Trial Review

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Trial registered on ANZCTR


Registration number
Help: Registration number
ACTRN12626000767303
Ethics application status
Help: Ethics application status
Approved
Date submitted
Help: Date submitted
5/06/2026
Date registered
Help: Date registered
26/06/2026
Date last updated
Help: Date last updated
17/08/2026
Date data sharing statement initially provided
Help: Data sharing statement date
26/06/2026
Type of registration
Help: Type of registration
Prospectively registered

Titles & IDs
Public title
Bringing Healthy Meals Home: A shared-meals intervention for wellbeing and healthy eating in nurses
Scientific title
Bringing Healthy Meals Home: A shared-meals intervention for wellbeing and healthy eating in nurses
Additional trial identifiers [1] 317504 0
nil
Universal Trial Number (UTN)
Trial acronym
Related trial records

Health condition
Health condition(s) studied:
burnout 342234 0
poor dietary intake 342235 0
wellbeing 342236 0
Condition category
Condition code
Public Health 338354 338354 0 0
Health promotion/education
Diet and Nutrition 338697 338697 0 0
Other diet and nutrition disorders

Intervention/exposure
Study type
Interventional
Description of the intervention or exposure
Description of the Intervention
The intervention will enable staff to share meals in socially positive ways through the provision of family-size meal kits (for 4 people), 3 times a week, for 6 weeks at no cost. Meal kits will include recipes and ingredient to prepare 3 meals per week, for 4 people. Meals generally include a protein, starch, and at least 2 vegetables. Participants are asked to prepare the meals as indicated and to share the meals as it suits them. Participants are also asked to complete short weekly surveys that assess what meals have been prepared and shared.
Intervention code [1] 334295 0
Lifestyle
Intervention code [2] 334379 0
Behaviour
Description of the comparator or control
Description of the Active Control
An active control (grocery vouchers) was selected to account for the potential influence of financial support for food purchasing, while withholding the support for the shared meal and social components of the intervention. This design allows for a more specific assessment of whether the support for the shared-meals has additional benefit over those attributable to reducing food costs alone.
The grocery voucher amount was set to approximate the average value of food ingredients provided in the meal kits per week. Based on recipes used in the feasibility trial, this is estimated to be $100 per week. Participants in the active control can use these vouchers for groceries in whatever way best suits their household. They will not be asked to change how they eat, what they eat or who they eat with during the study.
Participants in the active control will collect their vouchers in-person, weekly. This approach was chosen to maintain regular contact with participants and support retention, while keeping researcher interaction brief and standardized to avoid offering additional support.
Control group
Active

Outcomes
Primary outcome [1] 345673 0
Burnout
Timepoint [1] 345673 0
Baseline, 1 week following intervention completion
Secondary outcome [1] 462805 0
overall health
Timepoint [1] 462805 0
baseline, 1 week following intervention completion
Secondary outcome [2] 462806 0
wellbeing
Timepoint [2] 462806 0
baseline, 1 week following intervention completion
Secondary outcome [3] 462807 0
diet quality
Timepoint [3] 462807 0
baseline, 1 week following intervention completion

Eligibility
Key inclusion criteria
Nurses (including midwives) employed at Mater South Brisbane are eligible to participate in the study.
Minimum age
18 Years
Maximum age
No limit
Sex
Both males and females
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Key exclusion criteria
Participants will be excluded if:
1. they have any allergies or dietary requirements in their household that cannot be feasibly accommodated by the intervention
2. they already share meals with others on 4 or more days each week
3. they do not intend to remain employed at Mater for the duration of the study
4. do not work on-site, in a nursing role, at least 4 days per week
5. Live alone. The size of the meal kits cannot be tailored to individuals for the current study. During our feasibility study we found that participants living alone felt the amount of food to be prepared overwhelming and the expectation to share meals so frequently impractical.

Study design
Purpose of the study
Prevention
Allocation to intervention
Randomised controlled trial
Procedure for enrolling a subject and allocating the treatment (allocation concealment procedures)
Allocation will be concealed using sequentially numbered, opaque, sealed envelopes prepared from a computer-generated randomisation sequence by a researcher not involved in participant recruitment or baseline assessment. Envelopes will be opened only after participant enrolment, assignment of study ID, and completion of baseline measures.
Methods used to generate the sequence in which subjects will be randomised (sequence generation)
computer-generated randomisation sequence
Masking / blinding
Who is / are masked / blinded?



Intervention assignment
Parallel
Other design features
Phase
Not Applicable
Type of endpoint/s
Statistical methods / analysis

Recruitment
Recruitment status
Not yet recruiting
Date of first participant enrolment
Anticipated
18/08/2026
Actual
Date of last participant enrolment
Anticipated
28/12/2026
Actual
Date of last data collection
Anticipated
8/02/2027
Actual
Sample size
Target
88
Accrual to date
Final
Recruitment in Australia
Recruitment state(s)
QLD

Funding & Sponsors
Funding source category [1] 322072 0
Hospital
Name [1] 322072 0
Mater Misericordia
Country [1] 322072 0
Australia
Primary sponsor type
Other
Name
Mater Research
Address
Country
Australia
Secondary sponsor category [1] 325152 0
None
Name [1] 325152 0
Address [1] 325152 0
Country [1] 325152 0

Ethics approval
Ethics application status
Approved
Ethics committee name [1] 320601 0
Mater Misericordiae Ltd Human Research Ethics Committee
Ethics committee address [1] 320601 0
Ethics committee country [1] 320601 0
Australia
Date submitted for ethics approval [1] 320601 0
01/05/2026
Approval date [1] 320601 0
07/07/2026
Ethics approval number [1] 320601 0

Summary
Brief summary
Trial website
Trial related presentations / publications
Public notes

Contacts
Principal investigator
Name 151018 0
A/Prof Jennifer Utter
Address 151018 0
Mater Dietetics, Raymond Terrace, South Brisbane 4101, Queenland
Country 151018 0
Australia
Phone 151018 0
+61 731631638
Fax 151018 0
Email 151018 0
[email protected]
Contact person for public queries
Name 151019 0
Jennifer Utter
Address 151019 0
Mater Dietetics, Raymond Terrace, South Brisbane 4101, Queenland
Country 151019 0
Australia
Phone 151019 0
+61 731631638
Fax 151019 0
Email 151019 0
[email protected]
Contact person for scientific queries
Name 151020 0
Jennifer Utter
Address 151020 0
Mater Dietetics, Raymond Terrace, South Brisbane 4101, Queenland
Country 151020 0
Australia
Phone 151020 0
+61 731631638
Fax 151020 0
Email 151020 0
[email protected]

Data sharing statement
Will the study consider sharing individual participant data?
No


What supporting documents are/will be available?

No Supporting Document Provided


Results publications and other study-related documents

Documents added manually
No documents have been uploaded by study researchers.

Documents added automatically
No additional documents have been identified.