Development and validation of a complex intervention: A physical exercise programme aimed at delaying the functional decline in frail older adults

Abstract

Aim To develop and validate a physical exercise programme aimed at delaying the functional decline in frail older adults. Design The revised guideline of Criteria for Reporting the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions in health care was followed. Methods The physical exercise programme was designed and validated by exercise specialists to be implemented by healthcare professionals. The physical exercise programme underwent three stages of development, piloting and evaluation. It includes a portfolio of exercises in different support materials (posters, e‐book and website). A testing intervention was delivered to the target population. Results The Criteria for Reporting the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions in health care process has the potential to help practitioners in developing and planning complex interventions, such as an exercise programme. Its components can be adjusted to the context and to the characteristics of the target population. A study protocol and a pilot study will be developed to test the effectiveness of the physical exercise programme on delaying the functional decline of frail older adults.

Development and validation of a hip hop intervention programme for pre-school children: Crescer+ (Grow+)

“…This data reinforces that dance, in this case hip hop, is one of the most effective strategies for combating physical inactivity and obesity in children (Cain et al, 2015;Sánchez et al, 2011). However, physical exercise interventions require homogeneous methods of development, delivery and assessment, due to their complexity (Santos-Rocha et al, 2020).…”

“…All hygiene, cleanliness, and safety standards regarding the type of flooring and ventilation were adhered to. Exercise professionals maintained visual contact with the group throughout the session and provided positive reinforcement feedback, motivating the group to continue with the practice (Santos-Rocha et al, 2020).…”

“…To collect comprehensive feedback on the Crianças+ ("Children+") programme, specifically regarding its structure, duration, frequency, variations, progression, and replicability, the program manual and a corresponding questionnaire were disseminated by physical exercise professionals with expertise in conducting hip hop classes for children. The questionnaire, adapted from a prior publication validating a physical exercise program (Santos-Rocha et al, 2020), comprised 18 questions responded to using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from "totally agree" (assigned a value of 5 on the scale) to "totally disagree" (assigned a value of 1 on the scale). Additionally, the questionnaire featured an open-ended 19th question, providing respondents the option to offer any additional comments, whether positive or suggestions for improvement.…”

“…A physical exercise programme is considered a complex intervention, as it has to be adapted to a specific population and context and is affected by various efficacy and safety components. It is therefore important to develop and validate well-defined and replicable exercise protocols to fill the identified gap (Santos-Rocha et al, 2020). For this purpose, specific tools have been used, such as the Criteria for Reporting on the Development and Evaluation of Complex Health Interventions (CReDECI2) guideline (Möhler et al, 2015), which is a reporting guideline that aims to improve the quality of reporting on the development and evaluation phases of complex healthcare interventions; and, the checklist for the Consensus for Exercise Programme Reporting Template (CERT) (Slade et al, 2016), which was developed to improve the description of essential characteristics of the intervention, in order to effectively enable the replication of the programme.…”

Development and validation of the physical exercise program “Active Mums” for postpartum recovery: application of the CReDECI-2 guidelines

“…The CReDECI2 is a formally consensed reporting guideline aiming to improve the reporting quality of the development and evaluation stages of complex interventions in healthcare. This tool has been used previously in the development of complex interventions that included physical exercise tailored to different populations such as cancer survivors [ 65 ], frail older adults [ 66 ] and pregnant women [ 67 ]. So far, this is the first study applying the CReDECI2 guideline to a population of postpartum women.…”