Can a short residential group programme with WhatsApp follow-up for women be delivered and kept up well enough to test in a full trial? A feasibility study

Feasibility of a brief intensive residential group lifestyle intervention with WhatsApp aftercare in community-dwelling adult women: a single-group convergent mixed-methods study

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN13607837

Enrollment

Registered

2026-07-02

Start date

2019-04-06

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-07-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Promotion of psychological well-being and healthy lifestyle behaviours (eating behaviour and physical activity) in community-dwelling adult women Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Interventions

Single-arm study

no comparator. All participants received the same two-part intervention. (1) A brief intensive residential group programme delivered over five programme days (approximately 40 hours across 10 sessions

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

Female

Age

18 Years to 100 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Female sex 2. Aged 18 years or older 3. No acute psychiatric condition (psychosis, active suicidality, acute substance use disorder) 4. Sufficient Romanian proficiency to complete questionnaires and take part in group activities 5. Written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Current psychiatric crisis requiring immediate clinical intervention 2. Concurrent participation in another structured psychological intervention

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Recruitment/eligibility yield measured using the number assessed, eligible, and admitted at timepoints during the April-May 2019 intake;Retention measured using the proportion of admitted participants completing assessment, measured by assessment completion at post-intervention (T2) and 3-month follow-up (T3);Aftercare engagement measured using the proportion of weekly WhatsApp prompts answered in the intended modality at weekly timepoints across the 9-week aftercare period;Measurement completion measured using the proportion of expected questionnaire items completed per instrument at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2) and 3-month follow-up (T3)	—

Measure

Time frame

Recruitment/eligibility yield measured using the number assessed, eligible, and admitted at timepoints during the April-May 2019 intake;Retention measured using the proportion of admitted participants completing assessment, measured by assessment completion at post-intervention (T2) and 3-month follow-up (T3);Aftercare engagement measured using the proportion of weekly WhatsApp prompts answered in the intended modality at weekly timepoints across the 9-week aftercare period;Measurement completion measured using the proportion of expected questionnaire items completed per instrument at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2) and 3-month follow-up (T3)

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Psychological well-being measured using the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being; within-person mean change with 95% CI, analysed descriptively (no formal hypothesis testing) at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2) and 3-month follow-up (T3);Emotional overeating measured using the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, Emotional Overeating subscale; analysed descriptively at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2) and 3-month follow-up (T3);Exercise self-efficacy measured using adapted exercise-confidence items; analysed descriptively at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2) and 3-month follow-up (T3);Behaviour-maintenance processes evidenced in aftercare measured using deductive content analysis of WhatsApp responses using Kwasnicka et al.'s (2016) five-theme framework (two independent coders) at weekly timepoints across the 9-week aftercare period	—

Measure

Time frame

Psychological well-being measured using the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being; within-person mean change with 95% CI, analysed descriptively (no formal hypothesis testing) at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2) and 3-month follow-up (T3);Emotional overeating measured using the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, Emotional Overeating subscale; analysed descriptively at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2) and 3-month follow-up (T3);Exercise self-efficacy measured using adapted exercise-confidence items; analysed descriptively at baseline (T1), post-intervention (T2) and 3-month follow-up (T3);Behaviour-maintenance processes evidenced in aftercare measured using deductive content analysis of WhatsApp responses using Kwasnicka et al.'s (2016) five-theme framework (two independent coders) at weekly timepoints across the 9-week aftercare period

—

Countries

Romania

Contacts

Public ContactLigiana Mihaela Petre

ligiana.petre@fpse.unibuc.ro+40 213 181 550

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Jul 23, 2026