A formative evaluation of the SWITCH   XXXX prevention program: print versus online programming.

@entity1 @entity28
BACKGROUND: SWITCH   is an evidence-based childhood @entity28 prevention program that works through schools to impact parenting practices. The present study was designed as a formative evaluation to test whether an online version of SWITCH   would work equivalently as the established print version. METHODS: Ten elementary schools were matched by socio-economic status and randomly assigned to receive either the print (n   =   5) or online (n   =   5) version. A total of 211 @entity1 from 22, 3(rd) grade classrooms were guided through the 4  month program by a team of program leaders working in cooperation with the classroom teachers. @entity1 were tasked with completing weekly SWITCH   Trackers with their parents to monitor goal setting efforts in showing positive Do (>= 60  minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity), View ( <=2  hours of screen time), and Chew (>= 5 servings of fruits and vegetables) behaviors on each day. A total of 91 parents completed a brief survey to assess project-specific interactions with their @entity1 and the impact on their behaviors. RESULTS: The majority of parents (93.2%) reported satisfactory experiences with either the online or print SWITCH   program. The return rate for the SWITCH   Trackers was higher (42.5%        11%) from the print schools compared to the online schools (27.4%        10.9%). District program managers rated the level of teacher engagement in regards to program facilitation and the results showed a higher Trackers return rate in the highly engaged schools (38.5%        13.3%) than the lowly engaged schools (28.6        11.9%). No significant differences were observed in parent/ @entity1 interactions or reported behavior change (ps   >   .05) suggesting the equivalence in intervention effect for print and online versions of the SWITCH   program. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the utility of the online SWITCH   platform but school-based modules are needed to facilitate broader school engagement by classroom teachers and PE teachers.
