TY - JOUR AU - Verbiest, Marjolein AU - Borrell, Suaree AU - Dalhousie, Sally AU - Tupa'i-Firestone, Ridvan AU - Funaki, Tevita AU - Goodwin, Deborah AU - Grey, Jacqueline AU - Henry, Akarere AU - Hughes, Emily AU - Humphrey, Gayle AU - Jiang, Yannan AU - Jull, Andrew AU - Pekepo, Crystal AU - Schumacher, Jodie AU - Te Morenga, Lisa AU - Tunks, Megan AU - Vano, Mereaumate AU - Whittaker, Robyn AU - Ni Mhurchu, Cliona PY - 2018 DA - 2018/08/22 TI - A Co-Designed, Culturally-Tailored mHealth Tool to Support Healthy Lifestyles in Māori and Pasifika Communities in New Zealand: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial JO - JMIR Res Protoc SP - e10789 VL - 7 IS - 8 KW - behavior change KW - randomized controlled trial KW - co-design KW - mHealth KW - health behavior KW - noncommunicable diseases KW - New Zealand KW - Māori KW - Pasifika AB - Background: New Zealand urgently requires scalable, effective, behavior change programs to support healthy lifestyles that are tailored to the needs and lived contexts of Māori and Pasifika communities. Objective: The primary objective of this study is to determine the effects of a co-designed, culturally tailored, lifestyle support mHealth tool (the OL@-OR@ mobile phone app and website) on key risk factors and behaviors associated with an increased risk of noncommunicable disease (diet, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption) compared with a control condition. Methods: A 12-week, community-based, two-arm, cluster-randomized controlled trial will be conducted across New Zealand from January to December 2018. Participants (target N=1280; 64 clusters: 32 Māori, 32 Pasifika; 32 clusters per arm; 20 participants per cluster) will be individuals aged ≥18 years who identify with either Māori or Pasifika ethnicity, live in New Zealand, are interested in improving their health and wellbeing or making lifestyle changes, and have regular access to a mobile phone, tablet, laptop, or computer and to the internet. Clusters will be identified by community coordinators and randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to either the full OL@-OR@ tool or a control version of the app (data collection only plus a weekly notification), stratified by geographic location (Auckland or Waikato) for Pasifika clusters and by region (rural, urban, or provincial) for Māori clusters. All participants will provide self-reported data at baseline and at 4- and 12-weeks postrandomization. The primary outcome is adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors measured using a self-reported composite health behavior score at 12 weeks that assesses smoking behavior, fruit and vegetable intake, alcohol intake, and physical activity. Secondary outcomes include self-reported body weight, holistic health and wellbeing status, medication use, and recorded engagement with the OL@-OR@ tool. Results: Trial recruitment opened in January 2018 and will close in July 2018. Trial findings are expected to be available early in 2019. Conclusions: Currently, there are no scalable, evidence-based tools to support Māori or Pasifika individuals who want to improve their eating habits, lose weight, or be more active. This wait-list controlled, cluster-randomized trial will assess the effectiveness of a co-designed, culturally tailored mHealth tool in supporting healthy lifestyles. Trial Registration: Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Register ACTRN12617001484336; http://www.ANZCTR.org.au/ACTRN12617001484336.aspx (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/71DX9BsJb) Registered Report Identifier: RR1-10.2196/10789 SN - 1929-0748 UR - http://www.researchprotocols.org/2018/8/e10789/ UR - https://doi.org/10.2196/10789 UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30135054 DO - 10.2196/10789 ID - info:doi/10.2196/10789 ER -