Author(s): HARGREAVES, E., PEDDIE, M., GALE, J., Institution: UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO, NEW ZEALAND, Country: NEW ZEALAND, Abstract-ID: 1688

INTRODUCTION:
Interrupting prolonged sedentary time in the evening with 2 min bouts of activity every 30 min can benefit cardiometabolic health. Addressing a research gap, we designed an intervention with behaviour change techniques (BCTs) to build capability (App based reminder, activity ideas/videos), opportunity (building social support) and motivation (education on benefits, activity tracking, action & coping planning) to perform these activity breaks in the evening at home. This study investigated participant experiences of engaging in the intervention to understand what aspects supported behaviour change and what may need changed before upscaling.
METHODS:
The 20 participants (mean±sd age = 34±12 y, n=18 female) who completed the 4-week intervention were interviewed to understand what aspects of the intervention helped them to perform the activity breaks and their suggestions for improvements. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
RESULTS:
Participants reported that the BCTs incorporated to build capability supported them to perform the activity breaks. The reminder notification was described as a necessity and the activity videos provided guidance and a variety of options and challenge level for people to choose from. However, an alternative to a phone reminder was recommended as it was too easy to ignore or miss. Overwhelmingly participants stated that performing breaks every 30 min was too frequent and not achievable.
Motivation to perform the breaks came from not just knowing there would be benefits, but experiencing the benefits and feeling a difference in the evenings when breaks were performed. Having a purpose for doing the break, e.g., to do a task, also facilitated their performance. Interestingly, being part of a study created a sense of external accountability which motivated adherence. This accountability also came from recording the number of breaks they took. This was both a requirement of the data collection and a BCT to encourage self-monitoring. Motivational barriers came from participants preferring the experienced benefits of their sedentary activities and for taking activity breaks during the day compared to the evening. No comments were made with respect to action/barrier planning.
Opportunity to perform the breaks was positively influenced by family/friends supporting decisions to be active and joining in. Having visitors in the house or being out of their normal home routine were significant barriers.
CONCLUSION:
Intervention delivery and the BCTs incorporated were acceptable and facilitated activity breaks, particularly those building capability and recognition of immediate benefits. However, performing the breaks every 30 min was deemed too frequent to be achievable. The need for accountability is a motivational concern and strategies are required to build autonomous motivation for long term upscaling to be successful.