Evaluation of two healthy lifestyle and exercise support programs for adults aged 60 and over: a randomised controlled trial (Healthy and Active for life trial)

The Healthy and Active for Life program is composed of 10 weekly face-to-face group sessions, that run for 2 hours. -The program engages participants in a number of circuit exercises (60 minutes), facilitates discussion sessions around diet/nutrition, physical activity, and building strength/balance in older adults (45 minutes), and allows 15 minutes for a break/socialisation. -The circuit exercises aim to build strength and balance, including heel-to-toe walking, side leg raises. Circuits include easy versions of each exercise for participants that are more frail. -The weekly sessions will be run by a trained health professional (physiotherapist, exercise physiologist, dietitian etc), who will oversee the exercises as well as facilitate the information sessions. Participants of the program will receive hard-copies of all resources in the first week. Adherence to the intervention will be recorded by the facilitator via attendance sheets. -The educational materials for Healthy and Active for Life and Healthy and Active for Life Online were developed specifically for the programs, and are not widely available. The Healthy and Active for Life Online program is the digital implementation of Healthy and Active for Life Online. -Participants log into a personalised web-portal where they can access the same resources and exercises from Healthy and Active for Life Online. -The program is self-guided, and participants will receive 10 weekly telephone support calls from trained health professionals (same as those who deliver Healthy and Active for Life). -The telephone support will cover the contents from the modules, help participants set healthy lifestyle goals, and implement plans for achieving those goals. Each call will be around 20 minutes in duration. -An online module is unlocked each week to follow the schedule of the face-to-face program and participants can revisit modules that have been unlocked. The online program is expected to be completed in 10 weeks, and the health professional will help participants adhere to this schedule in the weekly coaching calls. The online modules were designed to be completed within 1 hour. -Adherence to the program will be determined via module click-through and attendance in phone support sessions recorded by the health professional.