None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Australians living in rural and regional communities are more likely to die early and experience higher rates of preventable disease than those living in the cities, resulting in higher rates of risk factors for chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and obesity, and higher burden on health care systems. Rural communities also have reduced access to nutrition professionals than metropolitan communities, mostly due to health care workforce challenges and geographical barriers. Diets low in vegetables are a main contributor to the health burden experienced by rural Australians, which is further compounded by unhealthful rural food environments, and socioeconomic inequities. Yet, only 8% of Australians meet recommended intakes, and this is as few as 3% in young adults living in rural areas. Digital health solutions, such as mobile and web-applications, offer an accessible, scalable and inexpensive delivery model for rapid translation of interventions into rural communities that can be personalised to meet the needs of the user. As most adults own a digital device, such as a smartphone, digital health interventions provide an suitable solution for interventions to increase vegetable consumption, However, digital health solutions will have limited success without addressing the needs of rural communities. An increasing body of literature is engaging with the community for the design of digital interventions, rather than for the community, to ensure it meets the need of the target population and there is evidence that co-designed interventions can result in improved engagement and experience of the user, as well as improved dietary intake. This feasibility randomised controlled trial will investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a co-designed and personalised web application (Veg4Me) compared with a non-personalised web application, to address unique barriers to vegetable intake experienced by young adults living in rural areas of Victoria. If feasible, this intervention will be examined for effectiveness for increasing vegetable intake and to understand context for implementation in rural communities.
Interventions
This is feasibility trial where participants will be provided 12 weeks' access to the Veg4Me web application. There are two groups: Intervention group (personalised content on the Veg4Me web application) and control group (non-personalised content on the Veg4Me web application).
Veg4Me is a web application that has been co-designed and developed by young adults (18–35 years), local governments, the National Heart Foundation of Australia, web developers and the research team, to personalise inte
This is feasibility trial where participants will be provided 12 weeks' access to the Veg4Me web application. There are two groups: Intervention group (personalised content on the Veg4Me web application) and control group (non-personalised content on the Veg4Me web application). Veg4Me is a web application that has been co-designed and developed by young adults (18–35 years), local governments, the National Heart Foundation of Australia, web developers and the research team, to personalise intervention content to participants’ local food environment and individual preferences. It is underpinned by established behaviour change techniques, including the self-determination theory and the behaviour change wheel. It has been informed by the nonadoption, abandonment, scale-up, spread, and sustainability framework, as well as intervention mapping and feature and function prioritisation in co-design and prototyping workshops. The features of the personalised web application include: - Personalised local food environment map: At baseline, participants randomised to the intervention group will select the local government area they live in, which will tailor a local food environment map to their local area. This map is a modified Google map with colour-coded icons reflecting different local food resources and initiatives. These resources include foodbanks, community gardens, cooking clubs and food producers identified by young adults and local governments from each area. Each icon contains a brief description of the resource, as well as a link to Google maps for participants to access more information. - Personalised recipes and healthy eating resources: Participants randomised to the intervention will receive a new set of personalised recipes for each of the 12 weeks of the intervention. These will be displayed based on personalisation questions in the baseline survey where participants will indicate whether they eat meat (yes/no), and whether they prefer recipes with shorter or longer preparation times (<30 mins/>30 mins). Participants will also have access to a recipe library of approximately 240 recipes. All recipes have been designed by the National Heart Foundation of Australia (https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/) to be heart healthy and affordable. Recipes will be supported by healthy eating resources to help participants develop knowledge, confidence, and skills to increase vegetable intake. These resources will come from a range of government and non-government organisations in Australia (e.g. https://nutritionaustralia.org/) as well as resources on vegetables designed specifically for this study. The format of these resources will include images and written material. - Goal setting and tracking: Participants will be prompted to set a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goal for each week of the intervention. The web application allows researchers to set up a recurring weekly email, which will be sent to the participant at the end of each week to allow the user to plan for the week ahead. In this weekly contact, participants will be encouraged to engage with the web application throughout the week to help them meet their goal (the amount of time will be left to the participants' own discretion). A mid-week reminder will be sent via email to encourage participants to action their goal. Goals can be selected from a drop-down option or a free text box where they can set their own goal. These goals will be monitored by research staff to ensure they are diet-related, and participants contacted with suggestions if they are not deemed diet-related. Example goals will include “Prepare at least two recipes this week”; “Visit at least one of the places on your food map this week”; “Eat an additional serve of vegetables every day this week”. Participants will be prompted to set, self-monitor and reflect on their goals weekly. - Personalised weekly newsletter: To support participant retention and prompt participants to access Veg4Me and review their weekly goals, a personalised weekly e-newsletter developed and disseminated by the research team will be delivered via email to participants. This newsletter will be ~1 page in length and will take participants 5-10 minutes to read. Engagement with the Veg4Me web application will be measured throughout the intervention period via the web application.
Sponsors
Deakin University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
1. adults aged 18–35 years (inclusive) living in the Loddon Campaspe municipalities (City of Greater Bendigo, Campaspe, Central Goldfields, Greater Bendigo, Loddon, Macedon Ranges and Mount Alexander) or Colac Otway Shire 2. currently eat <5 serves of vegetables/day 3. have access to a mobile device or computer/laptop 4. have internet connection 5. willing/able to access a free web application 6. able to provide written informed consent to participate in the study
Exclusion criteria
1. cannot understand and read English 2. are pregnant or breastfeeding 3. are currently participating in another research trial involving a behaviour change intervention Participants with medical conditions, such as type 1 diabetes, who require specific clinical nutrition advice, will be advised to visit their general practitioner to obtain medical clearance before participating in the study and asked to indicate that they will do this before providing consent.
Outcome results
None listed