Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
University of Guelph, 50 Stone Rd. E, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada.
BMC Med Res Methodol. 2018 Nov 8;18(1):126. doi: 10.1186/s12874-018-0588-5.
With 1 in 4 Canadian preschoolers considered overweight or obese, identifying risk factors for excess weight gain and developing effective interventions aimed at promoting healthy weights and related behaviours among young children have become key public health priorities. Despite the need for this research, engaging and maintaining participation is a critical challenge for long-term, family-based studies. The aim of this study is to describe the implementation and evaluation of a parent-only advisory council designed to engage participants in the implementation and evaluation of a longitudinal, family-based obesity prevention intervention.
A Family Advisory Council (n = 14 parents, 70% mothers, 64% white), was established to engage participant stakeholders in decisions related to research protocols and strategies to engage and sustain family participation. Using a mixed methods approach, including a participant survey and focus group, we examined the council members' perceptions of their role and the impact this novel integrated Knowledge Translation (iKT) strategy had on the Guelph Family Health Study (GFHS), a longitudinal family-based study.
All members of the Family Advisory Council felt the topics discussed were appropriate, felt that their opinions were valued and that their suggestions have had an impact and direct benefit on the GFHS. The addition of the Family Advisory Council led to changes in study protocol (i.e. creation of more detailed intervention emails, creation of kid-friendly accelerometer bands) that may have contributed to the high retention rate of the GFHS (95% at 6-month follow-up).
Engaging parents as research partners in family-based research studies may be an effective way to increase participant engagement and study retention.
在加拿大，有四分之一的学龄前儿童被认为超重或肥胖，因此，确定导致体重过度增加的风险因素，并制定有效的干预措施，以促进幼儿的健康体重和相关行为，已成为主要的公共卫生重点。尽管这项研究很有必要，但吸引并保持参与者的参与是长期、基于家庭的研究面临的一个关键挑战。本研究的目的是描述一个仅针对父母的顾问委员会的实施和评估情况，该委员会旨在让参与者参与到一项纵向、基于家庭的肥胖预防干预措施的实施和评估中。
成立了一个家庭顾问委员会（n=14 名家长，其中 70%为母亲，64%为白人），以让参与者利益相关者参与与研究方案相关的决策，并制定吸引和维持家庭参与的策略。我们采用混合方法，包括参与者调查和焦点小组，来研究顾问委员会成员对其角色的看法，以及这种新颖的综合知识转化（iKT）策略对圭尔夫家庭健康研究（GFHS）的影响，该研究是一项纵向的基于家庭的研究。
家庭顾问委员会的所有成员都认为讨论的主题是合适的，他们的意见得到了重视，并且他们的建议对 GFHS 产生了影响和直接的好处。家庭顾问委员会的加入导致了研究方案的改变（例如，创建更详细的干预电子邮件，创建适合儿童的计步器带），这可能有助于 GFHS 的高保留率（6 个月随访时为 95%）。
让父母作为研究伙伴参与基于家庭的研究，可能是增加参与者参与度和研究保留率的有效方法。
