Promoting Health in Healthy Living Centres - Does it Work, How Does it Work and Why?

Approaches, hypotheses and choice of method

A multidisciplinary team of researchers will work to realize this project according to a systematic stepwise approach that combines the use of the PRECEDE-PROCEED model and Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol. The PRECEDE-PROCEED model is a conceptual model serving the needs of the current project with an educational and ecological approach in health program planning. IM will be used as a planning approach to develop theory- and evidence based health promoting intervention programs. Following the IM process, it maps the path from needs assessment, development of program objectives, selection of intervention methods and strategies, and program design. A benefit of IM is its linkage with community-based participatory research as it includes engagement of community members to identify and refine priority areas. Thus, the process of including IM in developing intervention programs will secure that users and staff in the healthy living centres will have significant autonomy and may influence the development of the intervention programme, and tailor the intervention to fit local needs.

In the initial steps of the IM process will explore the research field utilizing qualitative research methods. The investigators will use focus groups and in-depth interviews to obtain sufficient information to tailor the intervention to local needs and resources. The investigators intend to explore the expectations staff and users of HLCs have about the different intervention programmes, and how they perceive attendance.

The research program will have Self Determination Theory (SDT) as a theoretical point of departure and as an overall theoretical framework for qualitative studies and RCTs of behavioral intervention programs across different behavioural domains. Even though our logic model for understanding behavioral change is linear, focusing on the presumed cause-effect identified in theory and empirical research, the investigators acknowledge that the behavioral treatment programs and proposed outcomes are part of a complex multilevel system (an ecological approach) (Bartholomew et al.2011). An ecological way of analyzing health problems and solutions support the use of a variety of theories when developing a program, as opposed to one single theory. Theories can help in describing the at-risk groups and environmental agents, understand the health-promotion behaviors and environmental agents, understanding the heath-promotion behaviors, and finding methods to promote change (Bartholomew, 2011).

The 0-hypothesis in the controlled studies is that the different behavioral treatment programs have no effects compared with controls. Alternative research hypotheses are: