Connect 4 Health: An Intervention to Improve Childhood Obesity Outcomes
Condition: Overweight; Obesity
MeSH terms: Obesity; Overweight; Pediatric Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Health care system (HCS)-based interventions have been limited by their inattention to social
      and environmental barriers that impede improvement in obesity-related behaviors.
      Additionally, current pediatric obesity care delivery relies on an outdated provider:patient
      paradigm which is ill-suited for a problem as prevalent as obesity. HCSs often lack the
      organizational structure to provide longitudinal care for children with chronic illnesses,
      the clinicians to manage and support patients with chronic illnesses outside of clinic,
      and/or the health information systems that support the use of evidence-based practices at the
      point-of-care. Thus, the research question this study is designed to address is whether a
      novel approach to care delivery that leverages delivery system and community resources and
      addresses socio-contextual factors will improve family-centered childhood obesity outcomes.

      The primary specific aims are to examine the extent to which the intervention, compared to
      the control condition, results in:

        1. A smaller age-associated increase in BMI over a 12-month period.

        2. Improved parental and child ratings of pediatric health-related quality of life.

      The secondary aims are:

        1. To examine parental ratings of quality and family-centeredness of pediatric obesity care
           and compare outcomes among participants in the intervention with the control condition

        2. To assess change in weight-related behaviors and compare outcomes among participants in
           the intervention with the control condition

        3. To assess the following process measures:

             -  Reach

             -  Extent of implementation

             -  Fidelity to protocol

             -  Parent satisfaction

        4. To examine the extent to which neighborhood environments modify observed intervention
           effects

        5. To assess the documentation of Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS)
           measures in participant medical records
    


Intervention name(s): Health Coaching
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Parent/child duos enrolled in the intervention group will participate in a total of six visits with a trained health coach. During these visits, the health coach will coach the parent/child duos on improving obesity-related behaviors .
The health coach will also help the family identify supports to assist with behavior change; discuss family health habits and the home environment; and review and encourage use of materials related to both specific target behaviors and available resources in the community.
Following the first call with the health coach, parents will receive semi-weekly text messages designed by the study team. The messages will alternate in structure between 2 types of messages; 1) skills training messages will deliver tips and motivational messages to help their child practice the study's goals and 2) self monitoring messages will ask parents to respond to the message and track health behaviors important to this study.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Pediatric; Obesity; Overweight; Intervention