UMass Worcester PRC Publications
UMMS Affiliation
Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine; UMass Worcester Prevention Research Center; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Clinical and Population Health Research Program
Publication Date
2018-09-10
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Behavioral Disciplines and Activities | Behavioral Medicine | Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms | Community Health | Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Health Communication | Health Information Technology | Preventive Medicine | Public Health Education and Promotion | Social Media | Women's Health
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Efforts to translate evidence-based weight loss interventions, such as the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), to low-income postpartum women have resulted in poor intervention attendance and high attrition. Strategies that improve engagement and retention in this population are needed to maximize the reach of evidence-based weight loss interventions.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to adapt a DPP-based weight loss intervention (Fresh Start) for Facebook delivery and to evaluate its feasibility among low-income postpartum women.
METHODS: This study comprised 3 single-group pilot studies where feasibility outcomes iteratively informed changes from one pilot to the next. We paralleled the in-person program for Facebook delivery by translating the protocol to a content library of Facebook posts with additional posts from lifestyle coaches. Low-income postpartum women were recruited from Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinics in Worcester, Massachusetts. Participants were enrolled into a 16-week weight loss intervention delivered via Facebook. During the first 8 weeks, Facebook intervention posts were delivered 2 times per day, with additional posts from coaches aiming to stimulate interaction among participants or respond to participants' questions and challenges. For the following 8 weeks, posts were delivered once per day without additional coaching. Feasibility outcomes were engagement (defined by number of likes, comments, and posts measured throughout intervention delivery), acceptability, and retention (survey at follow-up and assessment completion rate, respectively). Changes in weight were also assessed at baseline and follow-up.
RESULTS: Pilot 1 had a retention rate of 89% (24/27), and on average, 62% (17/27) of women actively engaged with the group each week during the 8-week coached phase. Mean weight loss was 2.6 (SD 8.64) pounds, and 79% (19/27) would recommend the program to a friend. Pilot 2 had a retention rate of 83% (20/24), and on average, 55% (13/24) of women actively engaged with the group weekly during the 8-week coached phase. Mean weight loss was 2.5 (SD 9.23) pounds, and 80% (16/24) would recommend the program to a friend. Pilot 3 had a retention rate of 88% (14/16), and on average, 67% (11/16) of women actively engaged with the group weekly during the 8-week coached phase. Mean weight loss was 7.0 (SD 11.6) pounds, and 100% (16/16) would recommend the program to a friend.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrated that a Facebook-delivered intervention was acceptable and could be feasibly delivered to low-income postpartum women. Future research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of a Facebook-delivered weight loss intervention.
Keywords
Facebook, health disparities, postpartum women, social media, weight loss
Rights and Permissions
Copyright © Valerie J. Silfee, Andrea Lopez-Cepero, Stephenie C. Lemon, Barbara Estabrook, Oanh Nguyen, Monica L. Wang, Milagros C. Rosal. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (http://formative.jmir.org), 10.09.2018. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Formative Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://formative.jmir.org.as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
DOI of Published Version
10.2196/formative.9597
Source
JMIR Form Res. 2018 Sep 10;2(2):e18. doi: 10.2196/formative.9597. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
JMIR formative research
Related Resources
PubMed ID
30684423
Repository Citation
Silfee VJ, Lopez-Cepero A, Lemon SC, Estabrook B, Nguyen O, Wang ML, Rosal MC. (2018). Adapting a Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention for Delivery via Facebook: A Pilot Series Among Low-Income Postpartum Women. UMass Worcester PRC Publications. https://doi.org/10.2196/formative.9597. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/prc_pubs/123
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Behavioral Disciplines and Activities Commons, Behavioral Medicine Commons, Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Community Health Commons, Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Health Communication Commons, Health Information Technology Commons, Preventive Medicine Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons, Social Media Commons, Women's Health Commons
Comments
Andrea Lopez-Cepero is a doctoral student in the Clinical and Population Health Research Program in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) at UMass Medical School.