None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
FitSkills is an exercise program that matches a young person with disability with a mentor and the pair exercise together at their local gym, for an hour, twice a week for 12 weeks. The program comprises individually tailored exercise and information about on-going participation in exercise. Together with 7 partner organisations, we will complete a research translation project through a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial using a cohort design, with embedded health economics evaluation. The trial design sequentially introduces FitSkills to 8 sites in random order. After a control period, at regular intervals sites are randomised to cross from control to intervention phase until all sites have implemented FitSkills. We will recruit 160 youth with disability (any type) aged 13-30 years through our partner organisations. Data collection at 8 time points will continue throughout the trial at 3-month intervals (i.e. an assessment is conducted every 3 months for 24 months). We will collect data on: participant demographics and socioeconomics; participation; health-related quality of life; physical activity; attitudes to exercise; walking capacity; program feasibility; and attitudes to disability for mentors, gym staff and gym patrons at the participating sites.
Interventions
The intervention is an exercise program called FitSkills. The program matches a young person with disability with a mentor from their community and the pair exercise together at their local public gym (one-to-one), for an hour, twice a week for 12 weeks (24 sessions in total). The program comprises individually tailored exercise and plans for on-going participation in exercise.
The exercise content comprises weight and aerobic training, individually tailored to the young person with disability.
The intervention is an exercise program called FitSkills. The program matches a young person with disability with a mentor from their community and the pair exercise together at their local public gym (one-to-one), for an hour, twice a week for 12 weeks (24 sessions in total). The program comprises individually tailored exercise and plans for on-going participation in exercise. The exercise content comprises weight and aerobic training, individually tailored to the young person with disability. The exercise program (including the intensity) will be prescribed by members of the research team according to international guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The exercise program will be planned with the young person with disability and their family through a telephone interview and incorporating details from their baseline assessment to help determine what their training goals are, their preferences for type of exercise and their impairment(s). To assist participants to plan ongoing participation in exercise after FitSkills, they will be provided with a booklet with information about benefits of continuing to exercise, how they can participate in exercise and where they can participate in exercise. This booklet will be designed specifically for this study. The mentor exercises with the young person with disability. The mentors will be students enrolled in Allied Health courses (any discipline, any year level) at two universities in Melbourne, Australia (La Trobe University and Australian Catholic University). Mentors are volunteers who are selected based on residential location and will hold a current police and working with children check. Mentors are matched with a young person with disability from the same locality. All mentors complete a 3-hour face-to-face group training session on program content and motivational strategies conducted at either the university campus or at the facilities of one of our partner organisations. The training will be delivered by a member of the research team. Mentors are provided with written materials that include information about disability, an outline of the exercise program and advice for how the program should be delivered. As mentors may not have pre-existing knowledge of exercise training or disability, they will maintain fortnightly contact with a member of the research team to address issues that arise, and to ensure that the intervention is being carried our as per protocol (i.e. the team member will check that the program continues to be delivered according to the ACSM guidelines). To monitor intervention fidelity, participants and mentors will document their programs in an exercise logbook, including exercise type and dose, adverse events or missed sessions. The exercise logbooks will be collected at the end of the intervention and data about the program analysed by members of the research team (e.g. number of sessions attended or intensity progression for exercises performed). Analysis of the exercise logbook data will help identify any issues with intervention fidelity and this information will be used to maintain or improve fidelity at subsequent sites during roll-out of the program.
Sponsors
La Trobe University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Primary purpose
Treatment
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
13 Years to 30 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Youth with disability (including physical, intellectual, sensory disabilities) will be eligible for inclusion in the trial if: (1) they are 13-30 years, (2) can follow simple verbal instructions in English (as indicated by the Index of Social Competence) and (3) are medically fit to take part in a high intensity exercise program as determined by their responses to the Adult Pre-exercise Screening tool. If their responses to this questionnaire indicate a potential problem then they will be asked to get a medical clearance certificate to participate from their medical practitioner.
Exclusion criteria
Participants will be excluded if they: (1) participated in a high-intensity exercise program within 3 months prior to the trial; (2) have an acute or concurrent medical condition rendering them unfit to take part (e.g. severe cardiac conditions, severe osteoarthritis, uncontrolled epilepsy); or (3) have a significant behavioural problem that would impact on participation (e.g. resistive behaviour or severe depression or severe anxiety).
Outcome results
None listed