Replicability, adaptability and long-term impact of the 'Healthy Youngsters, Healthy Dads' program in Newcastle, Australia.

'Healthy Youngsters, Healthy Dads' (HYHD) targets fathers to improve the health of their preschool-aged children. In a previous randomized trial, fathers and children experienced meaningful improvements in physical activity and eating behaviours. The next phase is to test the replicability and adaptability of HYHD when delivered in the community by trained facilitators. Fathers/father-figures and children aged 3-5 years were recruited from Newcastle, Australia into a 9-week, non-randomized trial with assessments at baseline, 10 weeks, and 12 months. The primary outcome was achievement of pre-registered targets for recruitment (≥ 96 dyads), attendance (≥ 70%), compliance (completing ≥ 70% of home-based tasks), fidelity (≥ 80% of content delivered as intended) and program satisfaction (≥ 4/5). Secondary outcomes included physical activity, nutrition, screen time and parenting measures. Process targets were surpassed for recruitment (140 fathers, 141 children), attendance (79% for fathers-only workshops, 81% for father-child sessions), compliance (80% of home-tasks completed), fidelity (99% for education, ≥ 97% for practical) and program satisfaction (4.8/5). Mixed effects regression models revealed significant effects in fathers for moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, co-physical activity, dietary intake and parenting practises, which were maintained at 12 months. Significant effects were also established for screen time at 10 weeks only. For children, significant effects were observed for screen time and dietary intake at 10 weeks, while effects on energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and healthy, nutrient-dense core food intake were maintained at 12 months. Findings demonstrate the replicability and adaptability of HYHD when delivered in the community by local trained facilitators. Further investigation into how to optimally scale-up HYHD is warranted.

A systematic review to determine the effect of strategies to sustain chronic disease prevention interventions in clinical and community settings: study protocol.

BACKGROUND: The primary purpose of this review is to synthesise the effect of strategies aiming to sustain the implementation of evidenced-based interventions (EBIs) targeting key health behaviours associated with chronic disease (i.e. physical inactivity, poor diet, harmful alcohol use, and tobacco smoking) in clinical and community settings. The field of implementation science is bereft of an evidence base of effective sustainment strategies, and as such, this review will provide important evidence to advance the field of sustainability research. METHODS: This systematic review protocol is reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) checklist. Methods will follow Cochrane gold-standard review methodology. The search will be undertaken across multiple databases, adapting filters previously developed by the research team, data screening and extraction will be performed in duplicate, strategies will be coded using an adapted sustainability-explicit taxonomy, and evidence will be synthesised using appropriate methods (i.e. meta-analytic following Cochrane or non-meta-analytic following SWiM guidelines). We will include any randomised controlled study that targets any staff or volunteers delivering interventions in clinical or community settings. Studies which report on any objective or subjective measure of the sustainment of a health prevention policy, practice, or programme within any of the eligible settings will be included. Article screening, data extraction, risk of bias, and quality assessment will be performed independently by two review authors. Risk of bias will be assessed using Version 2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised trials (RoB 2). A random-effect meta-analysis will be conducted to estimate the pooled effect of sustainment strategies separately by setting (i.e. clinical and community). Sub-group analyses will be undertaken to explore possible causes of statistical heterogeneity and may include the following: time period, single or multi-strategy, type of setting, and type of intervention. Differences between sub-groups will be statistically compared. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: This will be the first systematic review to determine the effect of strategies designed to support sustainment on sustaining the implementation of EBIs in clinical and community settings. The findings of this review will directly inform the design of future sustainability-focused implementation trials. Further, these findings will inform the development of a sustainability practice guide for public health practitioners. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42022352333.