Improving Outcomes from NHS Health Checks- Southwark
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving the Outcomes of NHS Health Checks in Southwark- a randomised controlled trial
IRAS ID
152918
Contact name
Tim Chadborn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Public Health England
Research summary
This trial aims to use SMS messages to improve attendance and engagement with follow up services from NHS Health Checks in Southwark. In Southwark these services are administered by the 'Health Improvement Hub' and give patients advice and support on making healthy changes to their lifestyle.
Participants: Patients engaging with the Health Improvement Hub in Southwark. These patients have previously been identified as being at high risk of cardiovascular disease through the NHS Health Checks programme. For this trial participants will be split into two groups: those patients engaged with the ‘Walking Away from Diabetes’ (WAFD) service and another group that includes all lifestyle services currently offered in Southwark.
Intervention: We propose to use SMS messages to deliver periodic reminders, motivational messages, descriptive social norms, and (where possible)feedback on physical activity to increase attendance and engagement with the services offered by the Health Improvement Hub in Southwark. Our interventions will be administered via the automated back-end IT system called ‘Refer-All’, which is already in place in Southwark (as well as other Local Authorities). This will deliver the text messages as well as ensure automated randomisation.
Outcome measures: We will look at attendance/completion of all services. In addition to this within the WAFD service we will observe HbA1c levels at the end of the intervention (blood test measuring blood glucose levels that are associated with diabetes risk), and steps walked per day (as a proxy for physical activity. All of these measures are already routinely collected for all participants by the direct care team.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/SC/1027
Date of REC Opinion
30 May 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion