A Pragmatic Feasibility Trial to Promote Student Perspective-Taking on Client Physical Activity: A Collaborative Project

A Randomized Pragmatic Feasibility Trial to Promote Student Perspective-Taking on Client Physical Activity: A Collaborative Project

This mixed-methods parallel two-arm trial assessed the feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability of a theoretically-informed intervention designed to improve perspective-taking skills in preparation for a future definitive randomized control trial. Using a 1:1 allocation ratio, student participants (N = 163) in Respiratory, Physical, and Occupational Therapy; Nurse Practitioner; and Kinesiology programs at a Canadian university were randomly assigned to full or partial intervention conditions. Full intervention participants completed an online workshop on perspective-taking and practiced perspective-taking prior to an in-lab 10-minute dialogue with a trained client-actor (masked to condition) about the actor's physical inactivity. Partial intervention participants received the workshop after the dialogue, and were instructed to be aware and mindful of the approach that they took to seek understanding. To be considered feasible, outcomes needed to meet or surpass our criteria (e.g., within-course recruitment: 85-95% of a course when embedded within a course, 5-10% when not embedded). Feasibility and appropriateness were assessed by comparing recruitment rates, protocol, and psychometric outcomes to criteria. Acceptability was assessed by analyzing exit interviews. Recruitment rates, protocol, and psychometric outcomes largely met criteria, and the study was acceptable.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Communication
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Student practitioner perspective-taking intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 163
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Manitoba
    • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3T 2N2
      • University of Manitoba

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must be a student at the University of Manitoba
• Must have completed course content on behaviour change communication

Exclusion Criteria:

• Full intervention participants were excluded from descriptive statistics calculations if they partially completed the workshop or did not complete all phases due to client-actor availability
• Data from participating in additional study sessions were excluded

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Full educational intervention condition; The Full intervention condition included a perspective-taking workshop plus independent practice and video-feedback	Behavioral: Student practitioner perspective-taking intervention; This intervention compares the outcomes where some learn about and practice perspective-taking and others do not. All participants received at least a partial intervention through getting video-feedback on their dialogue with a client actor.
Active Comparator: Partial intervention condition; The Partial intervention condition involved video-feedback alone. In this condition, participants were provided with a link to the perspective-taking workshop after the study was complete.	Behavioral: Student practitioner perspective-taking intervention; This intervention compares the outcomes where some learn about and practice perspective-taking and others do not. All participants received at least a partial intervention through getting video-feedback on their dialogue with a client actor.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Recruitment rate when embedded within a course	85-95% recruitment rate	Within 2 years of study commencement (February 2018 - December 2019)
Recruitment rate when not embedded within a course	5-10% recruitment rate	Within 2 years of study commencement (February 2018 - December 2019)
Recruitment time	Time to finish recruiting in years	Within 2 years of study commencement (February 2018 - December 2019)
Program recruitment	Count of number of participants per program	Within 2 years of study commencement (February 2018 - December 2019)
Workshop completion	Percent that completed all pages of the workshop	Prior to in-lab participation
Practice time length	Time in weeks	Prior to in-lab participation
Adherence for not making a plan of action with the client-actor	Percent that adhered to instructions	Through in-lab completion, an expected average of 2 hours
Lab session length	Average lab session length, and time participants spent in the lab in hours and minutes	Through in-lab completion, an expected average of 2 hours
Employee training	Time in hours	Through study completion, up to 2 years
Appropriateness of measure means as assessed by examining data for floor and ceiling effects	A scale mean will be created for all measures. To assess appropriateness for inclusion in the definitive trial, we will examine the means for floor and ceiling effects. There should be no evidence of floor or ceiling effects in study measures. If there is evidence of extreme means, then we will consider a different measure for the definitive trial.	Post study completion, after 2 years
Amount of missing data	To assess appropriateness for inclusion in the definitive trial, the amount of missing data will be examined for each measure. There should be no more than 5% for each study measure. If there is evidence of excessive missing data for a measure, then we will consider a different measure for the definitive trial.	Post study completion, after 2 years
Appropriateness of Cronbach's alpha as assessed by an alpha above .70 for each measure	To assess appropriateness for inclusion in the definitive trial, we will calculate Cronbach's alpha for each measure. Cronbach's alpha should be at least .70 for each study measure. If there is evidence of low Cronbach's alpha for a measure, then we will consider a different measure for the definitive trial.	Post study completion, after 2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Instructor interest	Count of instructors who express interest in the study	At time of contact through study completion, up to 2 years
Integration rate	Count of how many instructors embedded the course into their study	Prior to the study period
Participant demographics	Counts and percentages	At baseline
Prior communication training	Counts and percentages for self-reported training	At baseline
Acceptability	Examining exit interviews and field notes using manifest content analysis and constant comparison techniques	Post study completion, after 2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Manitoba
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Shaelyn Strachan, PhD, University of Manitoba

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 19, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 20, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): December 20, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 11, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 2, 2023
• First Posted (Estimated): November 8, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): November 8, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 2, 2023
• Last Verified: October 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Feasibility; Education; Empathy; Perspective-taking
• Other Study ID Numbers: E2018:008; 48798 (Other Grant/Funding Number: University of Manitoba); 322464 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Manitoba Centre for Nursing and Health Research)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: The data will not be shared. The data are not publicly available because we did not get permission from participants.

Drug and device information, study documents

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