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In many countries, rural residents have lower life expectancies and poorer health outcomes than urban residents. Adults living in rural Australia have lower physical activity levels than major city counterparts, contributing to this observed health disparity. As physical activity interventions in rural populations have shown minimal success, there is an urgent need for innovative and affordable interventions that facilitate active lifestyles in this vulnerable population. This study assessed the feasibility of physical activity-focused motivational interviewing, delivered by university health sciences undergraduates in a rural Australian region. “Health age” was assessed at baseline (n = 62) from physiological and behavioral measures, immediately followed by the motivational interview, with health age again assessed at 8 weeks follow-up. Mixed methods using a questionnaire (n = 41 at both time points) and one-on-one interview (n = 8) identified aspects of intervention acceptability and feasibility. A large majority rated the motivational interview as meaningful (98%), empathetic (96%), autonomy-focused (88%), and likely to lead to sustained behavior change (98%). Interviews highlighted several potential attitudinal and structural factors that might influence long-term behavior change. Further development of this strategy in rural regions will depend on a deeper understanding of individuals’ and communities’ awareness, attitudes, and beliefs in relation to active lifestyles.

Introduction Social needs such as housing, employment, food, income and social isolation are having a significant impact on individuals, families and communities. Individuals are increasingly presenting to health settings with social needs, which are ill‐equipped to address nonmedical needs. Social prescribing is a systematic approach connecting the health, social and community sectors to better address social needs and improve health and wellbeing. Social prescribing interventions are being implemented world‐wide. With variability in health and social care systems internationally, it is important that social prescribing interventions are co‐designed with key stakeholders to ensure they can be implemented and sustained within local systems. Methods This Australian case study provides a detailed description of the process undertaken to co‐design a social prescribing service model in a regional area. Four co‐design workshops were undertaken, two with health and social care professionals and two with community members. The project followed an iterative process of resourcing, planning, recruiting, sensitising, facilitation, reflection and building for change across the workshops. Results Through this process, key stakeholders were able to successfully co‐design a social prescribing model of care for the region. Conclusion By demonstrating the process and materials used in our project, we aim to open the ‘black box’ of co‐design for social prescribing and provide ideas and resources for others to adapt and utilise. Patient or Public Contribution The project was designed and undertaken by a steering committee comprising university‐based researchers (authors C. O. and S. B.), local government (author D. A.) and health, social and community services (authors B. G., M. W., J. O. and S. R.). Members of the steering committee participated in project design, participant recruitment, workshop facilitation, data analysis and interpretation.

Background Social needs - such as housing, income, food security, and social connectedness - have a significant effect on health and wellbeing. One way to address social needs is through social prescribing, which involves screening for unmet needs (e.g., during healthcare appointments) and providing referrals to social and community services. For social prescribing to be effective, it must address both individual needs as well as support the social and community services that are required to meet these needs. The objective of this study is to adopt a place-based framework that combines: (1) individual-level referral for social needs, with (2) community and stakeholder engagement to determine community assets, resources, networks, and need to inform model development. Methods The study will be conducted in three-phases across two low-socioeconomic Australian communities, underpinned by the ‘enabling places’ theoretical framework. Phase 1 will involve identifying key elements that enable place-based social prescribing using photovoice methods with health and social care providers and community members. Outcomes will inform co-design workshops to develop a place-based social prescribing model of care that is augmented by technology to facilitate integration across health, social, and community services. In Phase 2, the co-designed model will be implemented in the two communities. Phase 3 will involve a mixed methods approach to the evaluation of the model’s implementation, effectiveness, and social return on investment. Discussion The study aims to foster place-based initiatives and community development, a missing element in much of the social prescribing discourse. It is anticipated that outcomes will contribute to the design and implementation of social prescribing models that are tailor-made for Australian communities, systems, and funding systems.

Background Despite the ongoing promotion of physical activity, the rates of physical inactivity remain high. Drawing on established methods of analysing consumer behaviour, this study seeks to understand how physical activity competes for finite time in a day – how Exercise and Sport compete with other everyday behaviours, and how engagement in physical activity is shared across Exercise and Sport activities. As targeted efforts are common in physical activity intervention and promotion, the existence of segmentation is also explored. Methods Time-use recall data ( n  = 2307 adults) is analysed using the Duplication of Behaviour Law, and tested against expected values, to document what proportion of the population that engage in one activity, also engage in another competing activity. Additionally, a Mean Absolute Deviation approach is used to test for segmentation. Results The Duplication of Behaviour Law is evident for everyday activities, and Exercise and Sport activities – all activities ‘compete’ with each other, and the prevalence of the competing activity determines the extent of competition. However, some activities compete more or less than expected, suggesting the combinations of activities that should be used or avoided in promotion efforts. Competition between everyday activities is predictable, and there are no specific activities that are sacrificed to engage in Exercise and Sport. How people share their physical activity across different Exercise and Sport activities is less predictable – Males and younger people (under 20 years) are more likely to engage in Exercise and Sport, and those who engage in Exercise and Sport are slightly more likely to Work and Study. High competition between Team Sports and Non-Team Sports suggests strong preferences for sports of different varieties. Finally, gender and age-based segmentation does not exist for Exercise and Sport relative to other everyday activities; however, segmentation does exist for Team Sports, Games, Active Play and Dance. Conclusions The Duplication of Behaviour Law demonstrates that population-level patterns of behaviour can yield insight into the competition between different activities, and how engagement in physical activity is shared across different Exercise and Sport activities. Such insights can be used to describe and predict physical activity behaviour and may be used to inform and evaluate promotion and intervention.

The Neo Care home monitoring system aims to detect falls and other events using artificial intelligence. This study evaluated Neo Care’s accuracy and explored user perceptions through a 12-week in-home trial with 18 households of adults aged 65+ years old at risk of falls (mean age: 75.3 years old; 67% female). Participants logged events that were cross-referenced with Neo Care logs to calculate sensitivity and specificity for fall detection and response. Qualitative interviews gathered in-depth user feedback. During the trial, 28 falls/events were documented, with 12 eligible for analysis as others occurred outside the home or when devices were offline. Neo Care was activated 4939 times—4930 by everyday household sounds and 9 by actual falls. Fall detection sensitivity was 75.00% and specificity 6.80%. For responding to falls, sensitivity was 62.50% and specificity 17.28%. Users felt more secure with Neo Care but identified needs for further calibration to improve accuracy. Advantages included avoiding wearables, while key challenges were misinterpreting noises and occasional technical issues like going offline. Suggested improvements were visual indicators, trigger words, and outdoor capability. The study demonstrated Neo Care’s potential with modifications. Users found it beneficial, but highlighted areas for improvement. Real-world evaluations and user-centered design are crucial for healthcare technology development.

Background Reducing loneliness and enhancing quality of life (QoL) are key public health priorities. However, limited empirical research examines the impact of community-based interventions on both loneliness and QoL. This study employed a single-group pre-post design to evaluate the South Australian pilot intervention, the Community Connections Program (CCP), assessing its effects on participants’ self-reported QoL and loneliness. Methods Individuals referred to the CCP pilot completed an interviewer-led survey at both intervention intake and completion. QoL was assessed with the Assessment of Quality of Life – 6 dimensions tool (AQoL-6D). Loneliness was assessed with the Campaign to End Loneliness Tool – 3-item measure (CtELT). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired sample t -tests. Results Data from 195 adults who completed both data collection points were evaluated. AQoL-6D improved from intervention intake ( M  = 57; SD  = 16) to completion ( M  = 66; SD  = 13) ( t (194) = -9.73, p  <.05; d  = 0.62). All six dimensions of AQoL improved, with the greatest increase in scores occurring for mental health , relationships and coping (results were statistically significant at p  <.05). The largest within-group effect size was found for the dimension of mental health ( d  = 0.8). Participants’ overall feelings of loneliness significantly decreased between pre- ( M  = 6.7; SD  = 2.99) and post- ( M  = 4.4; SD  = 2.00) intervention measurement ( t (186) = 10.50, p  <.05; d  = 0.90). Conclusions Participants of the CCP pilot intervention reported significantly improved QoL and reduced loneliness at program completion. The CCP shows promise for the ability of community-based interventions to reduce loneliness and improve QoL for individuals disconnected from their communities and local health and support care services. These findings have implications for the development of programs that facilitate place-based, person-centered connections as important drivers of public health and wellbeing.

Public service announcements (PSAs) or campaigns aimed at preventing harm can inadvertently risk creating additional harms. It remains unclear whether these unintended effects are considered during campaign development, if risk mitigation strategies are implemented, or how professionals involved perceive these issues. It is in the context of illicit drug use prevention PSAs that our research investigates and explores the perspectives of practitioners—health support professionals and advertising campaign designers and creators. Semi-structured expert interviews were conducted to capture and synthesize practitioners’ perspectives which were then analysed by applying a framework to address the unintended effects of public health interventions. The results indicated that practitioners from both sectors are aware of unintended harms but place varying levels of importance on different aspects. In the case of illicit drug prevention PSAs, incorporating practitioners’ perspectives in campaign development may result in mitigating the risk of potential unintended harmful effects.

The recent anti-consumption research reveals that studying the reasons for not choosing a brand is as valuable for understanding consumer behaviour as researching their motivation for choosing brands. Taking a holistic approach (as opposed to focusing on a specific side of anti-consumption), this article explores all claimed reasons for brand non-consideration and quantifies how much each reason contributes to potential customer deficiency. An online survey examined incidences and reasons for non-consideration of 27 brands of chocolate bars by 1068 respondents. The good news for managers is that about two-thirds (57 per cent) of the reasons for non-consideration, by customers who have never experienced the brand, is directly attributable to the brand (as opposed to competition (8 per cent) or consumers themselves (27 per cent). The results demonstrate that most instances, when current category users reject brands from consideration, are within brand managers’ influence. Therefore, actions addressing specific reasons for brand non-consideration might expand a brand's customer base. This article suggests specific marketing activities that could achieve this goal.

Purpose This research describes and evaluates the co-creation of a programme called “A Healthy Choice”. Underpinned by design thinking (DT), this study aims to improve the healthfulness of food choices in supermarkets among consumers to promote their well-being. Design/methodology/approach The research features two studies. Study 1 included five co-design workshops with consumers and staff (n = 32) to develop a consumer-centred programme. The findings supported the design and implementation of a programme evaluated in Study 2 (an ecological trial). The programme modified a supermarket environment to increase the prominence of healthier products (shelf-talkers and no discount), ran positive food experiences (cooking and label reading workshops) and was supported by a community-wide information campaign in social and local print media. Findings A total of 15 new strategies were developed by consumers and staff to support health and well-being in supermarkets. Feasibility discussions and staff voting contributed to the development and storewide implementation of the programme. Evaluation showed that the programme was effective in increasing consumer knowledge of healthier food choices (measured via public survey). Sales analysis showed mixed results; sales increased for promoted products in some categories, but there was no effect in others. Research limitations/implications Given the real-world setting in which this programme and its evaluation were conducted, there were several innate limitations. The co-design process generated many more ideas than could be implemented, thus creating a healthy “pipe line” for the next iterations of the programme. Practical implications The key contribution of this work to supermarket intervention literature is the recommendation to change the paradigm of engagement between the key stakeholders who are typically involved in supermarket programs. Using the co-design and DT frameworks, the authors offer an example of stakeholders working together in close partnership to co-design and collaboratively implement a programme that promotes healthier choices. Originality/value This project contributes to the emerging body of empirical work using DT principles in the area of healthy food choices in supermarkets. A rigorously designed evaluation of a co-designed supermarket programme contributes to scholarly evidence on food well-being programs in supermarkets.

Purpose Increasing and maintaining the population’s consumption of healthful food may hinder the global obesity pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether it is possible for healthful sub-brands to achieve higher consumer behavioural loyalty than their less healthful counterparts. Design/methodology/approach The study analysed three years of consumer panel data detailing all purchases from five consumer goods categories for 15,000 UK households. The analysis uses best-practice techniques for measuring behavioural loyalty: double jeopardy, polarisation index, duplication of purchase and user profile comparisons. Each sub-brand’s healthfulness was objectively coded. Findings Despite the level of healthfulness, all sub-brands have predictable repeat purchase patterns, share customers as expected and have similar user profiles as each other. The size of the customer base, not nutrition content, is, by far, the biggest determinant of loyalty levels. Research limitations/implications Consumers do not show higher levels of loyalty to healthful sub-brands, or groups of healthful sub-brands. Nor do they buy less healthful sub-brands less often (as a “treat”). There are also no sub-groups of (health conscious) consumers who would only purchase healthful options. Practical implications Sub-brands do not have extraordinarily loyal or disloyal customers because of their healthfulness. Marketers need to focus on growing sub-brands by increasing their customer base, which will then naturally grow consumer loyalty towards them. Originality/value This research brings novel evidence-based knowledge to an emerging cross-disciplinary area of health marketing. This is the first study comparing behavioural loyalty and user profiles towards objectively defined healthful/less healthful sub-brands.