Abstract
Introduction: Being a family support provider to someone with an SCI may negatively impact one's ability to engage in a range of health-promoting behaviours such as physical activity, self-care, or socializing. However, few interventions exist to promote health-promoting behaviours in this population.
Objective: To conduct a scoping review to identify the components necessary to develop behavioural interventions for family support providers from peer-reviewed literature using the behaviour change wheel (BCW).
Methods: Electronic databases were searched in May 2017 and articles relating to family support providers of people with SCI were identified. Necessary data for intervention development outlined by the BCW were extracted from these articles, including behaviours, behavioural determinants, intervention content, and evaluation methods.
Results: Data was extracted from 59 articles. The most commonly identified behaviours included engaging in leisure time/daily activities (e.g., physical activity, self-care), problem-solving, and providing support. Individuals' physical and social environments most often influenced these behaviours. Barriers varied between behaviours and contexts. Only six interventions were identified, none were based on behaviour change theory, and all were based on the technique of problem-solving.
Conclusion: This scoping review was the first to review the SCI family support provider literature through a behaviour change theory lens. The results of this study suggest that a promising intervention approach may be to use a theory which promotes change in support providers' contexts while encouraging behavioural strategies to overcome individual barriers. Future research should consider a theory-based approach to intervention design to examine additional intervention methods which may be effective.
