Search

BackgroundThe web-based BeUpstanding Champion Toolkit was developed to support work teams in addressing the emergent work health and safety issue of excessive sitting. It provides a step-by-step guide and associated resources that equip a workplace representative—the champion—to adopt and deliver the 8-week intervention program (BeUpstanding) to their work team. The evidence-informed program is designed to raise awareness of the benefits of sitting less and moving more, build a supportive culture for change, and encourage staff to take action to achieve this change. Work teams collectively choose the strategies they want to implement and promote to stand up, sit less, and move more, with this bespoke and participative approach ensuring the strategies are aligned with the team’s needs and existing culture. BeUpstanding has been iteratively developed and optimized through a multiphase process to ensure that it is fit for purpose for wide-scale implementation. ObjectiveThe study aimed to describe the current version of BeUpstanding, and the methods and protocol for a national implementation trial. MethodsThe trial will be conducted in collaboration with five Australian workplace health and safety policy and practice partners. Desk-based work teams from a variety of industries will be recruited from across Australia via partner-led referral pathways. Recruitment will target sectors (small business, rural or regional, call center, blue collar, and government) that are of priority to the policy and practice partners. A minimum of 50 work teams will be recruited per priority sector with a minimum of 10,000 employees exposed to the program. A single-arm, repeated-measures design will assess the short-term (end of program) and long-term (9 months postprogram) impacts. Data will be collected on the web via surveys and toolkit analytics and by the research team via telephone calls with champions. The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance Framework will guide the evaluation, with assessment of the adoption/reach of the program (the number and characteristics of work teams and participating staff), program implementation (completion by the champion of core program components), effectiveness (on workplace sitting, standing, and moving), and maintenance (sustainability of changes). There will be an economic evaluation of the costs and outcomes of scaling up to national implementation, including intervention affordability and sustainability. ResultsThe study received funding in June 2018 and the original protocol was approved by institutional review board on January 9, 2017, with national implementation trial consent and protocol amendment approved March 12, 2019. The trial started on June 12, 2019, with 48 teams recruited as of December 2019. ConclusionsThe implementation and multimethod evaluation of BeUpstanding will provide the practice-based evidence needed for informing the potential broader dissemination of the program. Trial RegistrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12617000682347; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=372843&isReview=true. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/15756

BackgroundExtended intervention contact after an initial, intensive intervention is becoming accepted as best practice in behavioral weight control interventions. Whether extended contact mitigates weight regain in the longer term or it simply delays weight regain until after the extended intervention contact ceases is not clear. ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate, in multiple ways, maintenance of weight, diet, and physical activity outcomes following Get Healthy, Stay Healthy (GHSH), a text message–delivered extended contact intervention. MethodsClients completing the Get Healthy Service (GHS) lifestyle telephone coaching program were randomized to receive GHSH (n=114) or standard care (no additional contact, n=114) and were assessed at baseline (following completion of GHS), 6 months (following completion of GHSH), and 12 months (noncontact maintenance follow-up). At all 3 assessments, participants self-reported their body weight, waist circumference, physical activity (walking and moderate and vigorous sessions/week), and dietary behaviors (fruit and vegetable serves/day, cups of sweetened drinks per day, takeaway meals per week; fat, fiber, and total indices from the Fat and Fiber Behavior Questionnaire). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was also assessed via accelerometry. Maintenance was examined multiple ways: (1) using traditional methods to assess and compare group averages after some period of noncontact (ie, at 12 months), (2) using a novel approach to assess and compare group average changes over the first 6 months of noncontact, and (3) exploring individual participant changes (increase/decrease/no change) over the first 6 months of noncontact. ResultsRetention over the 12-month trial was high (92.5%, 211/228). Participants had a mean (SD) age of 53.4 (SD 12.3) years and a baseline body mass index of 29.2 (SD 5.9) kg/m2. The between-group differences detected at 6 months were still present and statistically significant at 12 months for bodyweight (−1.33 kg [−2.61 to −0.05]) and accelerometer-assessed MVPA (24.9 min/week [5.8-44.0]). None of the other outcomes were significantly favored compared with the control group at 12 months. Changes over their first 6 months of noncontact for the GHSH group were significantly better than the control group in terms of accelerometer-measured MVPA and self-reported moderate activity (other differences between the groups were all nonsignificant). In addition to the maintenance seen in the group averages, most intervention participants had maintained their behavioral outcomes during the first 6 months of noncontact. ConclusionsThe GHSH participants were better off relative to where they were initially, and relative to their counterparts, not receiving extended contact in terms of MVPA. However, based on the between-group difference in bodyweight over the first 6 months of noncontact, GHSH does appear to simply delay the inevitable weight regain. However, this delay in weight regain, coupled with sustained improvements in MVPA, has public health benefits. Trial RegistrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12613000949785; https://www.anzctr.org. au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=364821&isReview=true

The aim of this study was to examine the sensitivity to change of measures of sedentary behavior derived from body worn sensors in different intervention designs. Results from two intervention studies: "Stand up for Your Health" (pre-post home-based study with older adults not in paid employment) and "Stand Up Comcare" (non-randomized controlled trial in the workplace) were analyzed to quantify sensitivity to change of measures of total and accumulation of sedentary time obtained from hip-worn Actigraph and thigh-worn activPAL monitors. Sensitivity to change varied with intervention design and population considered. The activPAL was generally more sensitive but not consistently for all measures and designs. Measures of sedentary time accumulation, in particular half-life bout duration (W[subscript 50%]), were consistently more sensitive than total sedentary time. Measurement devices used in intervention studies need to be appropriately selected to be sensitive to changes in the behavioral target. For sedentary behavior interventions, measures of accumulation should be considered as outcomes.

BackgroundExtending contact with participants after the end of an initial weight loss intervention has been shown to lead to maintained weight loss and related behavioral change. Mobile phone text messaging (short message service, SMS) offers a low-cost and efficacious method to deliver extended contact. In this rapidly developing area, formative work is required to understand user perspectives of text message technology. An extended contact intervention delivered by text messages following an initial telephone-delivered weight loss intervention in breast cancer survivors provided this opportunity. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to qualitatively explore women’s perceptions of participation in an extended contact intervention using text messaging to support long-term weight loss, physical activity, and dietary behavioral change. MethodsFollowing the end of an initial 6-month randomized controlled trial of a telephone-delivered weight loss intervention (versus usual care), participants received a 6-month extended contact intervention via tailored text messages. Participant perceptions of the different types of text messages, the content, tailoring, timing, and frequency of the text messages, and the length of the intervention were assessed through semistructured interviews conducted after the extended contact intervention. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed with key themes identified. ResultsParticipants (n=27) were a mean age of 56.0 years (SD 7.8) and mean body mass index of 30.4 kg/m2 (SD 4.2) and were at a mean of 16.1 months (SD 3.1) postdiagnosis at study baseline. Participants perceived the text messages to be useful behavioral prompts and felt the messages kept them accountable to their behavioral change goals. The individual tailoring of the text message content and schedules was a key to the acceptability of the messages; however, some women preferred the support and real-time discussion via telephone calls (during the initial intervention) compared with the text messages (during the extended contact intervention). ConclusionsText message support was perceived as acceptable for the majority of women as a way of extending intervention contact for weight loss and behavioral maintenance. Text messages supported the maintenance of healthy behaviors established in the intervention phase and kept the women accountable to their goals. A combination of telephone calls and text message support was suggested as a more acceptable option for some of the women for an extended contact intervention.

BackgroundExtending contact with participants after initial, intensive intervention may support maintenance of weight loss and related behaviors. ObjectiveThis community-wide trial evaluated a text message (short message service, SMS)-delivered, extended contact intervention (‘Get Healthy, Stay Healthy’ (GHSH)), which followed on from a population-level, behavioral telephone coaching program. MethodsThis study employed a parallel, randomized controlled trial: GHSH compared with no continued contact (standard practice). Participants (n=228) were recruited after completing a 6-month lifestyle telephone coaching program: mean age = 53.4 (standard deviation (SD)=12.3) years; 66.7% (152/228) female; mean body mass index (BMI) upon entering GHSH=29.5 kg/m2 (SD = 6.0). Participants received tailored text messages over a 6-month period. The message frequency, timing, and content of the messages was based on participant preference, ascertained during two tailoring telephone calls. Primary outcomes of body weight, waist circumference, physical activity (walking, moderate, and vigorous sessions/week), and dietary behaviors (fruit and vegetable serves/day, cups of sweetened drinks per day, takeaway meals per week; fat, fiber and total indices from the Fat and Fiber Behavior Questionnaire) were assessed via self-report before (baseline) and after (6-months) extended contact (with moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) also assessed via accelerometry). ResultsSignificant intervention effects, all favoring the intervention group, were observed at 6-months for change in weight (-1.35 kg, 95% confidence interval (CI): -2.24, -0.46, P=.003), weekly moderate physical activity sessions (0.56 sessions/week, 95% CI: 0.15, 0.96, P=.008) and accelerometer-assessed MVPA (24.16 minutes/week, 95% CI: 5.07, 43.25, P=.007). Waist circumference, other physical activity outcomes and dietary outcomes, did not differ significantly between groups. ConclusionsThe GHSH extended care intervention led to significantly better anthropometric and physical activity outcomes than standard practice (no contact). This evidence is useful for scaling up the delivery of GHSH as standard practice following the population-level telephone coaching program.

BackgroundExtending contact with participants after the end of an initial intervention is associated with successful maintenance of weight loss and behavior change. However, cost-effective methods of extending intervention contact are needed. ObjectiveThis study investigated whether extended contact via text message was efficacious in supporting long-term weight loss and physical activity and dietary behavior change in breast cancer survivors. MethodsFollowing the end of an initial 6-month randomized controlled trial of a telephone-delivered weight loss intervention versus usual care, eligible and consenting intervention participants received a 6-month extended contact intervention via tailored text messages targeting a range of factors proposed to influence the maintenance of behavior change. In this single-group, pre-post designed study, within group changes in weight, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers), and total energy intake (2x24 hour dietary recalls) were evaluated from baseline to end of initial intervention (6 months), end of extended contact intervention (12 months), and after a no-contact follow-up (18 months) via linear mixed models. Feasibility of implementation was assessed through systematic tracking of text message delivery process outcomes, and participant satisfaction was assessed through semistructured interviews. ResultsParticipants at baseline (n=29) had a mean age of 54.9 years (SD 8.8), body mass index of 30.0 kg/m2 (SD 4.2), and were recruited a mean 16.6 months (SD 3.2) post diagnosis. From baseline to 18 months, participants showed statistically significantly lower mean weight (-4.2 kg [95% CI -6.0 to -2.4]; P