Benjamin Akinmoyeje, Gloria Iyawa, and Suama L Hamunyela  

Aims:

Stress is incresingly common among university students. There are various  causes of stress, and there is a high rate of stress-induced conditions such as chronic stress, headaches and  depression. Namibian students have high mobile phone penetration with high mobile app usage. The aim of this research is to  develop guidelines and recommendations that can be used to facilitate the use of a m-Health application for stress management by Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) students and can also serve as a guide to developers and designers of m-Health more generally.

Key findings and ideas:

The study created awareness, mindfulness and call for support in order to manage stressful conditions by students. It built on Cialdini’s six principles: (i) Commitment and Consistency – the resolution of an individual to make a change; (ii) Authority – verifiable facts motivate people to act; (iii) Reciprocity – rewards, incentives and favours; (iv) Liking – people are easily influenced by personalities they adore; (v) Scarcity – limited supply of a commodity; and (vi) Societal Social Attestation.

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E-mail: benakin(at)gmail(dot)com