Vitality Health Incentives for Physical Activity

Summary

The aim of the study is to prospectively compare the effectiveness of diverse incentives on physical activity behaviour, in a cohort of newly-enrolled, adult members of the Vitality health promotion programme based in South Africa.

Conditions

• Obesity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Discovery Vitality base program

The existing Discovery Vitality health promotion base program, which offers points for various levels of physical activity.

BEHAVIORAL

Communication

Participants will be sent regular communications by Discovery Vitality -equivalent to the level of communications in the other incentive groups - which will provide information and tips about ways of accumulating Vitality points on the existing programme (concerning fitness-related activities, in particular).

BEHAVIORAL

Charitable Incentive

Members will be asked to nominate a charity, from a selection of charities, which will benefit financially (Discovery Vitality will make a direct payment to a nominated charity) based on their (member's) level of participation in points-earning physical activity. Individuals will receive one of four possible payouts, corresponding to their level of engagement, for their selected charity (amounts given below). In addition, members will be sent regular updates of activities by their nominated charities (This will be operationalised and facilitated by Vitality- and as such, no direct mailing from nominated charity will take place, to maintain confidentiality.)

BEHAVIORAL

Prize Draw Incentive

Members will be entered into a prize draw for a monthly cash-prize if they achieve physical activity targets. Four lottery payouts, corresponding to their levels of engagement, will be made on a monthly basis. All members will be sent information regarding the winnings of those that are drawn (unlinked to personal identifiers, but to motivate).

BEHAVIORAL

Direct Payment

Members will receive a direct payment (in the form of gift voucher) of one of four possible amounts depending on the level of participation in fitness-related activities equivalent in expected value to the payouts in arms 3 and 4.

BEHAVIORAL

Free Choice

Members will be asked to choose one of the three aforementioned incentive options on enrollment to the study.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Pennsylvania

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Deepak Patel, MD · Discovery Holdings, LTD

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-05-31

Primary Completion

2013-02-28

Completion

2013-02-28

Countries

• United States
• South Africa

Study Locations