Development of Virtual Traveller: A behaviour change intervention to increase physical activity during primary school lessons

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Development of Virtual Traveller: A behaviour change intervention to increase physical activity during primary school lessons Emma Norris1*, Nicola Shelton1, Sandra Dunsmuir2, Oliver Duke-Williams3 and Emmanuel Stamatakis1, 4 1 University College London, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, United Kingdom 2 University College London, Department of Clinical Educational and Health Psychology, United Kingdom 3 University College London, Department of Information Studies, United Kingdom 4 University of Sydney, Charles Perkins Centre, Australia Background Children spend a large amount of their time in obligatory seated school lessons, with notable effects on health and cognitive outcomes. A common issue reported by teachers is a lack of time to incorporate physical activity into the school day alongside academic pressures. As such, emerging research is attempting to convert educational time from sedentary to active via physically active lessons. However this existing research does not utilise Behaviour Change concepts, making comparability and replicability difficult (Norris, Shelton, Dunsmuir, Duke-Williams, & Stamatakis, 2015a). The Virtual Traveller programme is the first to test Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) as physically active lessons. These utilise existing classroom interactive whiteboards to integrate globe-based educational content with related physical movements. Aim(s) This research aimed to develop a 6-week ‘Virtual Traveller’ intervention based around the Behaviour Change Wheel and Behaviour Change Techniques Method / Results Three sources of data were used to inform the intervention development process: the existing research literature on school-based physical activity interventions, teacher interviews (N=12) and pupil focus groups (N=18) and an experimental feasibility study (N=85; Norris, Shelton, Dunsmuir, Duke-Williams, & Stamatakis, 2015b). The Behaviour Change Wheel was used as a framework to guide synthesis of evidence into the resulting intervention. Potential appropriate Behaviour Change Techniques were reviewed and embedded within the intervention. Conclusions The resulting 6-week Virtual Traveller programme with a 3-month follow-up period is currently in its final stages of evaluation in ten Greater London primary schools. Using the Behaviour Change Wheel and Behaviour Change Techniques allows development of replicable health interventions in applied settings such as schools. Acknowledgements Thank you to all the schools, teachers and pupils that made this research possible. References Norris, E., Shelton, N., Dunsmuir, S., Duke-Williams, O., & Stamatakis, E. (2015a). Physically active lessons as physical activity and educational interventions: A systematic review of methods and results. Preventive Medicine, 72(0), 116-125. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2014.12.027 Norris, E., Shelton, N., Dunsmuir, S., Duke-Williams, O., & Stamatakis, E. (2015b). Virtual Field Trips as physically active lessons for primary-school children: A pilot study. BMC Public Health, 15, 366. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-1706-5 Keywords: physical activity, primary school children, Intervention Studies, interactive whiteboard, student engagement Conference: 2nd Behaviour Change Conference: Digital Health and Wellbeing, London, United Kingdom, 24 Feb - 25 Feb, 2016. Presentation Type: Oral presentation Citation: Norris E, Shelton N, Dunsmuir S, Duke-Williams O and Stamatakis E (2016). Development of Virtual Traveller: A behaviour change intervention to increase physical activity during primary school lessons. Front. Public Health. Conference Abstract: 2nd Behaviour Change Conference: Digital Health and Wellbeing. doi: 10.3389/conf.FPUBH.2016.01.00052 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 02 Dec 2015; Published Online: 09 Jan 2016. * Correspondence: Miss. Emma Norris, University College London, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, London, United Kingdom, e.norris.11@ucl.ac.uk Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Emma Norris Nicola Shelton Sandra Dunsmuir Oliver Duke-Williams Emmanuel Stamatakis Google Emma Norris Nicola Shelton Sandra Dunsmuir Oliver Duke-Williams Emmanuel Stamatakis Google Scholar Emma Norris Nicola Shelton Sandra Dunsmuir Oliver Duke-Williams Emmanuel Stamatakis PubMed Emma Norris Nicola Shelton Sandra Dunsmuir Oliver Duke-Williams Emmanuel Stamatakis Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.