Development and evaluation of an intervention designed to increase the prioritisation of health by professionals working in the private sector of urban development: study protocol

The built environment is known to have a significant influence on population and planetary health, including the incidence of non-communicable disease, but evidence suggests that professionals in the land and development industries struggle to prioritise health and health equity when making urban development decisions amidst challenging structures and competing priorities. The aim of this study is to use a mixed-methods approach to develop, deliver, optimise, and evaluate an intervention for professionals working in the private sector of urban development to increase their intention to act on health and health equity where possible. This protocol describes four planned research activities that constitute this intervention’s development, delivery, and evaluation: 1) Intervention development using an iterative co-production process with non-academic industry partners using the Person-Based Approach and following Medical Research Council guidelines on the development of complex interventions; 2) Development of survey questions to assess intervention effectiveness; 3) Delivery and mixed-methods longitudinal evaluation of the intervention; and 4) Evaluation of the impact of co-production and delivery of the intervention with the project’s industry partners.