stress management.  Students have unlimited access to the portal once they have completed the first session of liveWell.  When appropriate, the portal prompts the user to return to the CTI to complete their next session.

Background: liveWell received Phase I and Phase II funding from Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants awarded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

An effectiveness trial is currently underway with nearly 1300 students at two universities on the east coast.