Scale-up of the Internet-based Professional Learning to help teachers promote Activity in Youth (iPLAY) intervention: a hybrid type 3 implementation-effectiveness trial

BACKGROUND: Whole-of-school programs have demonstrated success in improving student physical activity levels, but few have progressed beyond efficacy testing to implementation at-scale. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the scale-up of the ‘Internet-based Professional Learning to help teachers promote Activity in Youth’ (iPLAY) intervention in primary schools using the RE-AIM framework. METHODS: We conducted a type 3 hybrid implementation-effectiveness study and collected data between April 2016 and June 2021, in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. RE-AIM was operationalised as: (i) Reach: Number and representativeness of students exposed to iPLAY; (ii) Effectiveness: Impact of iPLAY in a sub-sample of students (n = 5,959); (iii) Adoption: Number and representativeness of schools that received iPLAY; (iv) Implementation: Extent to which the three curricular and three non-curricular components of iPLAY were delivered as intended; (v) Maintenance: Extent to which iPLAY was sustained in schools. We conducted 43 semi-structured interviews with teachers (n = 14), leaders (n = 19), and principals (n = 10) from 18 schools (11 from urban and 7 from rural locations) to determine program maintenance. RESULTS: Reach: iPLAY reached ~ 31,000 students from a variety of socio-economic strata (35% of students were in the bottom quartile, almost half in the middle two quartiles, and 20% in the top quartile). Effectiveness: We observed small positive intervention effects for enjoyment of PE/sport (0.12 units, 95% CI: 0.05 to 0.20, d = 0.17), perceptions of need support from teachers (0.26 units, 95% CI: 0.16 to 0.53, d = 0.40), physical activity participation (0.28 units, 95% CI: 0.10 to 0.47, d = 0.14), and subjective well-being (0.82 units, 95% CI: 0.32 to 1.32, d = 0.12) at 24-months. Adoption: 115 schools received iPLAY. Implementation: Most schools implemented the curricular (59%) and non-curricular (55%) strategies as intended. Maintenance: Based on our qualitative data, changes in teacher practices and school culture resulting from iPLAY were sustained. CONCLUSIONS: iPLAY had extensive reach and adoption in NSW primary schools. Most of the schools implemented iPLAY as intended and effectiveness data suggest the positive effects observed in our cluster RCT were sustained when the intervention was delivered at-scale. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ACTRN12621001132831. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12966-022-01371-4.