Increasing physical activity levels in the general population: Evaluating the benefit of a brief online coaching session in a web-based intervention that provides personalised physical activity advice.

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Over half of Australians fail to reach the physical activity guidelines necessary to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Due to rising levels of chronic disease placing a significant burden on Australia’s health care and economy, there is a need for effective population-based physical activity interventions. The internet provides a practical platform to deliver physical activity interventions as it can reach large numbers of people at low cost. Whilst the short term effectiveness of web-based interventions has been established, participant engagement and retention into the intervention have been identified as problems affecting population-level reach and long term effectiveness. This project will measure the effectiveness of brief online coaching provided via Skype versus personally tailored advice alone will be examined in terms of improving website usage, retention and physical activity outcomes. Overall study findings will inform the next generation of web-based physical activity interventions effective in improving physical activity levels in a large range of Australians, and reducing the prevalence of disease in Australia.