Starting a Weekday Outdoor Walking (WOW) Routine

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this 4-week randomized study is to evaluate the effect of personalized plans plus an email campaign, with and without email-based coaching (eCoaching), on engagement in a new weekday outdoor walking (WOW) routine and average daily step count. Approximately 150 participants will be recruited via paid ads on Facebook and Instagram. Participants will be randomized to a control group, an intervention group without eCoaching, and an intervention group with eCoaching. The control group will be told that they can work a WOW routine on their own, with the opportunity to take part in the intervention after completing the 4-week follow-up assessment. Both intervention groups will complete an activity that will guide the creation of habit plan (e.g., When I finish eating lunch at work, then I will put on my walking shoes and go outside) and receive a 2-week long personalized email campaign. The primary outcome of interest is change in average daily step count from the month prior to the month after baseline assessment, as compared across the three groups. It is hypothesized that the intervention groups will result in an increase in daily step count, as compared to the control group. Secondary outcomes include habit strength at one-month follow-up and change in self-reported sleep quality and self-efficacy from baseline to follow-up.

Detailed Description
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The purpose of this 4-week randomized study is to evaluate the effect of personalized implementation intentions plus an email campaign, with and without email-based coaching (eCoaching), on engagement in a new weekday outdoor walking (WOW) routine and average daily step count. Approximately 150 participants will be recruited via paid ads on Facebook and Instagram. Participants will be randomized (1:1:1) to a control group, an intervention group without eCoaching, and an intervention group with eCoaching. The control group will be told that they can work a WOW routine on their own, with the opportunity to take part in the intervention after completing the 4-week follow-up assessment. Both intervention groups will complete an activity that will guide the creation of a habitual instigation implementation intention (e.g., When I finish eating lunch at work, then I will put on my walking shoes and go outside) and receive a 2-week long personalized email campaign. The primary outcome of interest is change in average daily step count from the month prior to the month after baseline assessment, as compared across the three groups. It is hypothesized that the intervention groups will result in a statistically significant increase in daily step count, as compared to the control group. Secondary outcomes include instigation habit strength (via Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index) at one-month follow-up and change in self-reported sleep quality (via the Single Items Sleep Quality Scale) and general self-efficacy (via General Self-Efficacy Scale) from baseline to follow-up.

Official Title
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Starting a Weekday Outdoor Walking (WOW) Routine: A Randomized Controlled Study

Conditions
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Physical Inactivity

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Personalized Two-Week Email-Based Program


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: 18-55 years of age Indicates desire to increases daily step count Indicates having a safe and convenient location to conduct outdoor walks Uses an iPhone Can upload step count screenshots Intends to bring their phone on their walks Has email address that they check  daily Has an average daily step count for month prior to enrolling <5,000/day, as determined by phone step data (screenshot submitted for verification). Exclusion Criteria: Any medical issues that could be worsened by walking. This will be assessed via the Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q), minus the question asking the participant if they take medication for blood pressure or a heart condition. Researchers feel this question is overly cautious and would exclude many individuals who would otherwise qualify and benefit from walking regularly.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 55 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: Other
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| No Intervention: Control<br>The control group will be told that they can work a WOW routine on their own, with the opportunity to complete the intervention after completing the 4-week follow-up assessment. | |
| Experimental: No-Coach<br>This is a fully automated intervention. The No-Coach group will complete an online activity that will guide the creation of a habitual instigation implementation intention (e.g., When I finish eating lunch at work, then I will put on my walking shoes and go outside) and receive a 2-week long personalized email campaign. They will not be able to reply to the emails for support. | Behavioral: Personalized Two-Week Email-Based Program<br>* Both intervention groups will complete an activity that will guide the creation of a habitual instigation implementation intention (e.g., When I finish eating lunch at work, then I will put on my walking shoes and go outside) and receive a 2-week long personalized email campaign. The Coached group will be able to reply to the emails to give feedback, ask questions, and receive additional support.<br>|
| Experimental: Coached<br>This is a semi-automated intervention. The Coached group will complete an online activity that will guide the creation of a habitual instigation implementation intention (e.g., When I finish eating lunch at work, then I will put on my walking shoes and go outside) and receive a 2-week long personalized email campaign. Prompts will be added to the end of each email such that these participants can respond to give feedback, ask questions, and receive additional support from a (human) coach. | Behavioral: Personalized Two-Week Email-Based Program<br>* Both intervention groups will complete an activity that will guide the creation of a habitual instigation implementation intention (e.g., When I finish eating lunch at work, then I will put on my walking shoes and go outside) and receive a 2-week long personalized email campaign. The Coached group will be able to reply to the emails to give feedback, ask questions, and receive additional support.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in average daily step count | Change in average daily step count from the month prior to the month after baseline assessment, as compared across the three groups. | Four weeks | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Instigation habit strength | Instigation habit strength measured via Self-Report Behavioral Automaticity Index at one-month follow-up. Scores range from 4-20, with a higher score indicating greater habit strength. | Four weeks | 
| Change in sleep quality | Change in self-reported sleep quality, measured via the Single Items Sleep Quality Scale, from baseline to follow-up. Scores range from 0=terrible sleep to 10=excellent sleep. | Four weeks | 
| Change in general self-efficacy | Change in general self-efficacy, measured via the New General Self-Efficacy Scale from baseline to follow-up. Scores range from 8-40, with a higher score indicating higher general self-efficacy. | Four weeks | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Behavioral health, Health behavior change, Habit formation, Implementation intentions