Title: 24-Hour Movement Index: Exploring Acceptability Among Parents
Supervisors: Dr. Guy Faulkner
Committee members: Dr. Liv Yoon, Dr. Karim Khan
Abstract:
Background: The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth were introduced in 2016 offering recommendations on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity (LPA), sedentary behavior, and sleep in a typical 24-hour period to achieve optimal health outcomes. However, the lack of awareness and knowledge of the guidelines by children and parents is a concerning issue and contributes to the low adherence to guidelines among children. To help more children meet these recommendations, a mHealth application called the “Movement Index” is being created to help parents track their children’s movement behaviors through manual data entry and/or a wearable device like Fitbit. The Index would also demonstrate to parents how the combination of their children’s movement behaviors such as a change in time reallocation (e.g., spending less time sitting to more physical activity) may be associated with different health outcomes. Using the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA), this study aims to explore the following objectives: 1) whether the Movement Index is acceptable to parents, 2) what refinements could be made to improve the Movement Index, 3) other knowledge translation tools for the guidelines, and 4) differences in perceptions of acceptability between mothers and fathers. Methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted over Zoom with 24 parents of children 5-11 from all over Canada. Interview data was analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis. Results: The results from this novel study will be used to potentially inform whether the project goes ahead, or if it does, what might need to be considered or refined. Furthermore, the results from my study will help to understand the usefulness of the TFA in examining acceptability in a mHealth context and explore the gendered differences in acceptability between mothers and fathers.