Background: Podcasts are an unconventional method of disseminating information through audio to the masses. They are an emerging portable technology and a valuable resource that provides unlimited access for promoting health among participants. Podcasts related to health care have been used as a source of medical education, but there is a dearth of studies on the use of podcasts as a source of health information. This study will provide new perspectives by implementing the SANGYAN podcast, which contains information about COVID-19 and other health conditions.
Objective: The study aims to determine the usefulness and effectiveness of the SANGYAN podcast as a digital health intervention to address misinformation related to COVID-19 and other health conditions among individuals in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Methods: An implementation and evaluation study will be conducted with 500 participants from the Panimalar Medical College Hospital & Research Institute (PMCHRI) and Rural Health Training Centre in Chennai. Among individuals aged 18 years and older, those residing in the selected urban and rural settings who visit the outpatient department of the PMCHRI and Rural Health Training Centre will be recruited. For participants who consent to the study, their sociodemographic details will be noted and their health literacy will be assessed using the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine scale. Once the participants have listened to the podcast, the usability, acceptance, and user satisfaction of the podcast will be assessed. Descriptive analysis will be used for continuous variables, and frequency analysis will be used for categorical variables. Bivariate analysis will be conducted to understand the correlation of sociodemographic features in response to perception, usefulness, acceptance, and user satisfaction of the podcast. All analysis will be performed using SPSS (version 24), and the results will be reported with 95% CIs and P<.05.
Results: As of December 2024, the SANGYAN podcast has been launched for voluntary usage in the PMCHRI.
Conclusions: The finding from this research project will aid in the development and implementation of data-driven, evidence-based, and human-centered behavior change interventions using podcasts to address public health challenges among populations living in diverse settings. This would also help in enhancing the acceptability of podcasts as a source of health-related information.
International registered report identifier (irrid): DERR1-10.2196/41175.
Keywords: coronavirus; digital health; effectiveness; human-centered behavior; intervention; pandemic; podcast; usability; usefulness.
©Ashish Joshi, Surapaneni Krishna Mohan, Apurva Kumar Pandya, Ashoo Grover, Sofia Rani Saggu, Saravanavel Kalpana Revathi, Shruti Sharma. Originally published in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 20.01.2025.