Methodology for Assessing University Members’ Health and Well-Being and Their Influencing Factors: Protocol for a Rapid Scoping Review of Survey-Based Research

BACKGROUND: This scoping review protocol addresses the imperative need for a comprehensive understanding of the health and well-being of university members, aligning with the global recognition of universities as pivotal in promoting holistic well-being. The lack of consensus and diverse definitions surrounding health and well-being in the academic literature necessitate a systematic approach. The scoping review protocol is designed to develop proposals for measures to improve the health and well-being of university members. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this scoping review is to systematically map the domains, topics, and methodological characteristics of survey-based studies assessing health and well-being among university members, including students and employees. METHODS: This protocol follows the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines to outline a scoping review to map the existing literature. The review uses the SPIDER (Sample, Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation, and Research type) tool to define key elements of the research questions. Eligibility criteria include English-language publications reporting on health and well-being surveys of university members published within the past 10 years. Several electronic databases and gray literature repositories were searched. RESULTS: The scoping review based on this protocol has been completed and published, and this manuscript reports the methodological framework applied during that process. It specifies the primary outputs, including a thematic domain framework, an inventory of survey instruments, and a methodological overview of survey implementation in higher education settings. CONCLUSIONS: By providing a transparent and reproducible methodological description, this protocol supports a comprehensive understanding of health and well-being survey practices in higher education and informs the development of comparable assessment approaches for universities at national and international levels. TRIAL REGISTRATION: OSF Registries 10.17605/OSF.IO/JMU78; https://osf.io/jmu78/overview.