DanceFit Prime: A Dance Based Physical Activity and Nutritional Intervention for Primary Care - A Feasibility Study

Overview

Regular physical activity improves physical and mental health and reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, obesity and premature death from any cause. Unfortunately the majority of adults are not active enough to reap these benefits. People who are inactive and at high risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes and dementia, and who may benefit from increased activity can be identified in primary care by combining standard risk tools. These high risk patients can be offered physical activity programmes that are designed to increase longterm adherence. Aerobic dance is an activity that combines physical, social and cognitive stimulation and allows easily adjusted intensity levels to meet individual needs. Engagement in an activity program also provides opportunities to offer advice on healthy nutrition and associated meal preparation skills. Information technology can be used to increase activity participation. Video materials can be produced to guide activity participation at home, thereby increasing overall activity participation. The investigators propose a feasibility study of a multimodal dance-based physical activity and nutrition intervention aimed at patients at high risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes and dementia, in primary care settings.

Regular physical activity improves physical and mental health and reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, dementia, obesity and premature death from any cause (Department of Health \& Prevention., 2004). Unfortunately the majority of adults are not active enough to reap these benefits (Chaudhury \& Roth, 2006). Specific psychological techniques can be used to overcome the known barriers to increased activity. People who are inactive can be identified in primary care through the use of standard risk tools. Similarly, standard risk tools can identify people at high risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes, and people at risk from dementia are identified by a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. Combining these clinical indicators can identify people who are inactive and at highest risk who may therefore benefit most from activity interventions. These high risk patients can be offered physical activity programmes that are designed to increase longterm adherence. Aerobic dance is an activity that combines physical, social and cognitive stimulation and allows easily adjusted intensity levels to meet individual needs. Engagement in an activity program also provides opportunities to offer advice on healthy nutrition and associated meal preparation skills. Information technology can be used to increase activity participation. Video materials can be produced to guide activity participation at home, thereby increasing overall activity participation. TRIAL DESIGN The investigators plan a longitudinal study where participants will be followed up for a total of 24 weeks. Outcome measures will be collected at three time points that separates two phases. Phase 1 consists of the group based weekly intervention plus access to online material and Phase 2 consists of only access to the online material. The time points are: baseline (Time 0), 12 weeks post intervention (Time 1) and 24 weeks post intervention (Time 2). Outcomes measured at time 1 will be used to determine the effects of Phase 1 immediately following participation, and measure at 24 weeks (Time 2) to determine the outcomes 12 weeks after the end of the group based intervention intervention and therefore the longer term effects with support from online material only. Participants will therefore serve as their own controls during Phase 2 for comparison with Phase 1. In other words the investigators will compare the results for each participant following Phase 1 with their results following Phase 2 to determine the effects of removing the group facilitation.