None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This pilot study will assess the feasibility, acceptability and potential efficacy of a mobile health intervention among Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) services to improve staff health promoting behaviours, fruit and vegetable provision and physical activity environment. The study design is a parallel-group randomised controlled trial. The intervention involves a mobile application named The Eat Smart Play Smart App which is targeted at educator practices to address children’s healthy eating and physical activity. Investigators of the current project conducted a study to co-design an OSHC intervention with key stakeholders from the OSHC sector. During this study, stakeholders were presented with findings from a previously conducted state-wide quantitative survey of before and after school care services within NSW; and the stakeholders contributed to discussions around what support was needed to bring about meaningful change. The intervention piloted in this study has been developed through this collaborative process. It is hypothesised that OSHC services who participate in this intervention will increase their provision of fruit and vegetables in their OSHC service and educators from the services in the intervention group will have improved health promoting behaviours.
Interventions
The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and potential efficacy of a mobile health intervention for the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity in Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) services. The intervention is a mobile health application which includes information and practical tools aimed to upskill educators in the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity in their service. The mobile application is named the Eat Smart Play Smart App and was develope
The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and potential efficacy of a mobile health intervention for the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity in Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) services. The intervention is a mobile health application which includes information and practical tools aimed to upskill educators in the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity in their service. The mobile application is named the Eat Smart Play Smart App and was developed by investigators on this study. The App includes an extensive selection of physical activity videos and healthy recipes specifically designed for the OSHC sector, taking into consideration time, space and budget limitations. The App also includes nutrition and physical activity policy templates to support OSHC staff in developing policies suitable to their service, and an interactive menu planning tool designed to help educators create a menu plan for their service that is aligned with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. Additional features include a useful resources section which consists of relevant websites specific to OSHC for educators to access for further information. Push notifications are also included and were designed to encourage participants to implement the App’s information/tools into their service practice. The push notifications are sent twice weekly and the content of the messages provide useful tips and prompt users to engage in the App. All of the features within the App are designed to assist with necessary tasks for OSHC service directors and educators such as creating/ revising service menus, physical activity schedules and updating service policies. Services in the intervention group will have access to the App for the 12 week study duration. App usage is at the participants' discretion. Throughout the study, follow-up emails will be sent to encourage participant engagement with the App. App usage will be monitored via data analytics.
Sponsors
University of Wollongong
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
OSHC services must have ten or more primary school aged children (5-12 years old) who attend morning and afternoon programs between 0600- 0900 and 1430 - 1800 during school terms and during school holidays periods, OSHC services must provide food, and not exclusively advertise themselves as a homework or physical activity-related club (for eg. a dance, swim or football club). Study participants are directors or educators employed in the recruited service and need to have a basic understanding of spoken and written English. Staff also need to have access to either a personal device (phone or tablet) or service device to receive access to the mobile App.
Exclusion criteria
None
Outcome results
None listed