The Walk With Me Study: a peer-led intervention to increase physical activity in older adults

ISRCTN	ISRCTN23051918
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN23051918
Secondary identifying numbers	PHR - 12/133/04

Submission date: 06/11/2015
Registration date: 17/11/2015
Last edited: 10/11/2021

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Completed
Condition category: Other

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Plain English Summary

Background and study aims
Being physically active has numerous benefits for our health and well-being. However, levels of physical activity decline as we age. The majority of older adults do not meet current recommended levels of physical activity. Research also suggests that those who live in socially/economically deprived areas are among the most inactive. Therefore, increasing physical activity levels in this population is an important public health issue. Using active peers who are a similar age and background may be an effective way to increase levels of physical activity among inactive older adults (defined in this study as those aged 60-70 years). This study aims to test the acceptability and preferences of a sample of older adults to a peer-led walking programme.

Who can participate?
Men and women aged 60 – 70 who are not currently physically active and live in a socio-economically disadvantaged community in the South Eastern Trust.

What does the study involve?
Participants are randomly allocated to one of two groups: the intervention group or the control group. The intervention group participates in the ‘Walk With Me’ intervention, where they are encouraged by their peer mentor to increase their physical activity. Participants set goals and use pedometers to monitor their physical activity, and after 12 weeks they are signposted to other activity programmes in the community to encourage them to maintain their activity level. The control group do not receive any additional support to change their activity over the course of the study, apart from a brief booklet on physical activity (this is also given to the intervention group), and after the end of the study they will be offered opportunities to engage in physical activity. We are interested in the opinions of both the peer mentors and participants regarding what worked and what could be improved about the intervention, so we are conducting a number of interviews and focus groups to collect this information.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Regular participation in physical activity has numerous benefits for health and wellbeing. It is hoped that this intervention will encourage participants to perform more moderate intensity physical activity, of which walking will be the main form. This is a low risk intervention and we do not anticipate any serious adverse events.

Where is the study run from?
Queen's University Belfast (UK).

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
December 2014 to March 2018.

Who is funding the study?
National Institute for Health Research (UK).

Who is the main contact?
Dr Conor Cunningham (c.cunningham@qub.ac.uk)
Dr Mark Tully (m.tully@qub.ac.uk)

Contact information

Dr Conor Cunningham
Public

Queen's University Belfast
Institute of Clinical Science B
Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road
Belfast
BT12 6BJ
United Kingdom

Phone	+44 (0)28 9063 2219
Email	c.cunningham@qub.ac.uk

Dr Mark Tully
Scientific

Queen's University Belfast
Institute of Clinical Science B
Royal Victoria Hospital, Grosvenor Road
Belfast
BT12 6BJ
United Kingdom

ORCID ID	0000-0001-9710-4014
Phone	+44 (0)28 9063 2721
Email	m.tully@ulster.ac.uk

Study information

Study design	Randomised controlled trial
Primary study design	Interventional
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)	Community
Study type	Prevention
Participant information sheet	Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Scientific title	A feasibility study and pilot randomised controlled trial of a peer-led walking programme to increase physical activity in inactive older adults: Walk With Me Study
Study hypothesis	To determine the feasibility of the "Walk With Me" peer-led walking intervention in socio-economically disadvantaged community dwelling older adults
Ethics approval(s)	The Office of Research Networks Northern Ireland, December 2014, REC ref: 14/NI/1330
Condition	Physical activity
Intervention	The intervention group The ‘Walk With Me’ intervention is a peer led 12-week walking programme in community dwelling older adults. During the intervention period the participant will have regular contact with the peer mentor, and be encouraged to increase their time spent in moderate intensity physical activity. Six peer mentors will be recruited. They will be paired with participants of the same sex and from a similar community. During the pilot RCT, peer mentors will be given access to a research team member for advice/support and will be contacted by the project manager at least once per fortnight, to identify any problems with the programme delivery or participant contact and engagement. The intervention will begin with a first face-to-face meeting between the peer mentor and participant. The programme will then involve a phased approach, with an initial period of trust building, identifying current levels of physical activity and facilitators and barriers to increasing activity, and identifying strategies to overcome these barriers and increase activity (e.g. discussing opportunities in the local environment). This is followed by individually-tailored goal setting, where weekly targets are discussed, agreed and reviewed. This will be done using pedometers to set individually tailored goals and self-monitor progress using weekly step diaries, as in previous peer-led physical activity interventions. After 12 weeks, the formal peer-led component will finish, and participants in the intervention group will be signposted to other activity programmes in the community to encourage maintenance of their activity level. The control group The control group will participate in baseline and 6-month follow-up data collection activities. Those assigned to the control group will not receive any additional support to change their activity over the course of the intervention period. At the outset of the trial, they will receive a brief health promotion booklet on physical activity (the same booklet will be given to the intervention group) and will be informed that after the 6-month data collection point, they will be offered a choice of opportunities to engage in physical activity.
Intervention type	Behavioural
Primary outcome measure	Minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) objectively measured using an Actigraph GT3-X accelerometer (physical activity monitor) over 7 days. Outcomes will be measured at baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks) and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome measures	1. A validated self-reported physical activity questionnaire (EPAQ-2) 2. Physical and mental health measured using the SF-12 3. Mental wellbeing measured using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale 4. Health-related quality of life assessed using EuroQol-5D 5. Social engagement measured with the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Lubben Social Network Scale Outcomes will be measured at baseline, post-intervention (12 weeks) and 6 months after baseline.
Overall study start date	01/12/2014
Overall study end date	01/03/2018

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Other
Age group	Mixed
Sex	Both
Target number of participants	60
Participant inclusion criteria	1. Male or female aged 60 – 70 years 2. Living in a socio-economically disadvantaged community in the South Eastern Trust (defined as the lowest quartile of super output areas according to the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure) 3. Competent to give informed consent 4. Not currently physically active (assessed using the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire) 5. Community dwelling (i.e., living in their own home) 6. Planning to stay in the current residence during the next year 7. Able to communicate in English
Participant exclusion criteria	1. Not aged 60 – 70 years 2. Not living in a socio-economically disadvantaged community in the South Eastern Trust (defined as the lowest quartile of super output areas according to the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure) 3. Not competent to give informed consent 4. Currently physically active (assessed using the General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire) 5. Not community dwelling (i.e., living in a residential home or care facility) 6. Not planning to stay in the current residence during the next year 7. Not able to communicate in English
Recruitment start date	01/12/2015
Recruitment end date	31/12/2017

Locations

Countries of recruitment

Northern Ireland
United Kingdom

Study participating centre

Centre for Public Health

Queen's University Belfast
Institute of Clinical Science B
Royal Victoria Hospital
Grosvenor Road
Belfast
BT12 6BJ
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
Research organisation

Research and Development office
Room 19, Home 3
Ulster Hospital
Dundonald
Belfast
BT16 1RH
United Kingdom

Website	http://www.setrust.hscni.net/
"ROR"	https://ror.org/05w2bg876

Queen's University Belfast
University/education

63 University Road
Belfast
BT7 1NF
Northern Ireland
United Kingdom

Website	http://www.queensu.ca/
"ROR"	https://ror.org/00hswnk62

Funders

Funder type

Government

National Institute for Health Research
Government organisation / National government

Alternative name(s): National Institute for Health Research, NIHR Research, NIHRresearch, NIHR - National Institute for Health Research, NIHR (The National Institute for Health and Care Research), NIHR
Location: United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	No
IPD sharing plan summary	Stored in repository
Publication and dissemination plan	To be confirmed at a later date
IPD sharing plan	The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be stored in a non-publically available repository

Study outputs

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Protocol article	protocol	21/06/2018		Yes	No
Results article	pilot trial results	01/05/2019	28/05/2019	Yes	No
Results article		01/05/2019	10/11/2021	Yes	No

Editorial Notes

28/05/2019: Publication reference added.
23/05/2019: Internal review.
11/03/2019: Internal review.
09/07/2018: PubMed address added.
25/06/2018: Publication reference added.
10/08/2018: Internal review.