Feasibility study of a co-designed, evidence-informed and community-based incentive intervention to promote healthy weight and wellbeing in disadvantaged communities in Scotland

Objectives

To feasibility test a novel community-based financial incentive scheme to promote healthy weight and well-being.

Design

Single-arm, prospective feasibility study using mixed methods.

Setting

Two communities in Scotland experiencing high levels of disadvantage according to the Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). Community C1 is in a large rural area with a small town centre (population~1.5K) and community C2 is a small and urban community (population~9K), enabling contextual comparison.

Participants

Eligible adult (18 years or over) community members recruited through community outreach.

Intervention

The Enjoy Life LocallY (ELLY) intervention comprised free soup twice weekly (café/delivery/pickup); loyalty card stamped for engagement in community assets (such as local activities, groups and clubs) exchanged for a £25 shopping card when a participant attends a minimum of 9 assets over 12 weeks; goal setting; information resources; self-monitoring of weight and well-being.

Outcomes

Primary outcomes—feasibility of recruitment, retention and engagement. Acceptability of intervention components was assessed by self-reported questionnaires and interviews. Secondary outcomes—feasibility of collecting outcomes prioritised by communities for a future trial: health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5L), mental well-being (WEMWBS), connectedness (Social Connectedness Scale) and weight-related measures (weight, body mass index (BMI)).

Results

Over 3 months, 75 community citizens (35 citizens in C1, 40 citizens in C2) were recruited (125% of target recruitment of 60 participants (117% of 30 participants C1 target, 133% of 30 participants C2 target), 84% female, baseline weight mean (SD)=84.8 kg (20) and BMI mean (SD)=31.9 kg/m2 (7.3), 65/75 (87%) living in disadvantaged areas (SIMD quintiles 1–3)). Retention at 12 weeks, defined by completion of outcome measures at 12 weeks, was 65 (87%). Participation in at least one asset for a minimum of 9 out of 12 weeks of the intervention was achieved by 55 (73%). All intervention components were acceptable, with the loyalty card being the most popular and the soup cafés the least popular. The mean average cost of the soup ingredients, per participant, over the 12 weeks was £12.02. Outcome data showed a small decrease in weight and BMI and a small increase in health-related quality of life, mental well-being and social connectedness.

Conclusions

The ELLY study recruited and retained participants from two disadvantaged communities in Scotland. The study was acceptable to participants and feasible to deliver. A full trial is warranted to determine effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, with consideration of scalability.

Trial registration number

The ELLY feasibility study was not pre-registered.