Home » Trials » SLCTR/2022/026


“Cultivating a Green Lifestyle (CGL)” intervention to promote low carbon lifestyles and enhanced perceived quality of life among Sinhala-speaking private sector employees in Western province, Sri Lanka: A Randomized Controlled Trial

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SLCTR Registration Number

SLCTR/2022/026


Date of Registration

09 Nov 2022

The date of last modification

Nov 09, 2022



Application Summary


Scientific Title of Trial

“Cultivating a Green Lifestyle (CGL)” intervention to promote low carbon lifestyles and enhanced perceived quality of life among Sinhala-speaking private sector employees in Western province, Sri Lanka: A Randomized Controlled Trial


Public Title of Trial

A meditation-based intervention to promote low carbon lifestyles and enhanced perceived quality of life among Sinhala-speaking private sector employees in Western province, Sri Lanka: A Randomized Controlled Trial


Disease or Health Condition(s) Studied

Occupational stress and perceived quality of life


Scientific Acronym

None


Public Acronym

None


Brief title

None


Universal Trial Number

U1111-1281-8135


Any other number(s) assigned to the trial and issuing authority

EC-22-038


Trial Details


What is the research question being addressed?

How does a meditation combined awareness programme effect on pro-environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviours, perceived quality of life and potential occupational stress of private sector employees in Western province of Sri Lanka?


Type of study

Interventional


Study design

Allocation

Randomized controlled trial


Masking

Masking not used


Control

Standard therapy/practice


Assignment

Other


Purpose

Other


Study Phase

Not Applicable


Intervention(s) planned

Study setting: Onsite training will be conducted at the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Individuals who intend to participate in this study will be invited through a paper and web-based advertisement. The advertisement will be disseminated among employees through newspapers, social media and personal contacts. Randomization: Selected participants for the study (i.e. private sector employees in the Western province of Sri Lanka who are newbies to meditation and who have potentials for chronic occupational stress) will be divided into two groups: treatment and non-treatment group (wait-listed control group) randomly (i.e. block randomization with 1:1 allocation ratio, 4 blocks) using an online automatic random number generator (link to random number generator: https://www.randomizer.org/ ). Intervention: The protocol of the intervention will include meditation combined awareness creation programme on climate change mitigation and connectedness to nature, which will be carried out for consecutive 4 weeks (1 day per week). Participants will be guided by experienced meditation trainers for 3 and 1/2 hours in-class time per week during 3 consecutive weeks and 4 and half hours in-class time for the last week. After the meditation training in each week, the awareness component of the intervention will be conducted for 60 minutes by the PI of the current study. Further, all the members of the treatment group will be asked to practice sitting meditation elsewhere at least 30 minutes per day. This will be monitored through a self-maintained pocket journal on meditation experience they gained during each daily session.


Inclusion criteria

  1. Male and Female adults who are between 18 and 60 years in age
  2. Be able to read, write and speak Sinhala
  3. Individuals who have completed at least secondary education (Advanced level passed)
  4. Individuals who are employed in private or public sectors
  5. Employees who reside within the administrative boundaries of Western province
  6. Individuals who work at least for 8 hours per day (working days should not be less than 4 days and greater than 6 days)
  7. Individuals who have not regularly practiced meditation or yoga for at least for 5 years preceding the date of recruitment (based on individual’s self-reporting)
  8. Individuals who have scored greater than 1 for the Effort–Reward Imbalance (ERI) ratio and higher mean score (> 13.75) for the overcommitment scale 9. Individuals who scored below 26 for the Montreal-Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
  9. The distance between the working place and residence should be in between 15 km – 25 km
  10. Individuals who have access to both natural and artificial fuel sources
  11. Individuals who have access to both organic and non-organic food sources
  12. Individuals who have access to both in-situ and ex-situ solid disposal methods
  13. Individuals who are willing to complete study-specific tasks
  14. Individuals who have access to the internet and emailing facility
  15. Individuals who have no substantial continuous prior training in yoga, meditation or mindfulness (novices) but are willing to practice meditation/any relaxation technique

Exclusion criteria

  1. Physically disabled individuals
  2. Cognitively impaired individuals (based on individual’s self-reporting)
  3. Individuals who take medicine for mental disorders/conditions and long-term chronic diseases/conditions
  4. Individuals who have prior in-depth knowledge in climate change and environmental psychology (i.e. graduates in environmental science and environmental management)
  5. Residents in housing complexes/ apartments/ and boarding places
  6. Individuals who have joined environmental awareness programme at the point of recruitment


Primary outcome(s)

1.

Improvement in employees’ implicit connection with nature

The outcome will be assessed using a computer-based self-administered cognitive assessment: Implicit Association with Nature (IAN).

[

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline (prior to the commencement of intervention), 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline.

]
2.

Improvement in explicit connection with nature

The outcome will be assessed using a Sinhala version of the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS-Sin) which was validated to a Sinhala-speaking context as a part of this PhD work

[

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline (prior to the commencement of intervention), 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline.

]
3.

Reduction in per capita carbon footprint associated with food and beverage consumption

The outcome will be assessed using self-reported Carbon emissions data i.e. data collection sheets were piloted under the PhD work

[

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline (prior to the commencement of intervention), 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline.

]
4.

Reduction in per capita carbon footprint associated with energy consumption at residence

The outcome will be assessed using self-reported Carbon emissions data i.e. data collection sheets were piloted under the PhD work

[

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline (prior to the commencement of intervention), 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline.

]
5.

Reduction in per capita carbon footprint associated with travel behaviour

The outcome will be assessed using self-reported Carbon emissions data i.e. data collection sheets were piloted under the PhD work

[

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline (prior to the commencement of intervention), 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline.

]
6.

Reduction in per capita carbon footprint associated with solid waste disposal at residence

The outcome will be assessed using self-reported Carbon emissions data i.e. data collection sheets were piloted under the PhD work

[

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline (prior to the commencement of intervention), 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline.

]
7.

Improvement in employees’ perceived quality of life associated with physical health, psychology, social relationships and environment

The outcome will be measured through a Sinhala version of WHO-QoL BREF which was validated to Sinhala speaking context

[

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline (prior to the commencement of intervention), 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline.

]
8.

Reduction of employees’ potential occupational stress due to effort-reward imbalance and overcommitment at work

The outcome will be assessed Effort Reward Imbalance Questionnaire (ERI-Q), a validated questionnaire to a Sinhala speaking context

[

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline (prior to the commencement of intervention), 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline.

]

Secondary outcome(s)

1.

Improvement in trait mindfulness

The outcome will be measured using a Sinhala version of Five Facet Mindfulness scale which was translated and judgmentally validated by a member of the AHEAD 81-research team

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline, 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline

[

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline (prior to the commencement of intervention), 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline.

]
2.

Associations between meditation experience, trait mindfulness and green life i.e. connectedness to nature, per capita carbon footprint.

The aforementioned validated tests under the primary outcomes will be used in measuring variables under this outcome

[

The outcome will be measured at 3-time points: baseline (prior to the commencement of intervention), 2 months after the baseline and 5 months after the baseline.

]

Target number/sample size

88 (44 in each group)


Countries of recruitment

Sri Lanka


Anticipated start date

2022-12-15


Anticipated end date

2023-06-30


Date of first enrollment


Date of study completion


Recruitment status

Pending


Funding source

World Bank - AHEAD


Regulatory approvals

N/A



State of Ethics Review Approval


Status

Approved


Date of Approval

2022-07-21


Approval number

EC-22-038


Details of Ethics Review Committee

Name: Ethics Review Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo
Institutional Address:Ethics Review Committee Faculty of Medicine University of Colombo P O Box 271, Kynsey Road, Colombo 8, Sri Lanka
Telephone:+94-11-2695300 ext 240
Email: ethicscommitteemfc@gmail.com

Contact & Sponsor Information


Contact person for Scientific Queries/Principal Investigator

Sanduni K. Somarathne
Research Assistant
Research Promotion Facilitation Center (RPFC) Faculty of Medicine, No 25, Kinsey Road, Colombo 08, Sri Lanka.



sksomarathne@stu.cmb.ac.lk, sandunikanchana92@gmail.com

Contact Person for Public Queries

Erandathie Lokupitiya,
Professor
Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences, University of Colombo, PO Box 1490, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka.
+94 112503399
+94 715990452

erandi@sci.cmb.ac.lk


Primary study sponsor/organization

World Bank- AHEAD operations

79/1, 5th Lane, Colombo 03



Secondary study sponsor (If any)







Trial Completion details


Do the investigators plan to share identified individual clinical trial participant-level data (IPD)?

Yes


IPD sharing plan description

Individual participant data that underlie the results being reported will be shared after de-identification (text, tables, figures and appendices). The study protocol will also be shared. Data will be available beginning 3 months and ending 5 years following article publication. Data will be shared with investigators whose proposed use of the data has been approved by an independent review committee identified for this purpose, including for individual participant data meta-analysis. Proposals should be directed to sandunikanchana92@gmail.com. To gain access, data requesters will need to sign a data access agreement.


Study protocol available

No


Protocol version and date

Not Available


Protocol URL

Not Available


Results summary available

No


Date of posting results


Date of study completion


Final sample size


Date of first publication


Link to results


Brief summary of results