Process evaluation of self-weighing intervention programs at a worksite, using nudge theory

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate and describe the process of self-weighing intervention programs at a worksite developed according to the nudge EAST framework.

Project contents: We developed three intervention programs to promote self-weighing for preventing obesity in working generations; the “Quiz Group” (attractive nudge), the “Declaration Group” (social nudge), and the “Success Retrospective Group” (timely nudge), and an easy nudge was used among all the groups. We held one-hour group training sessions with these three programs for Aomori prefecture employees whose self-weighing frequency was less than once a week. We assessed the implementers’ motivation and sense of burden, participants’ satisfaction, and implementation costs including labor costs, by interviews and questionnaire surveys.

Project assessments: Four staff members (three for analysis) implemented the three programs, and eighty-three employees (seventy-eight for analysis) were assigned to each group participated in the programs. The motivation of the participants before the training sessions was higher in the “Quiz Group,” the “Declaration Group,” and the “Successful Retrospective Group,” in this order. The cost of implementation was higher in the “Successful Retrospective Group” (263–291 thousand yen), in the “Quiz Group” (207–235 thousand yen), and the “Declaration Group” (179–207 thousand yen), and the burden of implementation was also in this order. Participants’ satisfaction was 92.6% in the “Quiz Group,” 88.5% in the “Successful Retrospective Group,” and 64.0% in the “Declaration Group” (P=0.016).

Challenges: The “Quiz Group” was estimated to have the greatest potential for dissemination, because both the implementers and the participants obtained high satisfaction from the group. The implementation cost including labor costs was more than twice as high as that estimated in advance. It was also observed that the nudge dissemination phase of the implementers changed from “the acquisition stage” to “the practice stage.”