Article Text
Abstract
Introduction Interventions delivered in after-school programmes (ASPs) have the potential to become a means of ensuring adequate physical activity among schoolchildren. This requires a motivational climate, allowing for self-determined play. If trained, ASP staff may represent a valuable resource for supporting such play. Increasing knowledge and supportive skills among ASP staff may also potentially increase their motivation for work. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of the ‘Active Play in ASP’ intervention, which aims to promote physical activity among first graders attending ASP, and to present a protocol for a matched-pair cluster-randomised trial to evaluate the intervention.
Methods and analysis Informed by experiences from practice, evidence-based knowledge and theory, the intervention was developed in a stepwise process including focus group meetings and a small-scale pilot test. The intervention contains a course programme for ASP staff to increase their skills in how to support physical activity through play. In a cluster randomised controlled trial, the ASPs will be matched and randomly allocated to receive the 7-month intervention or to a control group. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, after 7 and 19 months. First graders attending the ASPs included are eligible. The primary outcome will be accelerometer-determined minutes in moderate to vigorous physical activity in the ASP. The study uses a mixed methods approach including observations and interviews to provide rich descriptions of the concept of children's physical activity in ASP. Moreover, the trial will assess whether the ASP staff benefits from participation in the intervention in terms of increased work motivation. Lastly, process evaluations of programme fidelity, satisfaction and suggestions on improvement will be performed.
Ethics and dissemination The study is approved by the Data Protection Official for Research (reference no 46008). Results will be presented in conferences and peer-reviewed journals.
Trial registration number Clinical Trials (NCT02954614), pre-results.
- children
- physical activity
- play
- after school programs
- intervention
This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Footnotes
Contributors All the authors contributed to the study's conception, planning and design. KR and HE were responsible for drafting the intervention and managing the pilot trial. KR had primary responsibility for writing the paper in close collaboration with KL. HE, BF and SH participated in revising the article by providing comments and revisions. All authors approved the final version for publication.
Funding This project is funded by the Norwegian Fund for Postgraduate Training in Physiotherapy and Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Obtained.
Ethics approval The study was first reviewed by the Regional Committee for Medical and Health Research Ethics. The Committee concluded that the study is not covered by the Health Research Act. Consequently, the study protocol was submitted and reviewed by The Data Protection Official for Research (NSD) to ensure that the project is in accordance with the Personal Data Act and the Personal Health Data Filing System Act (reference number 46008).
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement Once the study is completed, we will publish all relevant results. Unpublished results could be made available on request by contacting the authors.