Development of the Whole Day Matters Toolkit for Primary Care: a consensus-building study to mobilize national public health guidelines in practice

IntroductionStrategic knowledge mobilization efforts are needed to enhance uptake and use of the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines (24HMG), which describe optimal amounts of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep each day for overall health. The Whole Day Matters Toolkit for Primary Care is an evidence-informed resource to help primary care providers (PCPs) disseminate the 24HMGs. The purpose of this study was to describe gaining consensus on toolkit components through iterative revisions to improve its utility in preparation for the September 2022 launch, and to summarize early dissemination efforts. MethodsA multidisciplinary expert working group planned three modified Delphi surveys to assess PCPs’ level of agreement with toolkit components on 7-point Likert scales with follow-up prompts for ratings of 4 or less. Consensus was defined a priori as a mean of 6 or higher out of 7 and 60% or more of PCPs selecting at least “somewhat agree.” Items on which consensus was reached were removed from subsequent surveys unless they were revised. ResultsTwenty PCPs completed surveys 1 and 2; 15 completed survey 3. Consensus was reached on 5% (4/83), 17% (14/83) and 55% (38/69) of the items in surveys 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The number of qualitative comments decreased from 26 to 19 to 12, further indicating increasing consensus. ConclusionItems on which consensus was not gained may reflect differences in provider characteristics or settings. A coproduced dissemination strategy was enacted. Toolkit reach was evaluated at launch and 4 months later.