Introduction: Increasing physical activity (PA) through exercise is associated with improvements in many of the symptoms associated with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) such as fatigue, strength, balance and mobility. Despite this,... [ view full abstract ]
Introduction: Increasing physical activity (PA) through exercise is associated with improvements in many of the symptoms associated with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) such as fatigue, strength, balance and mobility. Despite this, people with MS (pwMS) remain largely inactive. Interventions that are grounded in theory and that aim to change PA behaviour need to be developed, implemented and evaluated further. The aim of this study is to describe the development process of a web-based resource to enable pwMS to become more active, namely, ‘Activity Matters’.
Methods: Development of ‘Activity Matters’ was guided by the UK’s Medical Research Council (MRC) Complex Interventions framework and a behavioural model entitled the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW). Seven sources of data were used to inform the process and were mapped on to both the MRC and BCW. Five of these sources were research papers conducted by the authors. These included three systematic reviews and two original research studies. Whilst the other two sources of data were conducted by known MS PA research groups from North America and Europe.
Results: Using the 7 data sources and following steps of the BCW and MRC, an outline of the ‘Activity Matters’ intervention has been developed. The intervention is theoretically based and constructs including, knowledge, memory, attention and decision processes, skills, social influences, environmental context and resources, beliefs about capabilities, beliefs about consequences, goals and emotions were recognised as important. Intervention functions and techniques that will be used on the website include, education, enablement, environmental restructuring, persuasion, incentivisation, action planning, goal-setting, social-support and problem-solving.
Conclusions: ‘Activity Matters’ is the first MS PA intervention to use the theoretical approach outlined by the MRC and BCW. The next phase of this work is to test the usability, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of ‘Activity Matters’ among pwMS.
