Our Early Movers longitudinal study found that adherence to the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines in infancy is low across demographic groups, impacting overall development. Early Movers is a parent-focused intervention designed to increase dissemination and activation of the 24-Hour Movement Behaviour Guidelines for the Early Years. It adapts an established Australian intervention called INFANT. An important first step is conducting a pilot study.
Our goal is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of the Early Movers intervention, a scalable, theory-based, parent-focused intervention designed to increase dissemination and activation of the 24-Hour Movement Behaviour Guidelines for the Early Years. Primary Objectives: 1. Explore the feasibility of the Early Movers intervention protocol, including recruitment, retention, data collection, and procedures. Specifically, we will examine: 1. the willingness of first-time parents to enroll and remain in the study, 2. data collection completion rates, and 3. the integrity of the protocol components to all work together and run smoothly. 2. Explore the acceptability of the intervention by parents and public health staff.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
60
The intervention includes: 1) an educational resource (i.e., hard-copy handout) developed for this study on the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines provided to parents at 2-month immunization appointments by public health nurses, who will answer any questions, followed by a discussion with research staff. 2) Follow-up support via access to a digital app with evidence-based information and support through an online toolkit, an anonymous forum, as well as weekly text messages that include tips and supportive messaging related to the guidelines.
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Feasibility (recruitment)
How many appointments the research coordinator attends, how many families the research coordinator speaks to, how many families are eligible, and how many families enroll in the trial.
Time frame: At recruitment completion, approximately 6 months from the start of recruitment
Feasibility (retention)
How many participants drop out
Time frame: At data collection completion, approximately 10 months from the start of recruitment
Feasibility (procedures; field observations)
Field observations recorded by the research coordinator while at public health centres
Time frame: Throughout the 6 months of recruitment
Feasibility (procedures, interviews)
Brief semi-structured interviews with public health staff
Time frame: At recruitment completion, approximately 6 months from the start of recruitment
Feasibility (procedures, interviews)
Brief semi-structured interviews with parents from the intervention group only
Time frame: 4-month follow-up (Infant age: 6 months)
Feasibility (data collection)
Completion rates of movement behaviour and development measures assessed in the questionnaire
Time frame: Baseline (Infant age: 2 months), 2-month follow-up (Infant age: 4 months), 4-month follow (Infant age: 6 months)
Parent acceptability (interviews)
Brief semi-structured interviews with parents from the intervention group only
Time frame: 4-month follow-up (Infant age: 6 months)
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Parent acceptability (questionnaire)
Intervention usefulness, satisfaction (content and delivery), and novelty assessed via a parental questionnaire in the intervention group only. This scale includes 4 items with values of 1-5; higher values mean more acceptability
Time frame: 4-month follow-up (Infant age: 6 months)
Parent acceptability (app usage)
App usage will be tracked in the intervention group only
Time frame: Between baseline (Infant age: 2 months) and 4-month follow-up (Infant age: 6 months)
Public health staff acceptability (interviews)
Brief semi-structured interviews with public health staff
Time frame: At recruitment completion, approximately 6 months from the start of recruitment
Physical activity
Tummy time measured in a parental questionnaire
Time frame: Baseline (Infant age: 2 months), 2-month follow-up (Infant age: 4 months), 4-month follow (Infant age: 6 months)
Sedentary behaviour
Screen time, back time, reading time, restrained time in a stroller, car seat, etc. measured in a parental questionnaire
Time frame: Baseline (Infant age: 2 months), 2-month follow-up (Infant age: 4 months), 4-month follow (Infant age: 6 months)
Sleep
Sleep measured in a parental questionnaire
Time frame: Baseline (Infant age: 2 months), 2-month follow-up (Infant age: 4 months), 4-month follow (Infant age: 6 months)
Development
Development will be measured with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3)
Time frame: Baseline (Infant age: 2 months), 2-month follow-up (Infant age: 4 months), 4-month follow (Infant age: 6 months)