Journal Article

What is the ‘voltage drop’ when an effective health promoting intervention for older adults—Choose to Move (Phase 3)—Is implemented at broad scale?

Sims Gould, Joanie, Weatherson, Katie, Khan, Karim M., Bauman, Adrian, Macdonald, Heather M., McKay, Heather A., Nettlefold, Lindsay, Gray, Samantha M.

2023

Overview

Choose to Move (CTM), an effective health-promoting intervention for older adults, was scaled-up across British Columbia, Canada. Adaptations that enable implementation at scale may lead to 'voltage drop'-diminished positive effects of the intervention. For CTM Phase 3 we assessed: i. implementation; ii. impact on physical activity, mobility, social isolation, loneliness and health-related quality of life (impact outcomes); iii. whether intervention effects were maintained; iv) voltage drop, compared with previous CTM phases. We conducted a type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation pre-post study of CTM; older adult participants (n = 1012; mean age 72.9, SD = 6.3 years; 80.6% female) were recruited by community delivery partners. We assessed CTM implementation indicators and impact outcomes via survey at 0 (baseline), 3 (mid-intervention), 6 (end-intervention) and 18 (12-month follow-up) months. We fitted mixed-effects models to describe change in impact outcomes in younger (60-74 years) and older (≥ 75 years) participants. We quantified voltage drop as percent of effect size (change from baseline to 3- and 6-months) retained in Phase 3 compared with Phases 1-2. Adaptation did not compromise fidelity of CTM Phase 3 as program components were delivered as intended. PA increased during the first 3 months in younger (+1 days/week) and older (+0.9 days/week) participants (p<0.001), and was maintained at 6- and 18-months. In all participants, social isolation and loneliness decreased during the intervention, but increased during follow-up. Mobility improved during the intervention in younger participants only. Health-related quality of life according to EQ-5D-5L score did not change significantly in younger or older participants. However, EQ-5D-5L visual analog scale score increased during the intervention in younger participants (p<0.001), and this increase was maintained during follow-up. Across all outcomes, the median difference in effect size, or voltage drop, between Phase 3 and Phases 1-2 was 52.6%. However, declines in social isolation were almost two times greater in Phase 3, compared with Phases 1-2. Benefits of health-promoting interventions-like CTM-can be retained when implemented at broad scale. Diminished social isolation in Phase 3 reflects how CTM was adapted to enhance opportunities for older adults to socially connect. Thus, although intervention effects may be reduced at scale-up, voltage drop is not inevitable.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Adaptation / Adaptations / Adults / Aged / British Columbia / Community / Data collection / Exercise / Exercise for the aged / Feedback / Female / Health aspects / Health Promotion / Humans / Intervention / Loneliness / Male / Marginalized groups / Medicine and Health Sciences / Meetings / Methods / Mobility / Older people / Pandemics / People and Places / Phases / Physical activity / Quality of Life / Questionnaires / Research and analysis methods / Social interactions / Social Isolation / Voltage / Voltage drop