| Description |
With the health care focus shifting from chronic disease management to efforts around preventative care, worksites may be a key population for interventions to improve health. Because walking is commonly utilized in worksite wellness programs (WWP) and self-efficacy is a strong predictor of exercise adherence, the purpose of this study is to determine the value of incorporating the self-efficacy theory with technology to increase and sustain walking for exercise behavior in a healthcare worksite population. This study, consisting of two parts, seeks to answer the following research questions: Will messages based upon the self-efficacy theory delivered during a 1-mile walk significantly increase beliefs around walking for exercise? Will a smartphone application plus self-efficacy messages delivered via text message increase self-efficacy beliefs as well as sustain walking behavior? Do self-efficacy beliefs associated with walking transfer to other forms of physical activity? A pilot study consisting of a one-group, mixed methods, pre-post test nonexperimental design (N=16) tested the delivery of self-efficacy messages as well as a tool to measure walking self-efficacy beliefs. These beliefs were measured before and after a 1-mile walking session during which verbal self-efficacy messages were delivered. Paired t-test analysis confirmed that self-efficacy beliefs significantly improved. The sustainability study, a two-group randomized control true experimental design, incorporated smartphone technology for tracking walking behavior over 6 weeks and delivery of text messages (N=73). Both groups used a smartphone application to track their walks and the intervention group received weekly text messages based upon the self-efficacy theory. Self-efficacy beliefs increased significantly within each group, but there was not a significant difference between groups at posttest, which means that the smartphone application and monitoring of behavior may have increased beliefs, but the text messages did not have a significant effect. There was value in the text messages for behavior change as the intervention group sustained the walking behavior one week longer than the control group. While this study design is a novel approach to improving the walking for exercise behavior of worksite population, it should not be used as a sole intervention and instead be combined with other modalities to create a multifaceted WWP. |
