RU: Hughes: Development of an eHealth Group Weight Management Intervention for People with SCI
Project Description:
The purpose of this study is to reduce the prevalence of obesity in people with SCI by helping them learn to better self-manage their weight through healthy lifestyle change. Our goal is to use a community-based participatory and multidisciplinary approach to develop and pilot test a weight management intervention that responds to the unique needs of women and men with SCI, builds on the team's prior weight management research on women with mobility impairments, including SCI, and is delivered primarily online. We will 1) partner with a community advisory board and expert consultants in SCI health and medical management, nutrition, and physical activity, to adapt and expand an existing weight management program to meet the specific needs of men and women with SCI; and 2) pilot test the adapted intervention in a sample of overweight and obese persons with SCI to determine feasibility, identify areas for further modification, and evaluate changes in weight, waist circumference and other outcomes to obtain preliminary estimates of effect sizes for a subsequent full-scale trial. We will use a randomized controlled pre-post-test design to pilot test the intervention among 40 men and women with SCI, and will use a mixed models approach to analyze the repeated measures design. We hypothesize that participants randomly assigned to the 28-week eHealth weight management program will experience greater reductions in weight and waist circumference and greater improvements in other outcomes (diet, physical activity, self-efficacy for diet and activity, nutrition knowledge, and barriers to exercise) from pre- to post-intervention compared to participants assigned to the control condition. The proposed program addresses a critical need of people living with SCI and has the potential to exert a sustained and powerful influence on policy change and the health and well-being of people with SCI.
Keyword(s):
weight, eHealth, spinal cord injury
Core Function(s):
Performing Research or Evaluation
Area of Emphasis
Health-Related Activities
Target Audience:
Adults with Disabilities
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Geographic Areas, Specific Groups
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
Mulit-County
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
