Building on a Point-of-purchase Intervention to Encourage Healthy Food Choices

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study builds on the framework of a previously implemented color-coded food labeling intervention in a hospital cafeteria by testing the incremental effectiveness of providing employees with individual feedback and incentives for increasing healthy purchases in a 3-arm randomized controlled trial. The investigators hypothesize that employees assigned to receive feedback will increase healthy purchases more than employees who receive no contact and that employees who receive feedback plus incentives will increase healthy purchases more than those who receive feedback alone.

Official Title
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Building on a Point-of-purchase Intervention to Encourage Healthy Food Choices

Conditions
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Food Labeling

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Feedback letters
* Behavioral: Feedback plus incentives


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Employee at Massachusetts General Hospital who uses a cafeteria debit card to pay for cafeteria purchases Exclusion Criteria: Employees who do not have a cafeteria debit card Employees with cafeteria debit card but who use it fewer than 3 times a month for the 3 months prior to start of trial

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Feedback only<br>Subjects receive feedback letters about the proportion of green, yellow, and red purchases in the cafeteria per month with comparisons to all employees and to the healthiest employees eaters | Behavioral: Feedback letters<br>* Subjects receive feedback letters about the proportion of green, yellow, and red purchases in the cafeteria per month with comparisons to all employees and to the healthiest employees eaters<br>|
| Experimental: Feedback plus incentives<br>Subjects receive feedback letters plus small incentives to increase healthy (green-labeled) purchases in the next month | Behavioral: Feedback plus incentives<br>* Subjects receive feedback letters plus small incentives to increase healthy (green-labeled) purchases in the next month<br>|
| No Intervention: Control group<br> | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Employee purchases of healthy (green-labeled) items |  | 6 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Employee purchases of unhealthy (red-labeled) items |  | 6 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Healthy eating, Incentives, Feedback