Active Living Program News


Retain Program Participants

A report in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine describes retention strategies used in behavioral studies. The most successful strategies researchers found for keeping participants involved in a physical activity or eating program are many of the same techniques that Active Living Every Day and Healthy Eating Every Day facilitators are trained to use.

Active Living Every Day and Healthy Eating Every Day build retention strategies into each session. Facilitators receive online and face-to-face training to learn successful ways to keep people engaged. Effective retention strategies, as found in the research report, are listed below, along with examples from Active Living Partners courses.

Be Flexible

  • Offer face-to-face appointments that are convenient to the participant.
  • Use e-mail or offer a toll-free number for people to call with questions.
  • Provide postage-paid envelopes for participants to turn in home assignments if they will miss class.
  • Offer time before or after class for follow-ups.

Provide Incentives

These need not be expensive or time consuming. The following are examples:

  • Verbal thanks
  • Holiday or thank-you cards
  • A newsletter with testimonials
  • Lifestyle-related items (water bottles, hand weights, gardening tools)
  • Small incentive gifts for participation or attendance
  • A picture of the participants with other group members or staff

Emphasize Benefits of Participation

Facilitators help participants discover the benefits of and barriers to physical activity and healthy eating. Coming to class may be a barrier in itself. By coming up with a list of benefits of physical activity and healthy eating, the facilitator can focus on the benefits of participating in class.

  • Emphasize each participant’s importance to the rest of the group.
  • Problem-solve reasons for missing class.
  • Discuss the participant’s motivations for attending (quality of life, family, health).
  • Focus on the sense of accomplishment the participant gets from meeting goals each week.

Maintain a Good Tracking System

Organized facilitators can plan ahead to keep their participants on track.

  • Send out reminder letters before the first class or any classes that will meet outside the normal schedule.
  • Make expectations clear at the first meeting.
  • Collect feedback throughout the course.
  • Be alert and responsive to potential signs of dropout.
  • Use scheduling and calendar programs with reminder prompts. Active Living Partners provides an online tracking system to organize attendance and evaluation measures.

Keeping participants interested, enthusiastic, and inspired is vital to a successful health promotion program. Using the suggestions here and others found in the Active Living Partners training program, you can implement a pair of courses that improve health. For more information, please visit the Active Living Partners Web site at www.ActiveLiving.info, call 800-747-4457 ext 2319 or e-mail davide@hkusa.com.

Sources

Coday, M., C. Boutin-Foster, T. Goldman Sher, J. Tennant, M.L. Greaney, S.D. Saunders, and G.W. Somes. April 2005. Strategies for retaining study participants in behavioral intervention trials: Retention experiences of the NIH behavior change consortium. Annals of Behavioral Medicine 29, Special Supplement.



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