Participant (consumer) information

Research project title: ePREVENT-360 - Empowering Patients. Enhancing PREVENTion.

Feasibility of a consumer facing digital intervention to enhance chronic disease prevention in primary care.

This is an invitation for you to take part in this PhD project. This study has been funded through a grant from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Foundation and the HCF Research Foundation and will be conducted by University of Wollongong researchers.

Purpose of this study.

This project's overall aim is to explore innovative ways to improve population health by preventing chronic conditions. The ePREVENT-360 study aims to understand whether people are interested in using an online health check (THRIVE) to identify their risk of 21 common chronic conditions and receive a personalised plan, which aims to improve their health and healthy life expectancy. The researchers will examine consumer and clinician engagement with the THRIVE intervention and identify factors that influence this engagement. The researchers are also interested in what people think of IN2HEALTH and how this could be improved in the future.

How you can take part

If you are aged between 30 and 65 years of age, speak English and have access to a smartphone, tablet or laptop you are invited to participate.

After reading this information sheet, if you agree to take part, please give your written consent by clicking on the ‘Registration and Consent Form’ link on this page and completing the consent form.

For your participation, you will receive a gift card at the end of the study valued between $30 and $80, based on your level of involvement:

A $30 gift card will be provided to individuals who complete some but not all of the study surveys.
A $50 gift card will be provided on completion of the final survey.
An additional $80 gift card will be provided to participants who take part in an interview with a researcher.

What the study involves

The study will run over 6 months and has 4 parts:

A brief online survey about barriers and promoters to using digital health including a reflection on your relationship with your GP (10-15 minutes).

Access the digital ‘THRIVE Health Check’. This analyses the risk of 21 chronic conditions and provides tailored health recommendations (based on the latest Australian guidelines) including screening (20-30 minutes) and brief digital health ‘check-ins’ at 3 and 6 months (5-10 minutes).

Feedback survey at 6 months (7-10 minutes) so that you can share your opinion on the THRIVE program.

A few people will also be asked to take part in an interview with a researcher (20-30 minutes). Participants are free to accept or decline this invitation. Questions in this interview will be about your experience using the THRIVE intervention, what worked well and what did not work so well and your suggestions for future improvements.

Are there any risks?

There is a potential risk that participants may feel anxious or concerned if any chronic condition risks are identified in the THRIVE ‘Health Check’. If this is the case, resources and helplines will be provided to support you. It is important to understand that if risks are identified, most can be addressed through lifestyle change, accessing health screening and/or accessing care with your GP or nurse.

This study does not pose any significant risk of discomfort to participants. Taking part in this study will not affect the care you access with your GP or nurse.

What are the potential benefits to participants?

A free assessment of your risk of 21 chronic conditions, a personalised health action plan and health dashboard where you can track your health scores over time.

Your data is safe with us

We take your privacy seriously. If you decide to participate, your data will be stored securely. We will remove your name and any information that could identify you from the other data you provide. Your personal details will be kept confidential and will not be shared with anyone outside the research team.

The data generated from this project will be published in a PhD thesis, scientific journal papers and presented at conferences. No one will be identified in these publications or any communications arising from this study.

The research data will only be used for this project and not for any future projects. All data will be stored in secure University of Wollongong databases for five years as required by law.

Audio recording of interviews

Interviews, for those who volunteer to take part, will be audio-recorded. This is to allow an accurate transcription of the conversation to be made. This transcript will then have all personal information removed to ensure that individuals cannot be identified from the data.

Freedom of consent

Participation is voluntary. Joining the study is completely up to you. You can leave the study at any time without any need to explain by contacting the chief investigator Dr Gillian Singleton. The professional relationships you have with your GP, nurse or the University of Wollongong will not be affected if you choose not to participate.

If for any reason you would like to remove your data from the study this can be done if this request is prior to the data being analysed. Data analysis will occur from 1/3/2026. If you take part in an interview, the transcripts will be de-identified 14 days after the interview so the audio recording and transcript can be destroyed prior to this time if you request this.

Conflict of interest

To ensure transparency, we disclose that Dr Gillian Singleton was involved in the development of the THRIVE program. Dr Singleton is a GP and PhD student responsible for this research under the supervision of University of Wollongong senior researchers not affiliated with IN2HEALTH or the THRIVE program. All of the co-investigators on this study are aware of this conflict of interest.

The research team has robust strategies in place to ensure that this conflict of interest does not impact the conduct or results of this study including:

All data collection and analysis will be overseen by an independent researcher.

The supervisors will oversee and critically analyse the study data.

This conflict will be declared in all publications.

Study contact

Please contact Dr Gillian Singleton at gms993@uowmail.edu.au or on 0419 520 537 if you have any questions about this study

Ethics review and complaints

This study has been reviewed and approved by the Health and Medical Human Research Ethics Committee of the University of Wollongong (Reference number: 2024-227).

If you have any concerns or complaints regarding the way this research has been conducted, you can contact the University of Wollongong Ethics Officer, uow-humanethics@uow.edu.au, +61 2 4239 2191.