Acceptability of FitSkills in the Irish Context for Young People With Childhood-onset Physical Disability

July 10, 2026 updated by: Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland

The Feasibility and Acceptability of Translating FitSkills to the Irish Context to Facilitate Physical Activity Participation for Young People With Childhood-onset Physical Disability

FitSkills is an evidence based community based gym programme developed in Australia. It was developed in response to the barriers people with disability experience to accessing community-based physical activity. Within FitSkills, people with disability are paired with university students who act as a peer mentor. Pairs exercise together at a community gym location twice a week for 12 weeks. FitSkills has been shown to improve physical and social health among people with disabilities.

FitSkills has not been delivered outside of Australia. The investigators are assessing how practical it is to deliver FitSkills in Ireland with the support of healthcare and physical activity professionals. The investigators want to understand the demand for this programme among young people with childhood-onset physical disability aged 13-24 years. In addition, the investigators want to learn if taking part in FitSkills influences exercise confidence and mental health and well-being among young people with childhood-onset physical disability.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

25

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Ailish Malone, PhD

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

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Have a primary physical disability diagnosis, either congenital or acquired by age 15
  • Are aged between 13-24 years
  • Have not taken part in a regular gym programme in the previous 3 months (i.e. at least once a week for 3 months)
  • Can follow instructions in English
  • Are fit and well enough to participate in exercise

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Have an acute or concurrent medical condition rendering them unfit to participate in moderate-level physical activity
  • If they had an impaired ability to take part safely in a gym environment due to significant behavioural challenges.

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: FitSkills
FitSkills- Community-based physical activity programme
Other: Gym based exercise
12 week community gym exercise programme. Twice weekly gym sessions for 60 minutes. Peer support provided by a third level healthcare student from host university. Standardised exercise programme developed by gym staff with support from the investigators. Goals and preferences of participants considered in programme development. This is the only intervention and there is no additional intervention provided

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Participant recruitment (Reach)
Time Frame: Up to 6 months from study opening for recruitment

Participant recruitment (reach) will be assessed by the number of individuals who express interest in the study and the proportion who are eligible and enrolled.

Additional descriptive data will be collected on recruitment, including the number of enquiries and completed expressions of interest, how participants heard about the study (e.g., healthcare professional referral, flyer, or other sources), eligibility outcomes (number eligible, number excluded, and reasons for exclusion), and basic demographic characteristics (age, gender, disability type, and location) of individuals expressing interest.
Up to 6 months from study opening for recruitment
Adoption by healthcare and physical activity professionals
Time Frame: Up to 7 months from first participant initiation of the intervention

Adoption will be assessed by the number and proportion of healthcare and physical activity professionals who are invited and agree to support implementation of the intervention.

Additional descriptive data will be collected on professional characteristics (e.g., profession, service type, public or private service, and service location) and reasons for non-participation (e.g., work capacity constraints or lack of interest).
Up to 7 months from first participant initiation of the intervention
Intervention Feasibility
Time Frame: Up to 7 months from first participant initiation of the intervention

Intervention feasibility will be assessed by the proportion of participant pairs who complete the programme at 12 weeks.

Additional descriptive data will be collected, including the number of pairs successfully matched (young people and student mentors), the number attending the group orientation session, and participant engagement (e.g., use of the challenge board).

Fidelity to programme content and adverse events will be monitored and recorded using exercise log-books.
Up to 7 months from first participant initiation of the intervention
Feasibility of the Intervention (Feasibility Intervention Measure)
Time Frame: At completion of professional involvement in intervention implementation (up to 7 months from first participant initiation)

Feasibility will be assessed using the Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM), completed by healthcare and physical activity professionals following completion of their involvement in implementation.

The FIM is a 4-item scale assessing perceived feasibility (e.g., whether the programme is possible, practical, and easy to implement), with responses rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from completely disagree to completely agree.
At completion of professional involvement in intervention implementation (up to 7 months from first participant initiation)
Feasibility of collaboration between professionals
Time Frame: Up to 7 months from first participant initiation of the intervention

Feasibility of collaboration between healthcare and physical activity professionals will be assessed using a communication logbook completed by professionals involved in implementation.

The logbook will capture the number of contacts between professionals and characteristics of communication, including reason for contact, type of communication, and outcome of communication.
Up to 7 months from first participant initiation of the intervention
Acceptability of the intervention among professionals
Time Frame: At completion of the intervention (up to 7 months from first participant initiation)

Acceptability of the intervention will be assessed through online focus groups conducted with healthcare and physical activity professionals following implementation.

Focus groups will explore participants' perceptions of the acceptability of the programme, including its perceived appropriateness, burden, and satisfaction with implementation.
At completion of the intervention (up to 7 months from first participant initiation)
Acceptability of the intervention ( Acceptability of Intervention Measure)
Time Frame: At completion of professional involvement in intervention implementation (up to 7 months from first participant initiation)

Acceptability will be assessed using the Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM), completed by healthcare and physical activity professionals.

The AIM is a 4-item scale assessing perceived acceptability (e.g., whether the programme is appealing, meets approval, and is welcomed), with responses rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from completely disagree to completely agree.
At completion of professional involvement in intervention implementation (up to 7 months from first participant initiation)
Appropriateness of the intervention ( Intervention Appropriateness Measure)
Time Frame: At completion of professional involvement in intervention implementation (up to 7 months from first participant initiation)

Appropriateness will be assessed using the Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM), completed by healthcare and physical activity professionals.

The IAM is a scale assessing perceived appropriateness (i.e., the extent to which the programme is suitable and relevant), with responses rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from completely disagree to completely agree.
At completion of professional involvement in intervention implementation (up to 7 months from first participant initiation)
Acceptability of the intervention among young people
Time Frame: At completion of the intervention (up to 7 months from first participant initiation)

Acceptability of the intervention will be assessed through online semi-structured interviews conducted with young people with disability who participated in the programme.

Interviews will explore participants' perceptions of acceptability, including satisfaction with the programme, perceived benefits, and burden of participation.
At completion of the intervention (up to 7 months from first participant initiation)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Exercise self efficacy ( Exercise Self Efficacy Scale)
Time Frame: Baseline (prior to intervention initiation) and at 12 weeks (end of intervention)

Exercise self-efficacy will be assessed using the Exercise Self-Efficacy Scale, completed by young people with childhood-onset physical disability.

The scale consists of 10 items assessing confidence in engaging in physical activity, with responses rated on a 4-point Likert scale (not at all true, rarely true, sometimes true, always true). Total scores range from 10 to 40, with higher scores indicating greater exercise self-efficacy.
Baseline (prior to intervention initiation) and at 12 weeks (end of intervention)
Mental health and well-being (Mental Health Continuum-Short Form)
Time Frame: Baseline (prior to intervention initiation) and at 12 weeks (end of intervention)

Mental health and well-being will be assessed using the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF), completed by young people with childhood-onset physical disability.

The MHC-SF assesses emotional, social, and psychological well-being using a 6-point Likert scale (1 = everyday to 6 = never). Scores can be interpreted using continuous total and domain scores, with higher scores indicating greater well-being. Participants may also be classified as flourishing, moderately mentally healthy, or languishing based on established scoring criteria.
Baseline (prior to intervention initiation) and at 12 weeks (end of intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland

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.

General Publications

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 (Estimated)

July 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

January 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

January 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 27, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 14, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 14, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 10, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 202510045

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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.

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