NCT04942535

STEP Together: An Effectiveness-Implementation Study of Social Incentives and Physical Activity

STEP Together: A Hybrid Type 1 Effectiveness-Implementation Study of Social Incentives Strategies to Increase Physical Activity

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 779 (actual)
• Sponsor: Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 14 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Higher levels of physical activity have been demonstrated to improve health across a wide range of contexts and reduce cognitive decline as adults become older, but more than half of all adults in the United States do not meet their physical activity goals. One type of physical activity that is broadly applicable to people of all ages is walking. This study will use a Hybrid Type 1 effectiveness-implementation design to adapt and test the effectiveness of two successful social incentive-based interventions, a gamification strategy and financial incentives donated to charity on the participants behalf, to increase physical activity among low-income, mostly minority families in community settings.

Conditions

• Physical Activity

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Social Incentive Gamification	Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count. Each participant signs a pre-commitment contract. Participants are entered into a game with their family members. Each family receives 70 points weekly. Each day, a family member is selected at random to represent the family. If that person's step goal was achieved, the family keeps its points; if not, they lose 10 points. The participant is notified the following day if they were the family rep. At the end of the week, if the family has 40 points or more, they advance 1 level. If they have less than 40 points, the family drops down 1 level. Each family team starts in the middle of 5 levels. At the end of the intervention, families in the top 2 levels receive a small gift. In the 6 month follow-up, participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.
BEHAVIORAL	Social Goals through Incentives to Charity	Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count. Families select a charity at the beginning of the intervention. They are informed that $20 is available each week to be donated to a charity of their choice. Each day, a family member is selected at random to represent the family. If that person's step goal was achieved, the family gets credit for meeting their goal; if not, the entire family does not get credit. The participant is notified the following day if they were the family rep. If the family achieves their goal on at least 4 of 7 days in a week, $20 is donated to charity. In the 6 month follow-up, participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.
BEHAVIORAL	Daily Performance Feedback	Participants enroll as a family team. They are asked to use a Fitbit activity tracker daily. Each participant sets a daily step goal based on their baseline step count. Participants receive a daily text message stating whether or not they achieved their step goal on the prior day.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-09-21
• Primary completion: 2025-04-04
• Completion: 2025-10-11
• First posted: 2021-06-28
• Last updated: 2026-04-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States