Exercise Values of Life and Vitality Everyday
Condition: Physical Activity; Lifestyle; Behavior; Lifestyle, Sedentary; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; Exercise; ACT
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to develop and test a brief program to help overweight people
      become more physically active. We plan to design a program that teaches people how to become
      more active by identifying how fitness enables them to live their lives better.

      Participants will be asked to complete questionnaires and wear a device that tracks their
      exercise for 1 week. If accepted into the study, they will receive a 1 day program designed
      to help them exercise more. Then they will receive phone calls and emails for support after
      the program. Finally, participants will come in 3 and 6 months after the program to complete
      the same questionnaires and wear the exercise tracker again.

      The study is primarily interested in increasing exercise levels, and so we hope to see
      participants exercising more after the program than they were before. We will also ask them
      questions (via the questionnaires) that tell us the degree to which they are exercising based
      on their one desires and values, as opposed to doing it because they were told to.
    

Detailed description: 
      Despite the importance of adoption and maintenance of habitual moderate to vigorous-intensity
      physical activity (MVPA) for health benefits and long-term weight management, current
      comprehensive lifestyle interventions place little emphasis on physical activity behavior
      change strategies and have only modest impact on MVPA. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
      (ACT), a well validated, newer generation behavioral approach uses values of clarification
      and commitment strategies, along with acceptance-based skills training, to effect health
      behavior change that is consistent with personally identified values. ACT presents a
      theoretically consistent and potentially powerful intervention framework from which to target
      values-based autonomous motivation and increase MVPA. The overall aim of this study is to
      test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an ACT-based workshop
      intervention for increasing bout-related MVPA for overweight and obese, insufficiently active
      adults using a single-arm design. We will recruit 48 overweight/obese, insufficiently active
      adults across multiple cohorts and provide them with a 4-hour, ACT-based workshop followed by
      weekly emails and monthly phone calls for 3 months. The primary goal of the workshop is to
      use values clarification and acceptance-based skills training to increase values-based
      autonomous motivation and bout-related MVPA. Participants will self-monitor and report on
      progress via weekly emails and monthly phone calls. Assessments will be at baseline, 3, and 6
      months. The goal of this study is threefold: 1) to determine the feasibility and
      acceptability of the ACT workshop intervention by assessing the completion of the
      intervention at all time points and via questionnaires; 2) to show changes in autonomous
      motivation and values-consistent behavior at the end of the intervention; and 3) to show
      changes in physical activity, by use of an objectively measured physical activity devices,
      where participants are engaging in at least 200 minutes of MVPA at 3 and 6-months)

      This study will be conducted at the Miriam Hospital Weight Control and Diabetes Research
      Center by Drs. Jason Lillis and Dale Bond.
    

Intervention name(s): ACT-PA
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The overall goal of the intervention is to increase bout-related moderate-to-vigorous physical (MVPA) activity to greater than 200 minutes per week. The basic structure is an initial on-site, group-based intervention workshop, written materials, weekly emails, and monthly phone calls for a total of 3 months.
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment