Abstract: To prepare students to begin attending classes in-person in the universities of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) during the receding phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, students often received many preventive care messages advising them how to prevent the spread of the novel Coronavirus. This study explores the use of memorable messages about pandemic prevention and their influences on the behaviors of university students in J&K. A quantitative survey was conducted with 167 students from the two selected universities who were randomly selected to a representative sample. Questionnaires using close-ended questions were distributed and completed online by university students. Results revealed that most participants’ memorized information about preventive measures in response to their repeated dissemination to reduce risks of contagion from the coronavirus. Survey responses suggested that the prevention messages were evaluated by student as being clear and concise, and messages were highly effective in encouraging adoption of prevention behavior among the university students. In addition, the survey found that students relied on a mix of official (government agencies) and unofficial (media, social media) sources for COVID-19 information. This study contributes to important knowledge about health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic to evaluate the effectiveness of prevention messages to safely reintegrate students to taking in-person classes. Insights from this study may help health policymakers design effective messages for addressing future health emergencies.
Pandow et al. (2026) studied this question.