The 5R Shared Leadership Program in Older Adult Walking Groups

The 5R Shared Leadership Program in Older Adult Walking Groups: A Clustered Randomised Controlled Trial

To test the efficacy of the 5R Shared Leadership program in older adults on participants' identification with their walking group, group cohesion, walking activity, and well-being, compared to a regular group walking program, the investigators conducted a cluster randomised trial.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Leadership; Empowerment; Identification
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: 12-week structured walking program; Behavioral: 5R Shared Leadership Program

Detailed Description

All walking groups participated in a 12-week structured group walking program. Half of these walking groups were randomly assigned to the intervention condition and received additionally the 5R Shared Leadership Program

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 503
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Vlaams-Brabant
    • Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium, 3000
      • KU Leuven

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 55 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Being part of a community-based OKRA SPORT+ meeting point that engages in the 12-week walking program

Exclusion Criteria:

• n/a

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: A structured 12-week group walking program; Participants engaged in an evidence-based 12-week walking program.	Behavioral: 12-week structured walking program; Participants engaged in an evidence-based 12-week structured walking program, which aimed to enhance participants' physical activity and aerobic fitness levels based on personalised walking schedules and weekly group walks organised by the community-based meeting points.
Experimental: A structured 12-week group walking program + 5RS; In addition to the 12-week group walking program, participants engaged in the 5R Shared Leadership Program, which implements a structure of shared leadership and strengthens the identity leadership skills of the appointed peer leaders.	Behavioral: 12-week structured walking program; Participants engaged in an evidence-based 12-week structured walking program, which aimed to enhance participants' physical activity and aerobic fitness levels based on personalised walking schedules and weekly group walks organised by the community-based meeting points.; Behavioral: 5R Shared Leadership Program; The manualised 5RS program aims to develop the leadership qualities of peer leaders by teaching them how to create, embody, advance, and embed a collective sense of 'us' in their teams. More specifically, 5RS consists of two key components that involve (1) implementing a structure of shared leadership, and (2) strengthening the identity leadership skills of the appointed peer leaders (Fransen et al., 2020). Fransen, K., Haslam, S. A., Steffens, N. K., Mallett, C. J., Peters, K., Mertens, N., & Boen, F. (2020). All for us and us for all: Introducing the 5R Shared Leadership Program. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 51, 101762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101762 Haslam, S. A., Steffens, N. K., Peters, K., Boyce, R. A., Mallett, C. J., & Fransen, K. (2017). A social identity approach to leadership development: The 5R program. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 16(3), 113-124. https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000176

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Identity leadership	4-item Identity Leadership Inventory-Short Form	12 weeks
Group identification scale	To assess participants' identification with their walking group, the investigators use the 4-item group identification measure (e.g., "I am glad to be a member of this walking group."), as suggested by Doosje et al. (1995). The cognitive, evaluative, and affective aspects of identification are evaluated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Doosje B, Ellemers N, Spears R. Perceived intragroup variability as a function of group status and identification. J Exp Soc Psychol. 1995;31(5):410-36.	12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Group cohesion	Group Environment Questionnaire - A higher score corresponds with a higher group cohesion	12 weeks
Well-being	Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. It comprises 14 positively phrased items (e.g., "I've been feeling good about myself") rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (none of the time) to 5 (all of the time). A higher score corresponds with a higher well-being	12 weeks
Walking activity	International Physical Activity Questionnaire - Short Form	12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: KU Leuven
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Katrien Fransen, PhD, KU Leuven

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Fransen, K., Haslam, S. A., Steffens, N. K., Mallett, C. J., Peters, K., Mertens, N., & Boen, F. (2020). All for us and us for all: Introducing the 5R Shared Leadership Program. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 51, 101762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2020.101762
• Fransen K, Cruwys T, Haslam C, Iserbyt P, Seghers J, Vanderlinden J, van Uffelen J, Verbaanderd E, Boen F. Leading the way together: a cluster randomised controlled trial of the 5R Shared Leadership Program in older adult walking groups. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2022 Jun 3;19(1):63. doi: 10.1186/s12966-022-01297-x.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 1, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 31, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): August 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 27, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 3, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): September 9, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 16, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 8, 2021
• Last Verified: September 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: physical activity; elderly; well-being; 5RS; group identification; social identification; peer leadership; identity leadership; cohesion; walking group
• Other Study ID Numbers: G- 2019 02 1530

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The anonymised data will be shared upon publication.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Upon publication
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: The data will be shared together with the article following the journal recommendations.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No