Swasthya Pahal (Health for All) Using a Sustainable, Multisector, Accessible, Affordable, Reimbursable, and Tailored Informatics Framework in Rural and Urban Areas of Chennai, Tamil Nadu: Protocol for a Quantitative Study.

Background: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) require a longer period of care, for which health care systems must acquire technologically advanced solutions to enhance patient care. Swasthya Pahal (health for all) is an innovative, interactive, multilingual, stand-alone, internet-enabled computer-based program that aims to improve the self-management of NCDs.

Objective: This study aims to enhance the self-management of chronic NCDs (diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity) by determining the usefulness, acceptance, and effectiveness of the Swasthya Pahal program in hospital and community settings in both rural and urban areas of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. This objective can be met by generating risk factor profiles of individuals enrolled and enhancing their self-management of NCDs using a portable health information kiosk that uses the Sustainable, Multisector, Accessible, Affordable, Reimbursable, and Tailored (SMAART) model.

Methods: A quantitative study will be conducted on a convenient sample of 2800 individuals from selected hospital and community settings in rural (n=1400) and urban areas (n=1400) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Data will be collected on sociodemographics, health behaviors, and clinical status, as well as knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Objective assessments such as weight, blood pressure, and random blood sugar levels will be measured. In addition, the usefulness, acceptance, and effectiveness of the Swasthya Pahal program will be determined.

Results: Results will be summarized using descriptive analysis. Appropriate bivariate and multivariate regression analysis will be performed to determine the predictors of the outcome variables of usefulness, acceptance, and effectiveness of Swasthya Pahal in wider settings. All analyses will be performed using SAS (version 9.1; SAS Institute), and the results will be reported as 95% CI values and P<.05.

Conclusions: The study proposes to enhance the self-management of NCDs in both rural and urban community settings through the implementation of the Swasthya Pahal program based on the SMAART informatics framework. The study aims to understand the implementation, acceptability, and usability of Swasthya Pahal among a diverse sample of people in urban and rural settings.

International registered report identifier (irrid): PRR1-10.2196/39950.