British Lung Foundation Active Steps Evaluation

PROJECT TITLE BRITISH LUNG FOUNDATION ACTIVE STEPS EVALUATION
Funding body British Lung Foundation
Total funding  £40,000
Team
  • Dr Arwel Jones, Lincoln Institute for Health (LIH), University of Lincoln
  • Hayley Robinson, LIH, University of Lincoln
  • Mark Saunders, Patient Representative
  • Dr Murray Smith, CaHRU, University of Lincoln
  • Prof Graham Law, CaHRU, University of Lincoln
  • Prof Niro Siriwardena, CaHRU, University of Lincoln
Team/consortium
  • University of Lincoln
Overarching aim We aim to undertake a formative process and impact evaluation of Active Steps, a physical activity telephone intervention for inactive people with chronic lung disease funded by Sport England and delivered by the British Lung Foundation.

Active Steps uses the BLF helpline as a platform to engage inactive people living with lung conditions to become and stay active. The BLF team delivers very brief advice (VBA) to patients on physical activity when they raise concerns that could be alleviated by being active. If patients require support to become active, they will be referred into a newly developed health coaching service within our helpline and supported over 12 months to become and stay active. It is anticipated that 2,000 people will receive VBA , and at least 200 of these individuals will be supported through the health coaching service.
Objectives The evaluation objectives are to:

  • Understand how the project is implemented, describe the processes in place and assess the extent to which delivery is in line with the delivery model.
  • Explore the efficacy of the intervention including which elements are working well and those that are working less well.
  • Assess the impact of the intervention on service users.
  • Assess how cost-effective the intervention is.
  • Consider the scalability of the intervention.
  • Consider the transferability of the intervention to other long-term conditions.
Methods Mixed methods study including:

i       Impact evaluation including quantitative data collected from beneficiaries of the helpline and an independent control arm.

ii       Process evaluation on the feasibility, acceptability, practicability of the helpline to both beneficiaries and the BLF.

iii      Economic evaluation of the telephone health coaching service.
Outcomes The key outcome is to evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, scalability and transferability of the Active Steps intervention.
Outputs Peer reviewed publications and conference presentations.
Impact If Active Steps is shown to be effective and cost-effective patients with COPD and other chronic lung conditions will benefit from the positive effects of increased physical activity.