Bilingual Text4Walking Food Service Employee Intervention Pilot Study

Abstract

BackgroundHalf of all adults in the United States do not meet the level of recommended aerobic physical activity. Physical activity interventions are now being conducted in the workplace. Accessible technology, in the form of widespread usage of cell phones and text messaging, is available for promoting physical activity.ObjectiveThe purposes of this study, which was conducted in the workplace, were to determine (1) the feasibility of implementing a bilingual 12-week Text4Walking intervention and (2) the effect of the Text4Walking intervention on change in physical activity and health status in a food service employee population.MethodsBefore conducting the study reported here, the Text4Walking research team developed a database of motivational physical activity text messages in English. Because Hispanic or Latino adults compose one-quarter of all adults employed in the food service industry, the Text4Walking team translated the physical activity text messages into Spanish. This pilot study was guided by the Physical Activity Health Promotion Framework and used a 1-group 12-week pre- and posttest design with food service employees who self-reported as being sedentary. The aim of the study was to increase the number of daily steps over the baseline by 3000 steps. Three physical activity text messages were delivered weekly. In addition, participants received 3 motivational calls during the study.ResultsSPSS version 19.0 and R 3.0 were used to perform the data analysis. There were 33 employees who participated in the study (57.6% female), with a mean age of 43.7 years (SD 8.4). The study included 11 Hispanic or Latino participants, 8 of whom requested that the study be delivered in Spanish. There was a 100% retention rate in the study. At baseline, the participants walked 102 (SD 138) minutes/day (per self-report). This rate increased significantly (P=.008) to 182 (SD 219) minutes/day over the course of the study. The participants had a baseline mean of 10,416 (SD 5097) steps, which also increased significantly (P=.017) to 12,540 (SD 5149). They significantly improved their performance on their aerobic fitness test (P<.001). The participants had a baseline mean systolic blood pressure of 120 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure of 76 mm Hg, a mean body mass index of 29.29 kg/m2, and a mean waist circumference of 36.95 inches, without significant changes seen at 12 weeks.ConclusionsWe were able to conduct a motivational physical activity text messaging intervention within the workplace setting. Both physical activity and aerobic fitness improved. However, at baseline, participants were more active than they perceived themselves to be. Although there is insufficient evidence to draw strong conclusions about the study findings, it would be useful to test this physical activity text messaging intervention in a sedentary sample within a larger workplace intervention study trial conducted over a longer time frame.

Feasibility and acceptability of a mobile messaging program within a church-based healthy living intervention for African Americans and Latinos

“…Prior health promotion mobile messaging studies have sent messages at a variety of frequencies, including daily for 1 month, 60 thrice daily for 12 weeks, 25 or four messages weekly for 6 months. 61 Greater frequency and longer intervention are considered more effective for behavior change.…”

“…We recruited participants and delivered healthy living messages within a multi-level, church-based intervention and demonstrated the acceptability of this intervention among a population that is underrepresented in health research. 53 While previous studies have conducted messaging interventions with AA 15,22 or Latino populations, [24][25][26] we are not aware of any previous mobile messaging interventions that served members of both communities through a single, faith-based program. Our process evaluation showed high acceptability in AA and Latino churches, and there were no significant differences in responses to multiple-choice items across the two church types.…”

“…61 In addition, participants could draft their own motivational messages and/or choose which messages they want to receive. 15,25 While we responded to messages from respondents who contacted us, our intervention primarily used one-way communication; future interventions should consider encouraging bidirectional communication to foster greater engagement. 28 Moreover, future interventions could consider additional technology, for example, wearable devices such as pedometers, to enable remote monitoring and feedback.…”

“…23 Given the novelty of the mobile messaging component of this intervention, we undertook a process evaluation. Prior research suggests that mobile messaging is acceptable among AA 15,22,24 and Latino populations, including monolingual Spanish speakers, [25][26][27] as well as older adults. 22,28 To our knowledge, this is the first multi-level, church-based intervention to use mobile messaging with both AA and Latino congregations, which presented the challenge of communicating in multiple languages and across cultural contexts.…”

Using Mobile Health (mHealth) Technology in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus, Physical Inactivity, and Smoking

“…The invention of biosensors has added objectivity in measuring physical activity. This was utilized in the TXT2BFIT study, mActive study, and studies by Buchholz et al and Frederix et al [28][29][30][31]. While the mActive study and the Buchholz et al studies were limited to SMS and pedometers only, Frederix et al and TXT2BFit also used e-mails and Web sites.…”