A Good Start Matters Intervention Study

NCT05669378 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: H18-01434
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 52
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The BC government and partners developed Active Play Standards and a capacity-building strategy to help childcare centers implement the Standards. We have developed an intervention to supplement the governmental capacity-building strategies. The intervention is comprised of implementation support strategies targeted at childcare providers in BC that will aid with the sustainment of Active Play best practices at their facilities. The impact of the intervention will be assessed by measuring its impact on a) change in practices with respect to Active Play; and b) improving child-level outcomes (children's physical activity, sedentary behavior, and motor skill competencies). The findings will inform future policies and enhance our understanding of how policy action supported by communication, capacity-building, and sustainment strategies influence the environment of childcare centres.

Conditions

Physical Inactivity; Motor Activity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in practices related to active play (AP) and fundamental movement skills (FMS)

  Change in AP and FMS practices will examine child engagement in AP and FMS activities at the facility (e.g., time spent in AP, FMS, and outdoor activities, adherence to best practices). Assessment through observed practices using the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) tool, and through self-reported practices based on questions developed by the Early Years Survey and the EPAO as a Self-Report instrument (EPAO-SR).

  Two time points -baseline and 3-month post intervention

• Fundamental movement skills (child outcomes)

  Children's FMS will be assessed with the validated Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-3 a norm-referenced tool for assessing 13 gross motor skills). The measure takes 15-20 min per child to administer and provides standardized and percentile composite scores for the locomotor, object control, and gross motor quotient (GMQ) composites.

  Two time points -baseline and 3-month post intervention

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Characteristics of childcare settings

  Three time points -baseline and 3-month, and 6-month post intervention

• Characteristics of providers

  Three time points -baseline and 3-month, and 6-month post intervention

Study Arms (2)

Intervention group

EXPERIMENTAL

The experimental group will receive the Appetite to Play + intervention which is a capacity-building intervention that support childcare providers in implementing the best practices for active play. It includes a 3 e-learning online modules and then the are supported with weekly . bi-weekly emails.

Behavioral: Appetite to Play +

Standard of care waitlist control

OTHER

The standard of care waitlist control group will receive the intervention at 3-months post-randomization. The standard of care group has access to the Appetite to Play materials which are available to everyone. The site includes resources that childcare providers can use.

Behavioral: Appetite to Play +

Interventions

Appetite to Play + BEHAVIORAL

In 2017 the province of BC enacted a provincial standard for physical activity, formally titled the Director of Licensing Standard of Practice - Active Play (Active Play Standards) that licensed childcare centers are required to adhere to. Along with this, a provincial capacity-building intervention (Appetite to Play) was released to provide training and education to early years providers working in the province and support the implementation of the Active Play Standards. The intervention, Appetite to Play +, will provide advanced training to early year educators on the Appetite to Play activities and resources. The intervention will include workshops and training on physical literacy, fundamental movement skills, and creating a supportive environment to sustain Active Play practices. As part of the intervention, managers will also be provided with resources to aid them with the integration of Active Play into their curriculums and schedules.

Intervention group; Standard of care waitlist control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 30 Months+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Located in the Metro Vancouver region
• Provides care to at least 10 children older than 2 1/2 years and younger than 6 years
• Childcare program that is longer than 4 hours each day
• children must attend a childcare that has volunteered to participate in the study
• Child must be older than 2 1/2 years and younger than 6 years of age
• \- Managers at licensed BC childcare facilities, working full time (at least 3 full days per week) in a facility for children aged 2½ to 6 years, defined as an Executive Director, supervisor, or program manager. Aged 19 years or older.
• \- Childcare staff at licensed BC childcare facilities, working full time (at least 3 full days per week), defined as Early Childhood Educator, instructor, or staff that cares for 2½ to 6-year-old children. Aged 19 years or older.

You may not qualify if:

• Located outside Metro Vancouver region
• Facilities caring only for children under 2 1/2 years old or older than 6 years
• Family or in-home multi-age childcare
• Do not care or supervise 2 ½ to 6 years old children
• Work less than 3 full days per week
• Administrative assistant/office manager
• Younger than 19 years of age

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of British Columbia: lead
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

BC Children's Hospital Research Institute

Vancouver, British Columbia, V6H 3V4, Canada

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Masse LC, Wright C, Buckler EJ, De-Jongh Gonzalez O, Wolfenden L, Faulkner G, Carson V, Temple V, Brussoni M, Fakih S, Sauve K, Edache I, Naylor PJ. Facility-level implementation strategies in early childhood education and care to enhance adherence to a provincial physical activity standard: Protocol for the Good Start Matters ATP+ randomised controlled trial. PLoS One. 2025 Aug 12;20(8):e0329276. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0329276. eCollection 2025.

  PMID: 40794716 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Sedentary Behavior; Motor Activity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Louise C Masse, PhD

  University of British Columbia

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Louise C Masse, PhD

CONTACT

604-875-2000; lmasse@bcchr.ubc.ca

Patti-Jean Naylor, PhD

CONTACT

250-721-7844; pjnaylor@uvic.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Partial masking as the outcome assessors will not deliver intervention.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor and Investigator

Model Details: To test the efficacy of ATP+, we will conduct a randomized control trial with 52 facilities - where 26 facilities will be randomized to receive the intervention and while the remaining facilities will receive the standard of care as a waitlist control group and will receive the intervention at 3-month post randomization.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 20, 2022
• First Posted: December 30, 2022
• Study Start: October 25, 2023
• Primary Completion: September 30, 2025
• Study Completion: September 30, 2025
• Last Updated: April 16, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Locations

CA (1)