Testing Different Messaging Approaches to Increase Activation of a HealthyFood Benefit in Adults With Diabetes
April 13, 2018 updated by: Anjali Gopalan, University of Pennsylvania
Testing the Effectiveness of Different Messaging Approaches to Increase Activation of a HealthyFood Benefit Amongst Individuals With Diabetes: A Randomised, Controlled Trial
The Vitality HealthyFood benefit is a three-tiered incentive program designed to encourage healthier food choices amongst members of Discovery Health's Vitality program.
Once enrolled in the benefit, participating members can receive 10%, 15%, or 25% cash-back on the healthy foods they purchase at selected grocers.
And, while overall enrollment in the program is high, there is particular interest in increasing enrollment in the benefit amongst Vitality members with diabetes.
One presumed barrier to enrollment in the benefit amongst members with diabetes is a misperception of the particular relevance of the benefit and healthier food choices for their personal health.
Improved messaging regarding the HealthyFood benefit and its particular salience for individuals with diabetes may be an effective means of increasing activation of the benefit in this population.
The proposed study will be a collaboration between Discovery Health/Vitality and researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
In the proposed RCT, Vitality members with diabetes will be randomised to different types of messages regarding the HealthyFood benefit.
The investigators will then compare the effectiveness of these different messaging strategies at increasing activation of the HealthyFood benefit amongst Vitality members with diabetes.
Study Overview
Status
Completed
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Study Type
Interventional
Enrollment (Actual)
5467
Phase
- Not Applicable
Participation Criteria
Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No
Genders Eligible for Study
All
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- Adults over age 18
- Vitality health members who have not yet enrolled in the Vitality HealthyFood benefit
- Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (based on registration for chronic benefits for type 2 diabetes)
- Have registered on to Discovery Health/Vitality website in the past (marker of Internet access and availability of email address)
Exclusion Criteria:
- Anyone who does not meet above criteria
Study Plan
This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: None (Open Label)
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
|---|---|
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No Intervention: Control Arm
This arm will represent current practice.
This group will receive no contact from the research team.
They may receive information regarding the benefit from the Vitality marketing team during the intervention period and can enroll in the benefit at any time during the study period.
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Active Comparator: Diabetes-specific
This group will receive a message which simply cites the two specific benefits of the eating more healthy foods for individuals with diabetes.
This message contains a link to start the enrolment process.
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Active Comparator: Experience of another member
This group will receive a message that includes a quote from the perspective of a Vitality member with diabetes who uses the HealthyFood benefit.
Given the need to standardise message content across study arms, the quote was written by the study team and not an actual member.
The quote emphasizes the positive impact the benefit has had for the member-both the financial benefit, as well as the two specific diabetes health benefits.
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Active Comparator: Input from a diabetes expert
This group will receive a message that includes a quote from a South African physician who specializes in diabetes.
The quote emphasises the financial benefit and the two specific diabetes health benefits of the HealthyFood program included in the other messages.
It concludes with the doctor's recommendation of the benefit for all individuals with diabetes.
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Active Comparator: Enhanced active choice
This group will receive a message whose first portion is identical to those in the diabetes-specific message group. The second portion of the message differs in that instead of just asking recipients to click on the provided link if interested, the message asks people to choose and click on one of following possible responses:
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Enrollment in 10% Level of Benefit
Time Frame: One month from initial emailed messages
|
Rates of enrolment in 10% cash-back level (the most basic level, requires online activation only) of the HealthyFood Benefit amongst members with diabetes
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One month from initial emailed messages
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Collaborators and Investigators
This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.
Sponsor
Collaborators
Publications and helpful links
The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.
Study record dates
These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.
Study Major Dates
Study Start
June 1, 2015
Primary Completion (Actual)
July 1, 2015
Study Completion (Actual)
July 1, 2015
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
May 30, 2015
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
June 2, 2015
First Posted (Estimate)
June 3, 2015
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
November 9, 2018
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
April 13, 2018
Last Verified
April 1, 2018
More Information
Terms related to this study
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
Other Study ID Numbers
- 821895
This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.