Targeting Technical and Further Education students’ multiple health risk behaviours via proactively-offered online and telephone interventions

Participants who do not meet recommended Australian health guidelines for smoking, nutrition, alcohol or physical activity behaviours will be provided with feedback outlining the Australian recommendations and strategies that can assist the participant improve these behaviours. Based on participant responses during the baseline survey, brief, one-off feedback for the relevant health risk will appear on the iPad screen during the baseline survey for the participant to read. For each of the health risk behaviours that participants do not meet recommended guidelines they will also be offered the following online and telephone interventions: Online interventions: QuitCoach program (smoking): The QuitCoach is an online program that provides individual, tailored advice and support to assist smokers to quit smoking. The QuitCoach takes about 15-20 minutes to complete and creates a personalised quitting plan by asking users to answer a series of questions about their smoking, plans to quit, motivation, confidence and past quit attempts. The QuitCoach is designed to be used multiple times and for the user to return to the online program to review their current situation. Healthy Eating Quiz program (nutrition): The Healthy Eating Quiz is an online program that takes about 10-15 minutes to complete and examines the user’s intake of a variety of foods including vegetables, fruits, protein foods, grains, dairy, water, sauces and condiments. The Healthy Eating Quiz can be completed several times with the program providing the user with the option to have a reminder e-mail sent to them in one month to complete the quiz again. THRIVE program (alcohol): THRIVE is an online program that involves a 5-10 minute session of motivational assessment and personalised feedback about the participant’s drinking behaviour, strategies for reducing alcohol consumption, and information on available support services. The THRIVE program examines the participant’s alcohol intake in the last 12 months, past drinking, drinking in the last 4 weeks, blood alcohol concentration and other students’ drinking. THRIVE can be used multiple times and allows the user to assess their current situation. 10,000 Steps program (physical activity): The 10,000 Steps online program takes about 10-15 minutes to complete and encourages participants to use a pedometer to record their daily step counts on their personal step log, indicate their goal steps and monitor their progress towards increasing physical activity. The 10,000 Steps program is designed to be used multiple times to monitor daily step counts and physical activity levels. Telephone interventions: NSW Quitline (smoking): The NSW Quitline offers multiple telephone counselling calls to smokers to encourage and support them to quit. The NSW Quitline will offer six proactive telephone counselling calls over a one month period to smokers who set a quit date. These calls will last about 5-10 minutes and be scheduled on the initial call, on the quit date, and at 3, 7, 14, and 30 days after the quit date. Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service (nutrition and physical activity): The Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service offers a coaching program that includes 10 coaching telephone calls with a health coach over six months. During the first call the health coach will spend up to 20 minutes talking to the participant about nutrition and physical activity. During the first three months the health coach will make up to six telephone coaching calls which will last about 10-15 minutes. The health coach will provide the participant with up to four 10-15 minute telephone coaching calls during the last three months to offer support. Alcohol Drug Information Service (alcohol):The NSW ADIS is a telephone service that provides callers information about their alcohol use and associated risks, advice about effective interventions for reducing or stopping alcohol use, and counselling tailored to the caller’s needs. During the 10-15 minute telephone call, the ADIS counsellors will provide personalised advice about the short-term and long-term effects of alcohol, effective interventions for reducing alcohol consumption and strategies for dealing with situations that trigger excessive alcohol use. The participant can call ADIS multiple times. Intervention adherence: As part of the 6-month follow-up survey the number of intervention group participants who self-report using each of the online programs and/or telephone services in the past 6 months and exposure to these interventions will be determined.