None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of online and in-person delivery of a staff professional development program for the promotion of physical activity and healthy eating in outside of school hours care (OSHC) services. Services will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: a high-intensity support group, a low-intensity support group, or a control group. We expect that services receiving the professional development program will show greater improvements in children’s physical activity levels and healthy eating practices compared with the control group.
Interventions
A cluster parallel-group three-arm randomised controlled trial design will be used. A sample of OSHC services within NSW, Australia will be recruited and randomly assigned to one of the three arms:
Arm 1: In-Person Training Intervention
Staff will attend one three-hour professional development session run by investigators of this study. All participants will be given access to the recently developed Eat Smart Play Smart (ESPS) smartphone application as a professional development resource. After
A cluster parallel-group three-arm randomised controlled trial design will be used. A sample of OSHC services within NSW, Australia will be recruited and randomly assigned to one of the three arms: Arm 1: In-Person Training Intervention Staff will attend one three-hour professional development session run by investigators of this study. All participants will be given access to the recently developed Eat Smart Play Smart (ESPS) smartphone application as a professional development resource. After attending the professional development session, participants will receive five weeks of ongoing support. This ongoing support will involve a fortnightly check-in phone call with the service director, and once weekly push notifications sent through the ESPS App to all participants. The face-to-face training session will focus on the importance of promoting healthy eating and physical activity within OSHC settings and will highlight the crucial role of educators in supporting these behaviours. During the training, educators will complete activities to learn how to use the program’s app and available resources, and to develop tailored action plans for their service. Adherence to the intervention will be monitored through regular communication and engagement with participating services. Fortnightly phone calls will be conducted with the OSHC service directors to review progress, discuss the implementation of their action plans, and identify any barriers to achieving the intervention objectives. Arm 2: Online Training Intervention Participating service directors and staff will be provided access to a self-paced online program with interactive components (e.g. quizzes at the end of each module) and to the ESPS App. The length of time it takes to complete the online training is not anticipated to exceed three-hours, as this is the length of the in-person training. Participants will be required to complete the online training within two weeks of receiving access to allow the five-week study period to commence. The online training will be conducted through an online platform and will include three videos covering: (1) an introduction to the training, (2) physical activity within OSHC services, and (3) healthy eating within OSHC services. Quizzes will be embedded within the videos to maintain engagement and support adherence among educators throughout the training. Educators will be asked to develop tailored action plans for their service to promote healthy eating and physical activity practices. Adherence to the intervention will be monitored through regular communication and engagement with participating services. Fortnightly phone calls will be conducted with the OSHC service directors to review progress, discuss the implementation of their action plans, and identify any barriers to achieving the intervention objectives.
Sponsors
University of Wollongong
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
5 Years to 12 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
OSHC services will be invited to participate if they meet the following inclusion criteria: a) they operate an after school care program between the hours of 15:00 and 18:00; b) they are located within NSW (200Km of the Sydney CBD for travel feasibility), Australia; c) they have more than 5 children enrolled per day; and d) child ages range from 5 to 12 years old.
Exclusion criteria
Services who participated in the two pilot studies testing the ESPS app and the staff professional development program will not be invited to participate. The registration IDs for the two studies are: ACTRN12623000176662/ ACTRN12623000363684. Staff participants need to have a basic understanding of spoken and written English to participate. Participating OSHC staff also need to have access to a computer, internet and smartphone to access the ESPS App and the online professional development if allocated to that group. Services catering exclusively to children with complex medical conditions, severe disabilities, or behavioural needs that would limit engagement in typical physical activity and nutrition practices.
Outcome results
None listed