School meal provision: a rapid evidence review

Food insecurity is of growing concern in high-income countries and children from socio-economically disadvantaged families are particularly at risk of experiencing hunger and poor nutrition. This can have a detrimental effect on children’s development and capacity for learning. Therefore, food security is a serious matter for teachers and schools, particularly in areas where there is a high proportion of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and families. This rapid review of the literature determined the research evidence available on impacts of school food provision for socio-economically disadvantaged students, with a particular focus on food security

Healthy eating and active living and education-related outcomes in children and adolescents: A rapid evidence review

This rapid review explores the association between education-related outcomes valued by educators and healthy eating and physical activity in school-aged children and adolescents. The term ‘education-related outcomes’ includes outcomes educational performance, education-related behaviours, social outcomes and general well-being outcomes. The findings of this review support a positive association between healthy eating and physical activity, and most education-related outcomes

Exclusive Intermediation

In this paper, we argue that an important function fulfilled by intermediaries is to facilitate trust by enabling social pressure towards the enforcement of informal agreements. To that end, we develop a new model that uses network theory to show that intermediaries who have exclusivity over a large enough number of interaction opportunities are able to exploit their position in the chains of interactions in the market to overcome incentive problems that would otherwise shut down the market. We derive conditions on the network structure under which intermediaries fulfill this function. Finally, we analyze two applications: (1) the market for short termapartment rentals; and (2) a financial market with investors and entrepreneurs. We provide additional examples suggesting that this paper uncovers an important channel through which intermediaries operate

Evaluating a weight loss maintenance program for Australian private health insurance members with chronic disease

Overweight and obesity rates in Australian adults are high, elevating chronic disease risk. Initial weight loss in this population improves symptoms, pain and function. Maintaining weight loss helps retain these benefits, but weight regain is common. As 57% of Australian adults, and ~ 55% of those with overweight or obesity, have some level of private health insurance, this setting is promising for secondary prevention of obesity-related chronic disease. There is limited research addressing weight loss maintenance interventions in this context. Dietary and physical activity interventions are effective in reducing weight regain in adults with obesity, and extended contact weight loss and lifestyle modification programs facilitate weight loss maintenance. The 24-month Long Term Maintenance Program (LTMP) is a behavioural support program for private health insurance graduates of an 18-week weight loss and lifestyle modification program, Healthy Weight for Life (HWFL), a program for mid-older adults with obesity-related chronic disease. The LTMP extends the remotely-delivered HWFL program to support participants to maintain weight loss (~ 7%) and lifestyle-related behaviour change. This thesis presents research evaluating the process of implementation and impact of the LTMP on weight and lifestyle-related behaviours 12 months after initial weight loss. Formative research investigated using financial incentives which informed the LTMP’s development. Findings suggest poor support for financial incentives in the target population, but support for an extended contact maintenance program. An evaluation framework developed in a practice-policy-research partnership guided process and impact evaluation. The LTMP is acceptable to participants after six months. Findings show clinically significant improvements with no return to pre-program weight evident at 12 months; 56% of participants maintained weight loss and 68% maintained sufficient physical activity for health. On average, physical activity levels and fruit and vegetable consumption were also maintained. Implications of these promising findings in the private health insurance setting, and suggestions for further research and possible service modifications to improve participant recruitment, retention and outcomes are discussed

Improving health literacy in community populations: a review of progress

Governments around the world have adopted national policies and programs to improve health literacy. This paper examines progress in the development of evidence to support these policies from interventions to improve health literacy among community populations. Our review found only a limited number of studies (n=7) that met the criteria for inclusion, with many more influenced by the concept of health literacy but not using it in the design and evaluation. Those included were diverse in setting, population and intended outcomes. All included educational strategies to develop functional health literacy, and a majority designed to improve interactive or critical health literacy skills. Several papers were excluded because they described a protocol for an intervention, but not results, indicating that our review may be early in a cycle of activity in community intervention research. The review methodology may not have captured all relevant studies, but it provides a clear message that the academic interest and attractive rhetoric surrounding health literacy needs to be tested more systematically through intervention experimentation in a wide range of populations using valid and reliable measurement tools. The distinctive influence of the concept of health literacy on the purpose and methodologies of health education and communication is not reflected in many reported interventions at present. Evidence to support the implementation of national policies and programs, and the intervention tools required by community practitioners are not emerging as quickly as needed. This should be addressed as a matter of priority by research funding agencies.</p

Strategic engagement of multicultural communities in sport and recreation: a rapid evidence review for the NSW Government Office of Sport.

The Office of Sport has engaged the SPRINTER group at the University of Sydney to undertake a rapid review to inform strategic approaches to increase the involvement of multicultural communities in sport and active recreation. The purpose of the review was to identify strategic approaches that the Office could implement to increase the involvement of multicultural communities in sport in NSW. Specifically, the review seeks to answer the following research questions: 1. What strategies have been implemented by governments or organisations to involve multicultural communities in sports? 2. Which strategies are effective at increasing multicultural communities’ involvement in sports as participants, volunteers, and leaders? This review included both peer reviewed papers and grey literature and websites, in total n=59 papers / reports / website were included; n=29 were identified through the peer reviewed search and n=30 were identified through the grey literature search. The records included in the main represent examples of sports participation programs and strategies that were based in Australia, with European examples being the showcased but to a less extent

New developments in the prevention of obesity among children and young people aged 0-18 Years: Rapid Evidence Review Update.

The purpose of this independent rapid evidence review is to examine current national and international approaches to addressing childhood (0-18 years) overweight and obesity. This review updates previous reviews of evidence conducted in 2012 and 2016 to highlight new findings, with particular attention given to those that have demonstrated effectivenss, and/or show promise for intervening at a population level and/or in child or adolescent settings

Co-Produce, Co-Design, Co-Create, or Co-Construct&mdash;Who Does It and How Is It Done in Chronic Disease Prevention? A Scoping Review

Co-production in health literature has increased in recent years. Despite mounting interest, numerous terms are used to describe co-production. There is confusion regarding its use in health promotion and little evidence and guidance for using co-produced chronic disease prevention interventions in the general population. We conducted a scoping review to examine the research literature using co-production to develop and evaluate chronic disease prevention programs. We searched four electronic databases for articles using co-production for health behaviour change in smoking, physical activity, diet, and/or weight management. In 71 articles that reported using co-production, co-design, co-create, co-develop, and co-construct, these terms were used interchangeably to refer to a participatory process involving researchers, stakeholders, and end users of interventions. Overall, studies used co-production as a formative research process, including focus groups and interviews. Co-produced health promotion interventions were generally not well described or robustly evaluated, and the literature did not show whether co-produced interventions achieved better outcomes than those that were not. Uniform agreement on the meanings of these words would avoid confusion about their use, facilitating the development of a co-production framework for health promotion interventions. Doing so would allow practitioners and researchers to develop a shared understanding of the co-production process and how best to evaluate co-produced interventions

User Perceptions of the campaign Facebook Page: A Mixed Methods Study

Facebook is used as part of public health communication efforts but little evidence is available on why people engage with health-related Facebook pages and what content appeals to them. This study aimed to investigate user perceptions of and experience with the Make Healthy Normal (MHN) Facebook page, part of a government campaign to address overweight and obesity in adults in New South Wales, Australia. This sequential mixed methods study comprised an online survey ( n  = 591) and six focus groups ( n  = 33) of Facebook users, including both fans (i.e., users who have “liked” the MHN page) and non-fans. We analyzed the online survey descriptively and employed inductive thematic analysis for the focus groups, integrating the two data sources at the stage of interpretation. Our results show that MHN and similar health pages are in demand but that there are a number of contextual and content-related factors that are critical in determining user engagement and over which page administrators have varying levels of influence. Contextual factors, including the drivers for user engagement and Facebook user practices, can be leveraged or managed to influence user engagement but they cannot be controlled. On the contrary, content factors, like the nature of posts, post presentation, and post subject, can be directly influenced by page administrators. Policymakers and practitioners can use these findings to inform the design and operation of their own Facebook pages and should look to conduct and disseminate robust evaluation of their pages to improve user satisfaction and engagement

Acceptability of financial incentives for maintenance of weight loss in mid-older adults: a mixed methods study

Abstract Background Health insurers worldwide implement financial incentive schemes to encourage health-related behaviours, including to facilitate weight loss. The maintenance of weight loss is a public health challenge, and as non-communicable diseases become more prevalent with increasing age, mid-older adults could benefit from programs which motivate weight loss maintenance. However, little is understood about their perceptions of using financial incentives to maintain weight loss. Methods We used mixed methods to explore the attitudes and views of participants who had completed an Australian weight loss and lifestyle modification program offered to overweight and obese health insurance members with weight-related chronic diseases, about the acceptability and usefulness of different types of financial incentives to support weight loss maintenance. An online survey was completed by 130 respondents (mean age = 64 years); and a further 28 participants (mean age = 65 years) attended six focus groups. Results Both independent samples of participants supported a formalised maintenance program. Online survey respondents reported that non-cash (85.2%) and cash (77%) incentives would be potentially motivating; but only 40.5% reported that deposit contracts would motivate weight loss maintenance. Results of in-depth discussions found overall low support for any type of financial incentive, but particularly deposit contracts and lotteries. Some participants expressed that improved health was of more value than a monetary incentive and that they felt personally responsible for their own health, which was at odds with the idea of financial incentives. Others suggested ongoing program and peer support as potentially useful for weight loss maintenance. Conclusions If financial incentives are considered for mid-older Australian adults in the health insurance setting, program planners will need to balance the discordance between participant beliefs about the individual responsibility for health and their desire for external supports to motivate and sustain weight loss maintenance