Planning implementation and scale-up of physical activity interventions for people with walking difficulties: study protocol for the process evaluation of the ComeBACK trial

Wong, S; Hassett, L; Koorts, H; Grunseit, A; Tong, A; Tiedemann, A; Greaves, CJ; Haynes, A; Milat, A; Harvey, LA; Taylor, Nicholas; Hinman, RS; Pinherio, MDB; Jennings, M; Treacy, D; O’Rourke, S; West, C; Ramsay, E; Kirkham, C; Morris, C; Sherrington, C

doi:10.26181/20399343.v1

Planning implementation and scale-up of physical activity interventions for people with walking difficulties: study protocol for the process evaluation of the ComeBACK trial

journal contribution

posted on 2022-07-29, 00:15 authored by S Wong, L Hassett, H Koorts, A Grunseit, A Tong, A Tiedemann, CJ Greaves, A Haynes, A Milat, LA Harvey, Nicholas TaylorNicholas Taylor, RS Hinman, MDB Pinherio, M Jennings, D Treacy, S O’Rourke, C West, E Ramsay, C Kirkham, C Morris, C Sherrington

Background: There is currently little evidence of planning for real-world implementation of physical activity interventions. We are undertaking the ComeBACK (Coaching and Exercise for Better Walking) study, a 3-arm hybrid Type 1 randomised controlled trial evaluating a health coaching intervention and a text messaging intervention. We used an implementation planning framework, the PRACTical planning for Implementation and Scale-up (PRACTIS), to guide the process evaluation for the trial. The aim of this paper is to describe the protocol for the process evaluation of the ComeBACK trial using the framework of the PRACTIS guide. Methods: A mixed methods process evaluation protocol was developed informed by the Medical Research Council (MRC) guidance on process evaluations for complex interventions and the PRACTIS guide. Quantitative data, including participant questionnaires, health coach and administrative logbooks, and website and text message usage data, is being collected over the trial period. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with trial participants, health coaches and health service stakeholders will explore expectations, factors influencing the delivery of the ComeBACK interventions and potential scalability within existing health services. These data will be mapped against the steps of the PRACTIS guide, with reporting at the level of the individual, provider, organisational and community/systems. Quantitative and qualitative data will elicit potential contextual barriers and facilitators to implementation and scale-up. Quantitative data will be reported descriptively, and qualitative data analysed thematically. Discussion: This process evaluation integrates an evaluation of prospective implementation and scale-up. It is envisaged this will inform barriers and enablers to future delivery, implementation and scale-up of physical activity interventions. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to describe the application of PRACTIS to guide the process evaluation of physical activity interventions. Trial registration: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) Registration date: 10/12/2018.

Funding

This work is supported by a project grant from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (APP 1145739). SW is supported by an Institute for Musculoskeletal Health postgraduate scholarship from the University of Sydney. Authors RH and MP receive salary funding from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Fellowships.

History

Publication Date

2022-12-01

Journal

Trials

Volume

23

Issue

1

Article Number

ARTN 40

Pagination

14p.

Publisher

BMC

ISSN

1745-6215

Rights Statement

© The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.