ISRCTN ISRCTN43608761
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN43608761
Secondary identifying numbers HRE18-123
Submission date
05/06/2020
Registration date
03/07/2020
Last edited
12/11/2021
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Completed
Condition category
Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
The project aims to investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of interventions to increase physical activity (PA) and reduce sedentary behaviour (SB) in mental health professionals and changes on their attitude towards and practices in recommending more PA and less SB to their clients.

Who can participate?
Mental health professionals aged 18–65 years

What does the study involve?
Participants will be asked to participate in a physical activity intervention of four weeks’ duration. They will be asked to attend a group-based single-session for behaviour change targeting physical activity and sedentary behaviours. The group session will include colleagues from the four headspace centres that are managed by Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health. They will be asked to complete questionnaires at the beginning and end of the four-week study period. During the intervention period, a member of the research team will additionally contact participants by phone on two occasions to review participant's activity goals and monitor their progress. During the study period, participants will also be required to wear a motion sensor on their wrist. Some participants will be invited to join a focus group interview comprising of 6 to 7 participants to share their experiences with intervention.

Any information collected during the participation in the program will be accessible to the research team for research purposes. Following information which will be collected during the study period using a combination of self-report and objective measures:
1. Demographics (age, gender, postcode, educational status, work status, height, weight)
2. Sedentary behaviours and levels of physical activity
3. Sleep quality and duration
4. Attitudes towards and practices in recommending physical activity as part of routine mental health care
5. Barriers and facilitators of engaging in physical activity
6. Other health-related issues

The responses and data collected will be de-identified using randomly generated codes, so nobody, not even researchers in the project, will be able to match the responses with participant''s identity.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Participation in this study will contribute to the potential development of physical activity intervention for mental health professionals and consequently will strengthen the evidence for implementation of PA and SB interventions among mental health professionals across Australia. Participants might also gain health and wellbeing benefits from increasing their engagement in PA and decreasing SB.
There are negligible risks associated with participation in this study. However, if participants feel any amount of stress related to the research project, research investigators will be available to discuss their problems.

Where is the study run from?
The study is run from the Institute for Health and Sport (IHES), Victoria University; and Victoria University Public Health Network (VUPHN). The group sessions will take place at headspace centers in Glenroy and Sunshine.

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
From September 2019 to October 2019

Who is funding the study?
This study is investigator-initiated and funded

Who is the main contact?
Professor Alex Parker
alex.parker@vu.edu.au

Contact information

Mr Nipun Shrestha
Scientific

8 Armstrong Street
Sunshine
3020
Australia

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0003-3542-8130
Phone +61 (0)480176154
Email shrestha.nipun@live.vu.edu.au
Prof Alexandra Parker
Scientific

Institute for Health and Sport (iHeS)
Victoria University
PO Box 14428
Melbourne
8001
Australia

ORCiD logoORCID ID 0000-0002-2398-6306
Phone +61 3 9919 5874
Email alex.parker@vu.edu.au

Study information

Study designMixed-methods study design comprising of a four-week pre-post intervention trial and focus group discussions
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designNon randomised study
Study setting(s)Other
Study typePrevention
Participant information sheet See additional files
Scientific titleImproving practices of mental health professionals in recommending more physical activity and less sedentary behaviour to their clients: findings from a mixed-methods intervention trial
Study objectivesMental health professionals would be more likely to promote more physical activity (PA) and less sedentary behaviour (SB) to their clients if they themselves are more physically active.
Ethics approval(s)Approved 07/08/2018, the Victoria University Human Ethics Research Committee (Victoria University, Ballarat Rd, Footscray, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3011; Australiaresearchethics@vu.edu.au; +61 3 9919 4781), ref: HRE18-123
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedAttitude and practices of mental health professionals regarding recommending increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior
InterventionParticipants will be either allocated to the intervention group or the control group.

The intervention group receive an intervention of 4-week duration consisting of the following components:
1. 1 h group behaviour change meeting, delivered by a registered psychologist to discuss the benefits of increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour and various strategies that can be adopted to achieve this. Participants were also asked to set their individuals goals and design their weekly plan to achieve their desired levels of physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour. A printed and online version of the information booklet containing 24 such strategies will be provided during the behaviour change meeting.
2. Weekly reminder emails/text messages or telephone calls.

Control group participants was advised to maintain their usual day-to-day activity and, at the end of the 4-week study period and assessment, receive a group counselling session on the benefits of increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviour.

Some participants will be invited to join a focus group interview comprising of 6 to 7 participants to share their experiences with intervention.
Intervention typeBehavioural
Primary outcome measureAttitude and practices of mental health professionals regarding recommending increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior assessed using a set of items from the Exercise in Mental Illness Questionnaire - Health Professional version at baseline and 4 weeks
Secondary outcome measuresPhysical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep duration assessed using the GeneActiv accelerometer at baseline and 4 weeks
Overall study start date01/09/2019
Completion date31/10/2019

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Health professional
Age groupAdult
Lower age limit18 Years
SexBoth
Target number of participants20 participants
Total final enrolment17
Key inclusion criteria1. Mental health professional aged 18–65 years
2. Ambulatory
Key exclusion criteria1. Pregnant
2. Not engaged in clinical duties
Date of first enrolment01/09/2019
Date of final enrolment15/09/2019

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • Australia

Study participating centres

Headspace center Glenroy
2A, Hartington Street
Glenroy
Melbourne
3046
Australia
Headspace center Sunshine
Visy Cares Hub
80b Harvester Road
Melbourne
3020
Australia

Sponsor information

Victoria University
University/education

Institute for Health and Sport (IHES) and Victoria University Public Health Network (VUPHN)
Ballarat Rd
Footscray
Melbourne
3011
Australia

Phone +61399196100
Email ihes@vu.edu.au
Website https://www.vu.edu.au/?gclid=CjwKCAjwt-L2BRA_EiwAacX32dQrnFj9bhXQyQjKTEM76pyDCTc5AfUKUVvw4q1-8AjN1zzjisK4JhoCX24QAvD_BwE
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/03yvdgx21

Funders

Funder type

Other

Investigators initiated and funded

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date30/10/2020
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareYes
IPD sharing plan summaryStored in non-publicly available repository, Available on request
Publication and dissemination planFindings from this study will be used in series of publication
IPD sharing planCurrent IPD sharing statement as of 12/11/2021:
The data for this trial is stored in Victoria University repository and cannot be shared publicly as per university policy. The anonymised individual participant data can be accessed by contacting Professor Alexandra Parker (Principal Investigator) at alex.parker@vu.edu.au. Consent was obtained from participants for use of data in publications and sharing anonymised data for any further research purposes.
_____

Previous IPD sharing statement:
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be stored in a non-publically available repository (Victoria University Research Repository, http://vuir.vu.edu.au).

Study outputs

Output type Details Date created Date added Peer reviewed? Patient-facing?
Results article 16/09/2021 02/11/2021 Yes No
Results article 16/07/2021 02/11/2021 Yes No

Editorial Notes

12/11/2021: The IPD sharing statement has been updated.
02/11/2021: Publication reference and total final enrolment number added.
03/07/2020: Uploaded participant information sheet as an additional file.
25/06/2020: Trial’s existence confirmed by Victoria University Human Ethics Research Committee.