Open Collections

MacPherson, Megan

University of British Columbia

Diet and exercise behaviour change remains a cornerstone of diabetes prevention; however, long-term adherence to such behaviours is low. Text messaging (‘texting’) is one of the widest reaching, most accessible technological interventions and may be a useful tool for improving adherence following behaviour change interventions. Although texting interventions have been shown to improve health behaviour change, current development reporting lacks quality, rigor, and often follows a “black box” model where information pertaining to message content creation and subsequent evaluation goes unreported. Using behaviour change theory and involving stakeholders throughout, this dissertation describes the development of a theory-based, user-informed texting intervention to improve diet and exercise adherence following the Small Steps for Big Changes (SSBC) type 2 diabetes (T2D) prevention program. SSBC empowers individuals to make diet and exercise changes to reduce their risk of T2D; the SSBC program was systematically developed through a rigorous process from pilot testing to an RCT and community implementation. Following the completion of the three-to-four-week intensive program phase, SSBC participants are asked to continue to implement strategies they learned in the program without any continued engagement from program providers; however, previous participants have expressed a desire for more support during this follow-up phase. The texting intervention detailed in this dissertation will be used to enhance support during the SSBC follow-up phase to improve diet and exercise behaviour-change adherence. Texting intervention development is situated within the preparation phase of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST). The MOST is a three-phase framework (Preparation; Optimization; Evaluation) which aims to develop interventions that are not only effective, but also efficient, economical, and scalable; all attributes which are key in developing interventions to be effectively translated into practice. The texting intervention development presented in this dissertation improves current understanding of what content and delivery components are suitable for implementation within the context of diabetes prevention. Grounded in the Preparation Phase of MOST, this dissertation lays the foundation for future optimization and efficacy research and can guide future mHealth developers in how to conduct formative research within the Preparation Phase of MOST.

Text

2022-07-12

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82120

Health and Exercise Sciences

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/