Rural Veteran and Care Partner Walking Program

Six dyads (n=12) will complete TPAB field testing and will undergo testing at baseline and post-intervention. Consent, baseline testing, intervention delivery, and post-testing will be conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams and data recorded in VA REDCap. Testing sessions will not be recorded, with the exception of semi-structured interviews during post-testing. The testing procedures will take approximately 2 hours to complete at each testing time point. The TPAB intervention will involve weekly 30-minute sessions with study personnel for 6 weeks. Due to the 7-day activity monitor data collection prior to and following the 6-week TPAB intervention, participants will be enrolled in the study for approximately 8 weeks. Three dyads will be asked to join the advisory board with the research team to assist with implementing the walking program adaptations based on the collective feedback across the 16 dyads.

The total number of sessions attended by dyads will be reported as a percentage of the 6 weekly sessions. Ranges of attendance could be 0% (not attending any sessions) to 100% attending all session. Attendance will be used to evaluate participant engagement and practicality of implementation.

Defined as continued participation through the study completion. Calculated using withdrawal and completion records. Higher retention (such as 100% retention indicating all dyads that enrolled in the study, completed the study) supports intervention feasibility.

Evaluates participant interest, enjoyment, perceived value, and engagement with the intervention. The IMI is comprised of 7 statements related to interest/enjoyment that the participant indicates how true the statement is to them regarding their experience participating in the intervention. Each statement is scored on a 1-7 scale and an average is computed across all the questions to determine the IMI score. Higher scores indicate greater intervention acceptability.

Includes falls, injuries, medical issues, skin irritation, or other unintended consequences. Used to evaluate intervention safety.

Objective measure of physical activity captured through Fitbit devices. Average daily step counts are computed in the Fitbit application and will be recorded for each day and averaged over the 7-day monitoring period before and after the intervention provide proof-of-concept evidence of behavior change.

Interviews evaluating demand, implementation, practicality, acceptability, adaptation, and integration. Findings will guide refinement of the intervention for future trials.