Douglas E Levy1, Emily D Gelsomin2, Eric B Rimm3, Mark Pachucki4, Jenny Sanford5, Emma Anderson5, Charles Johnson6, Rose Schutzberg7, Anne N Thorndike8. 1. Mongan Institute Health Policy Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States. 2. Department of Nutrition and Food Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States. 3. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States. 4. Sociology and Computational Social Science Institute, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States. 5. Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States. 6. StudyMaker LLC, Boston, MA, United States. 7. University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States. 8. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States. Electronic address: athorndike@mgh.harvard.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Behavioral nudges in the food environment increase healthy choices, but it is unknown if they improve diet and health. The ChooseWell 365 study will determine if an automated, personalized worksite intervention to nudge healthier choices improves overall diet and cardiometabolic health. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial of 602 hospital employees who regularly use on-site cafeterias and pay with an employee ID. INTERVENTION: The intervention combines an environmental strategy (traffic-light labeling) with objective feedback and personalized nudges (health/lifestyle tips, social norms, incentives) to promote healthy food choices. The ChooseWell 365 software platform automatically generates personalized emails and letters that integrate employees' weight goals with health, lifestyle, and cafeteria purchasing data. Over one year, the intervention group receives two weekly emails. One provides a log of daily purchases; the second provides personalized health/lifestyle tips. The intervention group receives monthly mailed letters with social norm comparisons and financial incentives for healthier purchases. The one-year intervention will be completed in February 2019; all follow-up will be completed March 2020. OUTCOMES: Weight, cardiometabolic risk factors, and dietary intake at one and two-year follow-up. Other outcomes include worksite food purchases by study participants and other non-participant employees who are socially connected (inferred from purchasing data) to participants. CONCLUSIONS: ChooseWell 365 tests a novel strategy to deliver a scalable worksite prevention program that is integrated into the workday. The intervention is personalized but automated and therefore does not require costlier individual counseling. In the future, this program could be applied broadly in other worksite settings.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Behavioral nudges in the food environment increase healthy choices, but it is unknown if they improve diet and health. The ChooseWell 365 study will determine if an automated, personalized worksite intervention to nudge healthier choices improves overall diet and cardiometabolic health. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial of 602 hospital employees who regularly use on-site cafeterias and pay with an employee ID. INTERVENTION: The intervention combines an environmental strategy (traffic-light labeling) with objective feedback and personalized nudges (health/lifestyle tips, social norms, incentives) to promote healthy food choices. The ChooseWell 365 software platform automatically generates personalized emails and letters that integrate employees' weight goals with health, lifestyle, and cafeteria purchasing data. Over one year, the intervention group receives two weekly emails. One provides a log of daily purchases; the second provides personalized health/lifestyle tips. The intervention group receives monthly mailed letters with social norm comparisons and financial incentives for healthier purchases. The one-year intervention will be completed in February 2019; all follow-up will be completed March 2020. OUTCOMES: Weight, cardiometabolic risk factors, and dietary intake at one and two-year follow-up. Other outcomes include worksite food purchases by study participants and other non-participant employees who are socially connected (inferred from purchasing data) to participants. CONCLUSIONS: ChooseWell 365 tests a novel strategy to deliver a scalable worksite prevention program that is integrated into the workday. The intervention is personalized but automated and therefore does not require costlier individual counseling. In the future, this program could be applied broadly in other worksite settings.
Authors: Cora L Craig; Alison L Marshall; Michael Sjöström; Adrian E Bauman; Michael L Booth; Barbara E Ainsworth; Michael Pratt; Ulf Ekelund; Agneta Yngve; James F Sallis; Pekka Oja Journal: Med Sci Sports Exerc Date: 2003-08 Impact factor: 5.411
Authors: Mercedes Carnethon; Laurie P Whitsel; Barry A Franklin; Penny Kris-Etherton; Richard Milani; Charlotte A Pratt; Gregory R Wagner Journal: Circulation Date: 2009-09-30 Impact factor: 29.690
Authors: Steven L Gortmaker; Boyd A Swinburn; David Levy; Rob Carter; Patricia L Mabry; Diane T Finegood; Terry Huang; Tim Marsh; Marjory L Moodie Journal: Lancet Date: 2011-08-27 Impact factor: 79.321
Authors: Stephenie C Lemon; Monica L Wang; Nicole M Wedick; Barbara Estabrook; Susan Druker; Kristin L Schneider; Wenjun Li; Lori Pbert Journal: Prev Med Date: 2013-12-15 Impact factor: 4.018
Authors: Jessica L McCurley; Douglas E Levy; Eric B Rimm; Emily D Gelsomin; Emma M Anderson; Jenny M Sanford; Anne N Thorndike Journal: Am J Prev Med Date: 2019-05-22 Impact factor: 5.043
Authors: Jenny Jia; Douglas E Levy; Jessica L McCurley; Emma Anderson; Emily D Gelsomin; Bianca Porneala; Anne N Thorndike Journal: Am J Prev Med Date: 2022-03-10 Impact factor: 6.604
Authors: Jessica L McCurley; Douglas E Levy; Hassan S Dashti; Emily Gelsomin; Emma Anderson; Ross Sonnenblick; Eric B Rimm; Anne N Thorndike Journal: J Acad Nutr Diet Date: 2021-08-31 Impact factor: 5.234
Authors: Hassan S Dashti; Douglas E Levy; Marie-France Hivert; Kaitlyn Alimenti; Jessica L McCurley; Richa Saxena; Anne N Thorndike Journal: Am J Clin Nutr Date: 2022-01-11 Impact factor: 8.472
Authors: Emily H Feig; Douglas E Levy; Jessica L McCurley; Eric B Rimm; Emma M Anderson; Emily D Gelsomin; Anne N Thorndike Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2019-11-27 Impact factor: 3.295
Authors: Ting-Ti Lin; Chang Park; Mary C Kapella; Pamela Martyn-Nemeth; Lisa Tussing-Humphreys; Kathleen M Rospenda; Shannon N Zenk Journal: Scand J Work Environ Health Date: 2020-05-25 Impact factor: 5.024
Authors: Chris Calitz; Charlotte Pratt; Nicolaas P Pronk; Janet E Fulton; Kimberly Jinnett; Anne N Thorndike; Ebyan Addou; Ross Arena; Alison G M Brown; Chia-Chia Chang; Lisa Latts; Debra Lerner; Michiel Majors; Michelle Mancuso; Drew Mills; Eduardo Sanchez; David Goff Journal: J Am Heart Assoc Date: 2021-08-28 Impact factor: 5.501
Authors: Anne N Thorndike; Jessica L McCurley; Emily D Gelsomin; Emma Anderson; Yuchiao Chang; Bianca Porneala; Charles Johnson; Eric B Rimm; Douglas E Levy Journal: JAMA Netw Open Date: 2021-06-01
Authors: Jennifer Cable; Eva Schernhammer; Erin C Hanlon; Céline Vetter; Jonathan Cedernaes; Nour Makarem; Hassan S Dashti; Ari Shechter; Christopher Depner; Ashley Ingiosi; Christine Blume; Xiao Tan; Elie Gottlieb; Christian Benedict; Eve Van Cauter; Marie-Pierre St-Onge Journal: Ann N Y Acad Sci Date: 2021-08-02 Impact factor: 6.499