Introduction: Advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in health research trials is essential for improving health outcomes among priority populations. While evidence increasingly highlights the importance of cultural diversity in research trial leadership and participation, evidence-based strategies for enhancing this remain limited. This article outlines approaches to strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in health research trials, drawing on insights from community engagement at the Darwin (Northern Territory) trial site of the Australian Fans in Training (Aussie-FIT) project.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFElite sport involves confronting stressors that can disrupt athletes' functionality and harm their psychological well-being. Reflecting on these stressors is crucial for gaining insights into coping strategies and future adaptations. We aimed to examine the coping insights developed from engagement in these reflective practices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRural men face a greater risk of ill-health than their urban counterparts but often lack access to appealing health programs. Aussie Fans in Training (Aussie-FIT) is an engaging men's health program delivered in urban professional sports contexts. This study examines the feasibility of implementing an adapted version of Aussie-FIT in rural Western Australia, focussing on the recruitment and retention of program coaches and participants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Sufficient physical activity (PA) is important to reduce the risk of men developing chronic diseases and to improve mental health. The effectiveness of PA programmes can vary, however, among men. Individual and socio-psychological characteristics may affect the level of men's PA before starting a behaviour change programme as well as changes in PA during the programme.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSubstance use disorders (SUDs) pose a significant public health concern. Preliminary research suggests benefits of physical activity (PA) for individuals receiving SUD treatment. However, current PA interventions have limitations, particularly regarding PA maintenance, due to motivational issues among people with SUDs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrounded in Duda's integrated model of the motivational climate, the current study examined the hypothesized mediating role of motivation quality in the relationships between empowering and disempowering teacher-created motivational climates and indicators of quality engagement in secondary school physical education (PE). The hypothesised model was tested cross-sectionally and longitudinally in two separate samples of students. Data were collected via questionnaires measuring the motivational climate, autonomous and controlled motivation and indicators of engagement (enjoyment, concentration and boredom).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCitizen science is a community-based participatory research approach with an emphasis on addressing health disparities that is increasingly advocated by the community, researchers, and research funders. Digitally enabled methods can extend the potential of citizen science by enabling citizens to engage in real-time research processes, such as data collection, information sharing, interpreting, acting on data, and informing decision-making. However, the power of any citizen science lies in promoting health equity by providing equal opportunity for citizen engagement.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeart Lung Circ
September 2024
Background: Physical activity (PA) and weight management are critical for cardiovascular disease (CVD) secondary prevention. However, PA adherence during or after cardiac rehabilitation is low. Here, we assess the feasibility and acceptability of the Australian football-themed Aussie Fans in Training (Aussie-FIT) program and associated trial procedures when adapted for men with CVD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh performance sport consists of stressor events which can disrupt an athletes' functioning and negatively influence performance. The way in which one reflects upon stressor events and develops insights regarding how they coped is essential to overcoming similar experiences in the future. We conducted a pilot randomised controlled trial with a qualitative analysis to explore the coping insights among 48 highly trained/national level swimmers in the lead up to major swimming competitions, who reflected on stressor events from self-distanced or self-immersed perspectives over a 3-week period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFew weight loss and weight loss maintenance interventions are tailored to include factors demonstrated to predict the user's behavior. Establishing the feasibility and acceptability of such interventions is crucial. The aim of this study was to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a theory-based, tailored, online-delivered weight loss and weight loss maintenance intervention (Choosing Health).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
October 2023
Introduction: Improving physical activity (PA) and healthy eating is critical for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Behaviour change programmes delivered in sporting clubs can engage men in health behaviour change, but are rarely sustained or scaled-up post trial. Following the success of pilot studies of the Australian Fans in Training (Aussie-FIT) programme, a hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial protocol was developed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The aim of this study was to explore health perceptions and self-defined facilitators to health in general population. An additional aim of the study was to assess if these perceptions were connected with the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Design: We applied photo-elicitation method by gathering original photographs and narratives (captions) social media and e-mails.
There is a growing need to identify acceptable and feasible opportunities to engage adults over 35 years in physical activity. Walking sports may be a potential means to engage adults in sport; however, there is limited evidence regarding appeal and feasibility to support its implementation and delivery. Using a two-step mixed-methods approach, we aimed (1) to quantitively identify significant predictors of intentions of adults over 35 years to participate in walking sports and (2) to understand why and how these identified predictors may be contextually relevant to the target group.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFQual Res Sport Exerc Health
April 2023
In spite of the large-scale growth of walking sport (WS) programmes globally, limited research has explored the experiences of the key stakeholders involved in such programmes (i.e. decision-makers, facilitators, and players).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to test the measurement invariance (across five languages, two time points, and two experimental conditions) of the empowering and disempowering motivational climate questionnaire-coach (EDMCQ-C; Appleton et al., 2016) when completed by 9256 young sport participants ( age = 11.53 years, = 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
December 2022
The aim of the study was to examine reciprocal associations between risk perceptions for cardiovascular disease and health behaviors (i.e., physical activity, fruit/vegetable consumption), while accounting for key personality characteristics in middle-aged adults.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Digital health promotion programs tailored to the individual are a potential cost-effective and scalable solution to enable self-management and provide support to people with excess body weight. However, solutions that are widely accessible, personalized, and theory- and evidence-based are still limited.
Objective: This study aimed to develop a digital behavior change program, Choosing Health, that could identify modifiable predictors of weight loss and maintenance for each individual and use these to provide tailored support.
Objective: Increasing regular physical activity (PA) behavior may be an effective adjunct intervention for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. This systematic review aims to identify promising behavior change techniques (BCTs), namely, BCTs present in the design of interventions evidencing significant short-term and/or long-term ( ≥ 0.15 for objective measures and ≥ 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWeight management interventions designed specifically for men have become more common, but the extent to which socioeconomic factors are considered in trials of these interventions is unclear. We synthesized study characteristics, methods, and reporting of interventions with a behavioral component for men that report weight as an outcome, to establish the extent to which socioeconomic factors are considered during intervention design, conduct, and reporting. A comprehensive search was conducted on Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and CENTRAL for studies published from January 2000 to July 2021.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis qualitative research explored older adults' perceptions of participating in group-based walking programs set in independent-living retirement village contexts. Semistructured interviews were conducted with a subset of participants from the Residents in Action Trial. Data were analyzed through a combination of deductive and inductive thematic analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Psychol Behav Med
April 2021
Research suggests dyadic interventions can increase physical activity; such interventions are untested within postpartum parent couples. A three-armed pilot randomized trial addressed this gap and tested which type of dyadic intervention is most effective. Inactive postpartum mothers and a significant other were recruited in Australia (= 143 assessed for eligibility) and randomised in a single-blinded fashion (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This process evaluation aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of Aussie-FIT, a group-based weight loss intervention for men with overweight and obesity in Australia.
Design: Process data and data collected from: (1) six-participant focus groups (= 24), (2) coach interviews ( = 4), (3) audio recordings of Aussie-FIT sessions and (4) post-program participant surveys (= 93) were analysed.
Main Outcome Measures: We explored the feasibility and acceptability of program setting and context, recruitment strategies, factors impacting implementation and mechanisms of impact.
Background: Physical inactivity is a global health concern. mHealth interventions have become increasingly popular, but to date, principles of effective communication from Self-Determination Theory have not been integrated with behavior change techniques to optimize app effectiveness. We outline the development of the START app, an app combining SDT principles and 17 purposefully chosen BCTs to support inactive office employees to increase their walking during a 16-week randomized controlled trial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Digital behavioural weight loss interventions have the potential to improve public health; however, these interventions are often not adequately tailored to the needs of the participants. This is the protocol for a trial that aims to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the programme as a means to promote weight loss and weight loss maintenance among overweight/obese adults.
Methods And Analysis: The proposed study is a two-group randomised controlled trial with a nested interrupted time series (ITS) within-person design.