The Video-Tailoring Project

Project Title: My Personal Activity Advice - A RCT investigating the effectiveness of tailored videos in promotion physical activity via the internet. 

Physical inactivity is one of the leading modifiable causes of morbidity and mortality in Australia. There is a need to develop and evaluate innovative physical activity interventions, which can be made available to large numbers of adults at low cost. The huge popularity of video-based internet applications provides excellent opportunities for innovative computer-tailored interventions. The proposed study aims to develop and compare the effectiveness of a video- and text-based computer-tailored physical activity interventions delivered via the internet. This study is being funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council Project Grant (2013-2016) valued at $697,086 and the researchers involved are Corneel Vandelanotte, Ron Plotnikoff, Mitch Duncan, Kerry Mummery and Camille Short. Cindy Hooker and Doreen Canoy are the research officers employed on the project.

 The 10,000 Steps Project

10,000 Steps was Australia's first ‘whole of community' health promotion physical activity project funded by Queensland Health. In 2001, the Rockhampton region was chosen for a two year trial of the project as the residents showed 'typical' levels of inactivity. During these two years, the 10,000 Steps Rockhampton Project was a collaboration between CQUniversity, the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, Sports Medicine Australia, and the National Heart Foundation. The initial 10,000 Steps Rockhampton Project was an exemplary model of an effective multi-strategy, multi-sector physical activity project. As a result of the success in Rockhampton, Qussensland Health has extended its funding to CQUniversity and the project is currently rolling out as a sustainable state wide and beyond initiative. The aim of this program is to increase participation in physical activity through the state and nation with the support of an interactive website: www.10000steps.org.au. In conjunction with the 10,000 Steps project, there is also the '10,000 Steps for Workplaces' project, to specifically increase physical activity in Queensland workplaces and is funded through the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health. The funding for both projects runs until June 2013 and the following CQUni staff are involved in the ongoing implementation and development of 10,000 steps: Mitch Duncan (Project Leader), Kelly Corry, Stephanie Hall, Luke Fallon, and Corneel Vandelanotte.  

The Walk 2.0 Project

Project Title: Walk 2.0, Investigating the internal and external validity of Web 2.0 applications in promoting physical activity. 

The overall aim of the project is to study the effectiveness of new generation Web 2.0 applications in health promotion. Specifically we seek to test the efficacy of Web 2.0 applications in the attraction, engagement and retention of people who access a publicly available physical activity promotion website (10,000 Steps website), and to assess its effectiveness to change physical activity behaviour. The proposal consists of two studies which seek to achieve the overall aim of the projects - a randomised control trial (RCT) and a ‘real world' ecological trial (ET). The RCT will allow us to study the problem in a rigorous, controlled setting with high internal validity. The ET, by comparison, takes advantage of the unique ‘real world' sample available to the research team through the existing 10,000 Steps website. The study is funded by the National Health and Medical Reseach Council (NHMRC) at $896,350 from 2010 to 2013 and the researchers involved in the project are: Kerry Mummery, Gregory Kolt, Anthony Maeder, Corneel Vandelanotte, Mitch Duncan and Cristina Caperchione. Trevor Savage, Anetta Van Itallie and Rhys Tague are employed on the project.

The CATCH and iMATCH Projects

Project Titles:    Children, Active Travel, Connectedness and Health (CATCH)

Independent mobility, active travel and children's health (iMATCH)

These projects aim to determine the independent mobility and active travel of a sample of Australian children in a variety of settings (CATCH), as well as aiming to investigate the role of policy interventions in influencing children's independent mobility, active travel and health (iMATCH). The project uses an inter-disciplinary approach to survey children aged 10-13 years old in a series of matched neighbourhoods, based around primary schools, where policy and programs differ but where built and social environments are similar. The research uses an audit of the environmental features of neighbourhoods and policy interventions used, surveys of children and their parents exploring their travel and outdoor play and their attitudes and perceptions towards travel, as well as objective measurement of children's activities using a combined accellerometry and GPS approach. This will be the first national study in Australia of children's behaviours in relation to the built and social environments. The use of a multi-disclipinary team of urban and transport planners, social geographers, and health promotion researchers will lead to an innovative and ground-breaking study that may influence current planning and design policies (www.griffith.edu.au/imatch). The studies are funded by the Australian Research Council (Linkage Projects) from 2010-2013 at $479,000 (CATCH) and $240,000 (iMATCH) and the researchers involved in the project are: Carey Curtis (Curtin University), Brendan Gleeson (Griffith University), Matt Burke (Griffith University), Kerry Mummery (University of Alberta, CQUniversity), Carolyn Whitzman (University of Melbourne), Paul Tranter (University of NSW) and Christine Armit (Moreland Community Health Service) . At CPAS Mitch Duncan and Stephanie Schoeppe are involved with these projects.

The Workspace Environment Study

Project Title:  Workplace Spatial Configurations and Sitting Time: Development of a new measure for use in population health surveys  

New evidence indicates that time spent sitting may be a risk factor for ill health independent of physical activity levels. Many Australians are employed in office based forms of employment spending considerable amounts of time in seated activities, partly because workplace configurations promote seating behaviours. Little information exists examining relationships between workplace configurations and sitting from a health perspective. This project will develop an instrument to assess characteristics of workplace configurations that affect sitting and examine the relationship between workplace configurations and sitting time as a risk factor for health. This study is being funded by a CQUniveristy Merit Grant (2010) valued at $23,918 and Mitch Duncan is the principal researcher on this project.