Behavioral Goals Research Articles

EFFECTIVENESS OF TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES SUBJECT USING INFOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES AND ITS EFFECT ON ACHIEVEMENT AND VISUAL INTELLIGENCE

The researcher used the experimental design with partial control with two equal experimental and control groups, and according to this design, the research sample was randomly selected from the research community that represented (governmental middle and secondary schools in the Karbala Governorate Center affiliated to the General Directorate of Education of Karbala) and was (medium Thuraya for girls), was rewarded The researcher between the two groups in the following variables: chronological age calculated in months, intelligence, a test of previous information, the achievement of parents, previous achievement in the subject of social studies, and the scientific article identified the first three chapters (the first: the geography of the Arab world, the second: the Arab world (population and economic activity), Third: The conditions of the Arabian peninsula before Islam) from the book of Sociology for the second intermediate grade. The behavioral goals of these chapters were formulated, as their number reached in their final form (160) behavioral goals, and with regard to the two research tools, the researcher intentionally constructed the research tools that were represented by an achievement test in the subject of social studies consisting of (50) substantive paragraphs of the type of multiple-choice of four Alternatives As for the second tool, it consisted of the measure of visual intelligence towards the social matter, which is ultimate of (34) items. After applying the research tools and analyzing the results obtained statistically by using Microsoft Excel and SPSS, the results showed that the experimental group students who studied according to the infographic technique were superior to the control group students who studied according to the usual method of achievement and the visual intelligence scale.

Effects of Transient Loss of Vision on Head and Eye Movements during Visual Search in a Virtual Environment.

Central and peripheral fields of view extract information of different quality and serve different roles during visual tasks. Past research has studied this dichotomy on-screen in conditions remote from natural situations where the scene would be omnidirectional and the entire field of view could be of use. In this study, we had participants looking for objects in simulated everyday rooms in virtual reality. By implementing a gaze-contingent protocol we masked central or peripheral vision (masks of 6 deg. of radius) during trials. We analyzed the impact of vision loss on visuo-motor variables related to fixation (duration) and saccades (amplitude and relative directions). An important novelty is that we segregated eye, head and the general gaze movements in our analyses. Additionally, we studied these measures after separating trials into two search phases (scanning and verification). Our results generally replicate past on-screen literature and teach about the role of eye and head movements. We showed that the scanning phase is dominated by short fixations and long saccades to explore, and the verification phase by long fixations and short saccades to analyze. One finding indicates that eye movements are strongly driven by visual stimulation, while head movements serve a higher behavioral goal of exploring omnidirectional scenes. Moreover, losing central vision has a smaller impact than reported on-screen, hinting at the importance of peripheral scene processing for visual search with an extended field of view. Our findings provide more information concerning how knowledge gathered on-screen may transfer to more natural conditions, and attest to the experimental usefulness of eye tracking in virtual reality.

Early Physical Activity Adoption Predicts Longer-Term Physical Activity Among Individuals Inactive at Baseline.

To examine the relationship between early physical activity (PA) adoption (2, 3, and 4mo) and longer-term PA adherence (1y) among individuals who were inactive at baseline and received a lifestyle intervention. Participants (n = 637) received weekly behavioral weight loss sessions, calorie reduction, and PA goals (50-175min/wk progression). PA was assessed via self-reported measures at baseline, months 2 to 4, and 1year. PA at months 2 to 4 was significantly correlated with PA at 1year (rs = .29-.35, P < .01). At all early time points, those failing to meet the prescribed PA goal (early nonadopters) engaged in significantly less PA at 1year than those meeting the early PA goal (initial adopters). For example, using 2-month criteria, initial adopters engaged in 108.3minutes per week more at 1year compared with early nonadopters (P < .01) and had 2.8 times the odds (95% confidence interval, 1.9-4.2) of meeting the 1-year PA goal (≥175min/wk, P < .01). Failure to achieve PA goals at 2, 3, or 4 months results in less overall PA at 1year. Thus, PA observed as early as month 2 may be a useful indicator for identifying at-risk individuals who may benefit from more intensive PA intervention strategies.

Effect of psychological counseling with experiential relational focus group on psychological counselors’ self-efficacy and listening skills

Aiming to achieve the behavioral goals of the clients, group psychological counseling is the help process carried out by a professional psychological counselor, who was trained in the field where interpersonal interaction is developed. It is important for psychological counselors to be experienced in the field and to go through a group experience in order to conduct psychological counseling with a group. This study examined the effect of psychological counseling on psychological counselors’ self-efficacy and listening skills. The experimental group and the control group of the study consisted of a total of 18 guidance and psychological counseling graduate students. There were nine (three males, six females) participants in both of the groups. Quasi-experimental design with experiment, control, pretest-posttest and follow-up test was employed in the study. In data analysis, Mann-Whitney U test was used for the difference between the posttests of the experimental and control groups, whereas was used by, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for the comparisons of the experimental group’s pre-posttest and post-follow-up test. Group counseling continued once a week for 10 weeks. There were no members who did not continue and did not participate in the process. The study revealed that psychological counseling practice conducted with the experimental group was effective on psychological counselors’ self-efficacy and listening skills. This effect continued in the follow-up measurement performed 2 months later.

"Follow the Whistle: Physical Activity Is Calling You": Evaluation of Implementation and Impact of a Portuguese Nationwide Mass Media Campaign to Promote Physical Activity.

To raise perceived capability (C), opportunity (O) and motivation (M) for physical activity (PA) behaviour (B) among adults, the Portuguese Directorate-General of Health developed a mass media campaign named “Follow the Whistle”, based on behaviour change theory and social marketing principles. Comprehensive formative and process evaluation suggests this media-led campaign used best-practice principles. The campaign adopted a population-wide approach, had clear behavioural goals, and clear multi-strategy implementation. We assessed campaign awareness and initial impact using pre (n = 878, 57% women) and post-campaign (n = 1319, 58% women) independent adult population samples via an online questionnaire, comprising socio-demographic factors, campaign awareness and recall, and psychosocial and behavioural measures linked to the COM-B model. PA was assessed with IPAQ and the Activity Choice Index. The post-campaign recall was typical of levels following national campaigns (24%). Post-campaign measures were higher for key theory-based targets (all p < 0.05), namely self-efficacy, perceived opportunities to be more active and intrinsic motivation. The impact on social norms and self-efficacy was moderated by campaign awareness. Concerning PA, effects were found for vigorous activity (p < 0.01), but not for incidental activity. Overall the campaign impacted key theory-based intermediate outcomes, but did not influence incidental activity, which highlights the need for sustained and repeated campaign efforts.

Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a positive psychology-based intervention to promote health behaviors in heart failure: The REACH for Health study

ObjectiveMost patients with heart failure (HF) struggle to adhere to health behaviors, and existing health behavior interventions have significant limitations. We developed a 12-week, phone-delivered, combined positive psychology (PP) and motivational interviewing (MI) intervention to promote well-being and adherence to physical activity, diet, and medications. In this three-arm, randomized trial, we assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of the intervention compared to treatment as usual and MI-alone conditions in 45 patients with HF and suboptimal health behavior adherence. MethodsParticipants in the PP-MI or MI-alone conditions completed weekly phone sessions for 12 weeks. Those in PP-MI completed weekly PP exercises and set health behavior goals, while those in the MI-alone condition learned about HF-specific health behaviors and identified potential behavior changes. Primary study outcomes were feasibility (sessions completed) and acceptability (0–10 ratings of PP exercise ease and utility). The intervention's impact on psychological and behavioral outcomes was assessed using mixed effects regression analyses. ResultsParticipants in the PP-MI condition completed 73% of sessions and rated PP exercises as easy to complete (mean = 7.5 [SD 1.7] out of 10) and subjectively useful (mean = 7.5 [SD 1.6] out of 10). Compared to the control conditions, PP-MI led to medium effect-size improvements in positive affect (Cohen's d = 0.32–0.77), moderate to vigorous physical activity (d = 0.41–0.74), and medication adherence (d = 0.48–0.78). ConclusionThis PP-MI intervention was feasible, well-accepted, and associated with promising improvements in well-being and health behavior outcomes. Larger trials are needed to examine this intervention's impact on health behavior adherence and other important outcomes (NCT03220204).

Linguistic Structure and Meaning Organize Neural Oscillations into a Content-Specific Hierarchy.

Neural oscillations track linguistic information during speech comprehension (Ding et al., 2016; Keitel et al., 2018), and are known to be modulated by acoustic landmarks and speech intelligibility (Doelling et al., 2014; Zoefel and VanRullen, 2015). However, studies investigating linguistic tracking have either relied on non-naturalistic isochronous stimuli or failed to fully control for prosody. Therefore, it is still unclear whether low-frequency activity tracks linguistic structure during natural speech, where linguistic structure does not follow such a palpable temporal pattern. Here, we measured electroencephalography (EEG) and manipulated the presence of semantic and syntactic information apart from the timescale of their occurrence, while carefully controlling for the acoustic-prosodic and lexical-semantic information in the signal. EEG was recorded while 29 adult native speakers (22 women, 7 men) listened to naturally spoken Dutch sentences, jabberwocky controls with morphemes and sentential prosody, word lists with lexical content but no phrase structure, and backward acoustically matched controls. Mutual information (MI) analysis revealed sensitivity to linguistic content: MI was highest for sentences at the phrasal (0.8-1.1 Hz) and lexical (1.9-2.8 Hz) timescales, suggesting that the delta-band is modulated by lexically driven combinatorial processing beyond prosody, and that linguistic content (i.e., structure and meaning) organizes neural oscillations beyond the timescale and rhythmicity of the stimulus. This pattern is consistent with neurophysiologically inspired models of language comprehension (Martin, 2016, 2020; Martin and Doumas, 2017) where oscillations encode endogenously generated linguistic content over and above exogenous or stimulus-driven timing and rhythm information.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Biological systems like the brain encode their environment not only by reacting in a series of stimulus-driven responses, but by combining stimulus-driven information with endogenous, internally generated, inferential knowledge and meaning. Understanding language from speech is the human benchmark for this. Much research focuses on the purely stimulus-driven response, but here, we focus on the goal of language behavior: conveying structure and meaning. To that end, we use naturalistic stimuli that contrast acoustic-prosodic and lexical-semantic information to show that, during spoken language comprehension, oscillatory modulations reflect computations related to inferring structure and meaning from the acoustic signal. Our experiment provides the first evidence to date that compositional structure and meaning organize the oscillatory response, above and beyond prosodic and lexical controls.

Motivating Novice Crowd Workers through Goal Setting: An Investigation into the Effects on Complex Crowdsourcing Task Training

Training workers within a task is one way of enabling novice workers, who may lack domain knowledge or experience, to work on complex crowdsourcing tasks. Based on goal setting theory in psychology, we conduct a randomized experiment to study whether and how setting different goals—including performance goal, learning goal, and behavioral goal—when training workers for a complex crowdsourcing task affects workers’ learning perception, learning gain, and post-training performance. We find that setting different goals during training significantly affects workers’ learning perception, but overall does not have an effect on learning gain or post-training performance. However, higher levels of learning gain can be obtained when setting learning goals for workers who are highly learning-oriented. Additionally, giving workers a challenging behavioral goal can nudge them to adopt desirable behavior meant to improve learning and performance, though the adoption of such behavior does not lead to as much improvement as when the worker decides to take part in the behavior themselves. We conclude by discussing the lessons we’ve learned on how to effectively utilize goals in complex crowdsourcing task training.

Promoting Safe Injection Practices, Substance Use Reduction, Hepatitis C Testing, and Overdose Prevention Among Syringe Service Program Clients Using a Computer-Tailored Intervention: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundSyringe service programs (SSPs) are safe, highly effective programs for promoting health among people who inject drugs. However, resource limitations prevent the delivery of a full package of prevention services to many clients in need. Computer-tailored interventions may represent a promising approach for providing prevention information to people who inject drugs in resource-constrained settings.ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to assess the effect of a computer-tailored behavioral intervention, called Hep-Net, on safe injection practices, substance use reduction, overdose prevention, and hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing among SSP clients.MethodsUsing a social network–based recruitment strategy, we recruited clients of an established SSP in Wisconsin and peers from their social networks. Participants completed a computerized baseline survey and were then randomly assigned to receive the Hep-Net intervention. Components of the intervention included an overall risk synthesis, participants’ selection of a behavioral goal, and an individualized risk reduction exercise. Individuals were followed up 3 months later to assess their behavior change. The effect of Hep-Net on receiving an HCV screening test, undergoing Narcan training, reducing the frequency of drug use, and sharing drug equipment was assessed. The individual’s readiness to change each behavior was also examined.ResultsFrom 2014 to 2015, a total of 235 people who injected drugs enrolled into the Hep-Net study. Of these, 64.3% (151/235) completed the follow-up survey 3-6 months postenrollment. Compared with the control group, individuals who received the Hep-Net intervention were more likely to undergo HCV testing (odds ratio [OR] 2.23, 95% CI 1.05-4.74; P=.04) and receive Narcan training (OR 2.25, 95% CI 0.83-6.06; P=.11), and they shared drug equipment less frequently (OR 0.06, 95% CI 0.55-0.65; P<.001). Similarly, individuals who received the intervention were more likely to advance in their stage of readiness to change these 3 behaviors. However, intervention participants did not appear to reduce the frequency of drug use or increase their readiness to reduce drug use more than control participants, despite the fact that the majority of the intervention participants selected this as the primary goal to focus on after participation in the baseline survey.ConclusionsImplementing computer-based risk reduction interventions in SSPs may reduce harms associated with the sharing of injection equipment and prevent overdose deaths; however, brief computerized interventions may not be robust enough to overcome the challenges associated with reducing and ceasing drug use when implemented in settings centered on the delivery of prevention services.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02474043; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02474043International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)RR2-10.2196/resprot.4830

Effect of neuromuscular balance on static balance in adult and elderly populations

Introduction: Postural control has two behavioral goals: postural balance and orientation, which are achieved through a dynamic relationship between sensory information and muscle activity. To maintain body balance, the vestibular, optical and proprioceptive systems must be fully functioning. Neuromuscular balance (NB), developed by François Soulier, is a non-manipulative method that involves applying a soft vibration or a micro-thrust with a small mechanical device to a joint or vertebra in order to induce realignment and readjustment. Objective: To identify the biomechanical effect of NB upon static balance and body oscillations of adults and the elderly through stabilometry. Methodology: In this interventional study, 20 healthy volunteers - 10 young adults (aged between 18 and 30 years old) and 10 elderly (aged between 60 and 80 years old) - were subjected to 10 consecutive weekly NB sessions. Stabilometry was assessed at baseline and after the 10th intervention (center of pressure (COP) behavior parameters: total area in mm2, laterolateral and anteroposterior width in mm). Results: Anteroposterior as well as total area oscillations significantly decreased in the adult population (p&lt;0.0179 and p&lt;0.0242, respectively). Additionally, all parameters were reduced in both groups, although differences between pre and post intervention were not statistically significant. Conclusion: NB effectively decreased anteroposterior and total area oscillations of adult patients, positively contributing to static balance.

Effects of a wearable technology-based physical activity intervention on sleep quality in breast cancer survivors: the ACTIVATE Trial.

Physical activity interventions can improve sleep quality in breast cancer survivors. This paper examines the effects of the ACTIVATE Trial, a wearable-based physical activity intervention (Garmin Vivofit2® coupled with behavioral feedback, goal setting, and health coaching) on sleep outcomes. Post-primary treatment, inactive, postmenopausal breast cancer survivors were recruited and randomized to primary intervention or waitlist. Wrist-worn actigraphy (sleep onset latency, SOL; total sleep time, TST; sleep efficiency, SE; wake after sleep onset, WASO; and number of awakenings, NWAKE) and questionnaire-derived sleep measures (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index) were assessed at baseline (T1), 12weeks (end of primary intervention and start of waitlist intervention, T2), and at 24weeks (T3). Eighty-three women (mean age = 62years) were randomized; trial retention was 94% at T2 and 87% at T3. At T2, primary intervention participants had greater improvements in WASO (- 5.7min, 95% CI - 11.7 to - 0.2) and NWAKE compared with the waitlist arm (- 2.0, 95% CI - 3.6 to - 0.4). At T3, within-group improvements were observed for SE (both groups), WASO (both groups), NWAKE (primary intervention group only), total PSQI score (primary intervention group), and sleep efficacy (primary intervention group). The intervention reduced actigraphy-measured sleep disturbances. Within-group analyses suggest that improvements in sleep quality are sustained over a longer duration, and there may be similar benefits from an abridged intervention (wearable device only). Actigraphy-measured effects appeared stronger in participants who were poor sleepers at study entry. Wearable technology can increase physical activity and improve sleep for breast cancer survivors.

Unintentional Trolling: How Subjects Express Their Prejudices Through Made-up Stories

It is often assumed that trolling is an intentional action. The aim of the paper is to argue for a form of unintentional trolling. Firstly, we outline minimal conditions for intentional actions. Secondly, an unintentional trolling example is introduced. Thirdly, we will show that in some cases, an utterance can be expressive, while it is perceived as descriptive. On the basis of the justification-suppression model, we argue that the introduced trolling example is such a case. In order to bypass social sanctions for expressing prejudices, agents unintentionally express their prejudices through stories that appear to be descriptive. Thereby, the characterized behavior does not fulfill the minimal conditions for intentional action. Fourthly, we give criteria that can be used to identify unintentional trolls. Finally, after unintentional trolling is analyzed, the trolls’ behavioral goals are considered. In conclusion, an analysis of unintentional trolling is given, which has explanatory benefits in contrast to the classic intentional trolling concepts.

Implementation of the inclusive CICO Plus intervention for pupils at risk of severe behaviour problems in SWPBS schools

ABSTRACT Check in–check out (CICO) is a widely used and studied behavioural intervention. Although CICO is an effective way to support pupils’ behaviour in a school context, not all pupils benefit from basic CICO. A single-case experimental study was designed to evaluate the effects of CICO Plus support (CICO Plus) for participants whose behaviour was determined to be non-responsive to basic CICO. CICO Plus was planned and implemented with four pupils identified by school CICO teams as needing additional behavioural support. Individual CICO Plus support was planned by multiprofessional teams working on each pupil’s case. The CICO Plus support was based on teaching social skills and behaviour at least three times a week in collaboration with families, schools and social and health care services. A concurrent multiple baseline design revealed increases in pupils’ appropriate behaviour in their targeted behavioural goals and decreases on pupils’ disruptive behaviour in school situations. Fidelity of the CICO Plus intervention and social validity among school personnel were also assessed. Results indicated that practical multiprofessional co-operation is essential to lay the groundwork for inclusive support for pupils at risk of severe problem behaviour.

Evaluation of the Impact of Behavioral Opportunities on Four Zoo-Housed Aardvarks (Orycteropus afer).

Simple SummaryEvaluations of enrichment are critical to determine whether or not the goals of an enrichment program are being achieved. However, evaluations can be challenging if a species’ active period occurs outside of their caretakers’ normal schedule. Aardvarks are an understudied, nocturnal species, and our aim was to assess how they used their enrichment (nightly and throughout the study), if enrichment achieved the stated behavioral goals, and the subsequent effects of goal-achieving enrichment on the aardvarks’ welfare. Four aardvarks were given seven different enrichment items based on two behavioral goals, foraging and exploring, and were observed three times during the night. The aardvarks’ enrichment use was impacted based on the goal of the enrichment, with aardvarks using the enrichment aimed at promoting foraging behavior more when enrichment was first given compared to enrichment that promoted exploring. However, exploring enrichment was used more later in the night. The enrichment did appear to achieve the stated behavioral goals, and the aardvarks continued using the enrichment throughout the entire eight-week study. In addition, there were increased affiliative and decreased agonistic interactions with more enrichment use, linking the achievement of these goals to positive indicators of welfare. The data presented contribute to the current knowledge on goal-based enrichment and its impact on animal welfare.Evaluations of enrichment are critical to determine if an enrichment program is meeting stated goals. However, nocturnal species can present a challenge if their active periods do not align with caretakers’ schedules. To evaluate enrichment for four aardvarks housed with a natural light cycle, we provided seven different enrichment items aimed at fulfilling two behavioral goals: exploring and foraging. We wanted to understand how the aardvarks used enrichment, if enrichment promoted the defined goals, and how enrichment that achieves its goals affects welfare indicators, including rates of pacing and social behaviors, behavioral diversity, and fecal glucocorticoid metabolites. Twenty-minute observations from video were performed three times a night for a total of 224 observed hours. We found significant differences in how the aardvarks used items from the two enrichment goals throughout the night, with foraging enrichment used more than exploring at first and exploring enrichment used more later. We found that items promoted their defined goals, and aardvarks showed no evidence of habituation throughout the eight-week study. The impact on selected welfare indicators provided evidence of potentially positive changes, including increased affiliative and decreased agonistic interactions accompanying increases in goal behaviors. These results contribute to the current knowledge available on the impact of goal-directed behavioral opportunities on zoo animal welfare.

Relationship of Family Support with Vegetable and Fruit Consumption Behavior

The family approach is the development of a home visit by the public health center effort. one of the&#x0D; activities is community management support system in supporting a culture of healthy living in the family.&#x0D; Family support is needed to behave in the consumption of vegetables and fruit every day. Clean and healthy&#x0D; living behavior in the household or family structure is one of the goals in clean and healthy behavior.&#x0D; There are 10 indicators of clean and healthy behavior in family settings, one of them is the consumption of&#x0D; vegetables and fruit every day. This study aims to analyze the relationship between family support and the&#x0D; consumption of vegetables and fruits in children. The research design used in this study is research cross&#x0D; sectional. The research sample is Golden Christian School elementary school students. The time of the study&#x0D; was in May and June 2018. The results showed that there was no significant relationship between emotional&#x0D; and assessment support for vegetable and fruit consumption behavior in children. There is a significant&#x0D; relationship between instrumental support and information support with vegetable and fruit consumption&#x0D; behaviors in children, respectively p-value 0.015 and 0.041. It is recommended that the school provide&#x0D; knowledge to parents whose children are vulnerable not to consume vegetables and fruits in order to support&#x0D; the healthy indonesia program with a family approach.

Modulation of Intermuscular Beta Coherence in Different Rhythmic Mandibular Behaviors.

IntroductionJaw movement during chewing and speech is facilitated by neural activation patterns for opening and closing movements of the mandible. This study investigated anatomic- and task-dependent differences in intermuscular coherence (IMC) and their association with the parameters of jaw muscle activity using surface electromyography (sEMG).MethodsWe recorded sEMG activation from bilateral and ipsilateral jaw-closing muscle pairs during non-nutritive and nutritive chewing, and during a syllable repetition task. IMC and cross-correlational analyses between bilateral and ipsilateral muscle pairs were performed.ResultsIntermuscular coherence in the beta band was statistically significant between agonist jaw-closing muscle pairs, with beta IMC weaker for rapid syllable repetition compared to chewing tasks. Cross-correlational analysis of muscle co-activation, as well as sEMG burst amplitude, was positively associated with beta IMC strength.DiscussionBeta IMC was influenced heavily by task-dependent behavioral goals and physiologic demands, which was interpreted as evidence of shared neural drive among jaw-closing muscles.

Effects of Behavioral Weight Loss and Weight Loss Goal Setting in Cardiac Rehabilitation.

Obesity is prevalent among participants in cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Establishing a weight loss goal is an important strategy for promoting weight loss. We evaluate the association between a pre-program weight loss goal and change in weight during CR. Body weight was measured at CR entry and at exit from CR. Overweight/obese participants were categorized as having: (1) established a weight loss goal and attended behavioral weight loss sessions (G + BWL); (2) set a weight loss goal but did not attend BWL (G); (3) and neither set a weight loss goal nor attended BWL (NoG). The cohort consisted of 317 overweight/obese participants; 52 of whom set a weight loss goal and attended BWL, 227 patients set a goal but did not attend BWL, and 38 did neither. The G + BWL group lost more weight than the G group (-6.8 + 4.3 vs -1.1 + 3.5) (P < .0001). Both groups that established a weight loss goal lost more weight than the NoG group. For overweight/obese individuals in CR, participating in BWL classes and setting a weight loss goal leads to more weight loss than G alone. Setting a weight loss goal alone leads to greater weight loss than not setting a weight loss goal.

A patient-centredness improvement study for efficacy of behaviour change for healthy lifestyle and weight loss in a student-run free clinic.

Primary care is the ideal place to implement behaviour change interventions for weight management. However, most primary care physicians are not managing patient weight as a standard of care due to lack of knowledge, skills and reimbursement. Generating more physicians who are familiar and comfortable with providing weight management is essential in leveraging a global change. In our university free clinic, medical students provide healthy lifestyle counselling using shared decision making to each patient at every clinic visit. Improve the efficacy of behaviour change interventions via increased patient responsiveness and adherence. The needs assessment demonstrated a subpar patient response rate to check-ins regarding behavioural change goals. In the first and second interventions, check-in message structure and contact schedule were varied to maximize patient responsiveness and goal achievement. In the needs assessment, 58% of patients responded to follow-ups and 58% of patients accomplished their goal. The first intervention cycle resulted in an improvement of responsiveness to 70% and accomplishment of goals to 59%. The second intervention cycle resulted in an improvement of responsiveness to 78% and accomplishment of goals to 74%. Messages that were frequent, unique, succinct and delivered within 4 weeks after the clinic visit resulted in the highest response rate and goal attainment. Other primary care clinics can use these interventions to increase patient completion of implemented behaviour changes for a healthier lifestyle.

O21 Initial Evaluation of Louisiana's “Small Changes/Healthy Habits” Pilot Program

Objective To conduct an initial evaluation of the effectiveness of the Small Changes/Healthy Habits (SCHH) community-based nutrition education curriculum on key food and physical activity behaviors among adults in Louisiana. Use of Theory or Research The SCHH curriculum is designed to influence the initiation and transition of small, healthy behavior goals into routine automatic behaviors (habits). It utilizes principles of the Transtheoretical Model and of habit formation models. Target Audience The evaluation targeted adults from all regions of Louisiana, who participated in the SCHH pilot and agreed to participate in the program evaluation. Program Description The SCHH curriculum is a four-part, hands-on series covering small goal setting and habit formation techniques; the home food environment; food labels and grocery store tour; and food preparation (knife/cooking skills). It was developed through the LSU AgCenter and piloted by AgCenter nutrition agents. Evaluation Methods For this section of the evaluation, a pre/post survey was developed and used to track short-term changes in eating, food-related, and physical activity behaviors of participants. Data is self-reported. Results Pre/post surveys were collected from 47 participants. This group was 86% White, 14% Black; 89% rural; 83% female; and 90% >50 years. Using the behavior improvement index, this group reported increases in consumption of vegetables (0.44), fruits (1.15), whole grains (0.17), and decreased soda intake (0.17). There were increases in frequency of label reading (29%), confidence to prepare healthy food (36%), and a decrease in consumption of meals prepared outside the home (27%). Participants increased physical activity by 9 minutes/day. All participants rated the program as “very good” or “excellent” and would recommend it to others. Conclusion The SCHH evaluation suggests that the program effectively influences healthy eating and physical activity behaviors. A larger pilot and longer-term evaluation will help predict influence on development of healthier lifestyles within our communities. Funding None.

Acceptability and feasibility of the mHealth intervention \u2018MyDayPlan\u2019 to increase physical activity in a general adult population

BackgroundElectronic health (eHealth) and mobile health (mHealth) interventions have the potential to tackle the worldwide problem of physical inactivity. However, they often suffer from large attrition rates. Consequently, feasibility and acceptability of interventions have become important matters in the creation of e- and mHealth interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate participants’ opinions regarding acceptability and feasibility of a self-regulation, app-based intervention called ‘MyDayPlan’. ‘MyDayPlan’ provides an innovative daily cycle providing several self-regulation techniques throughout the day that guide users towards an active lifestyle via various self-regulation techniques.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 adults after using the app for 2 weeks. A directed content analysis was performed using NVivo Software.Results‘MyDayPlan’ was well-received and seems to be feasible and acceptable with inactive adults. The straightforward lay out and ease of use of the app were appreciated. Furthermore, the incorporation of the techniques ‘action planning’, and ‘prompting review of behavioral goals’ was positively evaluated. However, the users gave some recommendations: implementation of activity trackers to self-monitor physical activity could be of added value. Furthermore, increasing intuitiveness by minimizing text input and providing more preprogrammed options could further increase the ease of use. Finally, users indicated that they would benefit from more guidance during the “coping planning” component (barrier identification/problem solving), for example by receiving more tailored examples.ConclusionsBased on these findings, adaptations will be made to the ‘MyDayPlan’ app before evaluating its effectiveness. Furthermore, involving potential end users and evaluating acceptability and feasibility during the development of an e- and mHealth intervention is key. Also, creating interventions with a large ease of use and straightforward layout that provides tailored support during action and coping planning is key.