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A-B-C Program for Sedentary Older Adults With Depressive Symptoms
Sponsor: The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre
Summary
The importance and benefits of leading a physically active lifestyle have been long studied. Examples of the multiple advantages from physical activity are improved health of the heart and brain, having a more independent living and better quality of life. However, it is known that for many people, being active is challenging: physical activity is commonly viewed as a burden or inconvenience. In this study we will explore how some common everyday thoughts are hurdles to becoming physically active. We will discover ways to overcome this by using concepts from a field called "behavioral economics" that explains how we make decisions. The purpose of the program is to support participants in being more physically active. The study program is a newly developed way to overcome the intuitive preference for being sedentary. The experimental groups will learn simple ways to overcome expected hurdles in making decisions related to physical activity (the newly developed program), and the control groups will learn about the health benefits of physical activity and the health guidelines (the common practice today). We will compare the effectiveness of the newly developed intervention in promoting an active lifestyle, compared to the common practice today, of providing the knowledge and the recommended guidelines. The program in the study will be in small groups of 5-10 participants that will meet at The Royal for 60 minutes, twice a week, for 4 weeks.
Official title: A-B-C Program: a Brief Intervention to Promote an Active Lifestyle by Addressing Behavioral Economics Cognitive Biases Among Sedentary Older Adults With Depressive Symptoms-a Randomized Controlled Trial
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
65 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
66
Start Date
2025-09
Completion Date
2026-12
Last Updated
2025-09-16
Healthy Volunteers
No
Interventions
A-B-C Program
The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the 4-week "A-B-C" program in implementing and maintaining daily PA. We will explore outcomes for the effectiveness of the program, on (1) increasing the weekly duration of PA, and (2) reducing baseline depressive symptoms and other mental health outcomes among sedentary older adults with depressive symptoms at baseline. Specifically, we will evaluate the change in depressive symptoms, stress, and self-esteem from baseline, at the end of the 4-week intervention, and after additional 4 weeks from the end of the intervention (at follow-up). The intervention will be 4 weeks overall, with total of 8 sessions: the duration of each session will be 60 minutes each, and the frequency will be twice weekly for 4 weeks.
Physical Activity Educational Program
The control group will serve as an sham active comparator, designed to control for group format, scheduled sessions, and social interaction. The agenda for the control group was designed to specifically function as a control to compare the A-B-C program. These participants will also attend twice-weekly 60-minute sessions over four weeks, focusing on educational content about the health benefits of physical activity and current physical activity guidelines. The difference between the two interventions is that the control program is strictly educational, whereas the A-B-C program focuses on challenging cognitive biases that change decision making related to physical activity. To reiterate, the control program simply provides education on the effects of physical activity with physiological evidence.