NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region, South Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, wellness, participatory research

Objective(s): To assess the “lived-experience” of long-term participant maintenance of health behaviours acquired through completion of the HealtheSteps program.

Project Description: The objectives of this project are to: 1. assess the “lived-experience” of long-term participant maintenance of health behaviours acquired through completion of the HealtheSteps program through a questionnaire administered by their HealtheSteps coach; 2. collect clinical measures (height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and blood pressure) to inform the researchers of the success of the program in reducing risk for chronic disease in participants that completed the program in NWT; and, 3. increase and share knowledge about the barriers and facilitators to implementing long-term sustainable lifestyle prescription programs within small urban, rural and remote communities in Canada. There are two components to the Assessment and Interview: 1. Assessment: These include measures of height, weight, Body Mass Index, blood pressure, waist circumference, step counts; as well as health-related questionnaires: current medication use and conditions; International Physical Activity Questionnaire; Staring the Conversation (diet); Modified Dietary Instrument for Nutrition Education; EQ-5D-3L (health-related QoL). The 3-day food diary is not included. 2. Guided interview: This includes asking questions about the participant “lived-experience” in maintaining healthy behaviour changes after program completion. Measurements and health questionnaires will require an in-person appointment with the participant. However, if the participant is not able to attend in-person to do the assessment portion, the guided interview may be completed by telephone. In order to be eligible to participate in the follow-up participants must have completed the 8-month HealtheSteps™ program, and have attended the final session. Six months after the 8 month program has completed, the participants who had completed the 8-month intervention will be asked to complete a 14-month data collection time point. Participants will be asked to read, understand, and sign a 14-Month Assessment Letter of information and Consent form. At month 14, participants will be asked to complete the same health questionnaires as they did at Month 8 which include The International Physical Activity Questionnaire, SF-8 Survey, and Diabetes CANRISK Questionnaire. A measure of the participant’s weight and STEP Test will be completed again to assess their current fitness score as collected through Current Healthy Living Levels Form Adult used in all sessions throughout the program. During the visit at 14 months participants will be asked to participate in an interview guided questionnaire about whether participants were able to sustain their behaviour change. This information will be recorded as the interviewer completes the interview guided questionnaire. The overall aim of this study is to create healthier communities through evidence-based lifestyle prescription (i.e., individualized targets and goals for exercise, number of steps per day, and fruit and vegetable, water, and healthy breakfast consumption). The study also aims at addressing the epidemic of type 2 diabetes, in rural/remote Canadian communities, using an 8-month intervention (the HealtheSteps program), that builds on existing evidence, key partnerships, and an innovative program of lifestyle interventions and self-management strategies that had been completed in December 2015 in NWT. In the past year, the HealtheSteps team in NWT had recruited a total of 27 participants from Aurora College Campus, which included students, staff, and faculty. A total of 17 participants completed the 8-month program and will be contacted for follow-up. At month 14 the research team will ask participants that completed the program to participate in a 14-month assessment and/or interview. The research team will involve the target HealtheSteps participants by inviting them to participate in program-hosted webinars and conferences/workshops. They will also be provided with access to the website (www.healthesteps.ca) and social media (https://twitter.com/HealtheSteps) where they can find information on the research results (including lay summaries), resources that encourage and support a healthy lifestyle, and where they can have discussions and be supported by other HealtheSteps participants. Each NWT site will also be provided with access to all collected data for their region and will be free to appropriately disseminate this information to stakeholder partners, the general public, community partners etc. as they see fit. They are also welcome to use these results to leverage additional funding to support long-term and sustainable implementation of the HealtheSteps program. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from June 3, 2016 to July 31, 2016.