Promoting walking, improving psychological wellbeing and enhancing work outcomes in physically inactive employees

This will be a 16-week cluster randomised pilot trial with 8 work-sites randomly assigned to two conditions; a ‘minimal treatment’ condition (n=4 worksites; n=40 employees) and an ‘enhanced treatment’ condition (n=4 worksites; n=40 walkers (employees); n=8 peer leaders (employees)). Peer leaders in the ‘enhanced treatment’ condition will initially be sent online material developed for the purpose of this project (relating to peer leader tasks and information about health benefits of walking for health, and information about safe walking) via email, which will be complemented by a brief manual, which is also developed specifically for this project. Subsequently, they will be requested to partake in 2 interactive workshops, led by the research team, at their workplace during work time (as arranged with the employing organisation). The workshops will focus on how to use strategies that will support the motivation and walking behaviour change of the participants in their group. The first of these workshops will take place approx. 1 week prior to the start of the intervention and will last approximately 2 hours, with the second one (lasting 1 hour) taking place 2 weeks into the intervention to reinforce training materials, and where the identification of problems/challenge, and proposed solutions in running the groups will be identified. The latter two workshops will be complemented by another training manual which will be available in both hard copy and online formats. The peer leaders will be asked to work towards specific motivational ‘goals’ each week in which they apply the training they have received. For example, in week 1 their goals will be to get to know the walkers, help them feel at ease and help them feel like a valued member of the group. In week 2, the goal will be to help them make walking more enjoyable, and in week 3 to help walkers feel successful. This will be supplemented by weekly reflections which can be notes in their manuals or via links online (whichever they prefer) and sent to the research team. Walkers in the ‘enhanced treatment’ condition will be trained approximate 1 week prior to the start of the intervention in a 1-hour workshop provided by the research team which will take place at their workplace during lunchtime. The session will be interactive in nature and will cover health benefits of walking, increasing understanding of how motivation is important to increase walking and learning motivational strategies that walkers can use to help then become and stay active. This session will be complemented by a hardcopy manual which will also be available in an online format. Participants will also receive a FitBit Zip which they can use to track daily step counts (the devices will serve as a motivational, not as an assessment, tool). Additionally, participants will be requested to download on their mobile phone a mobile app, specifically developed for this project (the ‘START app’) which consists of evidence-based behaviour change techniques (including goal setting, action and coping planning, self-monitoring, feed-back on goal progress) which they will be requested to use throughout the 16-week intervention. Peer leaders will also have access to this app, and will be requested to set team goals related to step counts accumulated for the whole group from weeks 1-16. Peer leaders can also note who attends the group walks in the app. Participants who do not own a mobile phone will be provided with iPads by the research team for the duration of the study. Walkers will be requested to take part in a combination of peer-led (i.e., organised and led by the peer leader) and self-organised 20-30 minute walks over the duration of the intervention, and will get a personalised step count goal based on their baseline values. To facilitate the achievement of their goals, during the first 6 weeks, they will be asked to participate in 2 peer-led walks and 1 self-organised walks of 20-30 minutes duration (20 minutes in the first 2 weeks and 30 minutes in the next 4 weeks; participants may break these up into walks of 10 minutes duration). In weeks 7-10, group-led walks will decrease to 1 and they will be asked to also engage in 3 self-organised walks, each of 30 minutes duration. In weeks 11-16, peer-led group walks will cease to exist and self-organised walks will increase to 5 per week for 30 minutes duration (or equivalent). They will be assigned to a peer leader who will be trained in evidence-based motivational strategies designed to support the motivation of the participants in their groups. This will be complemented by access to a mobile application designed for the purpose of the study. App usage will be monitored by the research team and this will be explained to the participants. All participants (except peer leaders) will also be asked to complete online questionnaires at baseline and immediately post-intervention. A survey assessing motivation for walking will also be distributed mid-intervention (.ie., 8 weeks post commencement of the intervention). Additionally, participants’ height, weight, and waist circumference will be assessed at baseline and post-intervention. A purposive sample of approximately ten walkers and the peer leaders (depending on when data saturation is reached) will be interviewed face-to-face on an individual basis at the end of the trial exploring in more detail their perceptions of various elements of the intervention.