8 Week Challenge

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8 Week Challenge

• Deb Saunders
• Health Development Manager
• Public Health Department
• Warwickshire PCT

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8 Week Challenge Rationale

• Response to Government White Paper Choosing
  Health, Making Health Choices Easier
• Need to ensure NHS workforce has access to
  correct and current information
• Raise awareness of health and lifestyle issues
  internally
• Aiming to be an exemplar employer

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Starting point

• Develop a series of health challenges that could
  be undertaken in the workplace
• The challenges need no special equipment or
  knowledge
• Flexible enough to be delivered by anyone in any
  workplace
• Pilot in Warwickshire PCT with a small part of
  the workforce

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What Actually Happened

• Staff Support became involved suggested a wider
  scheme
• NHS Choices were looking for schemes in Coventry
  and Warwickshire that promoted health in the
  workplace
• The scheme became PCT wide which meant making
  adjustments

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Evolution

• Changed from being a small pilot and became a
  large project!
• NHS Choices designed a logo and sponsored goody
  bags, pedometers and water bottles
• I went grey overnight

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Themes for the Challenge

• Healthy eating
• Physical activity
• Mental health and wellbeing

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8 Week Challenge Format

• Each week had a theme
• Weekly focus on an aspect of that theme
• In week two we asked participants to eat one more
  portion of fruit or vegetables than they would
  normally and we had a smoothie bike making fruit
  smoothies at lunchtime

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A Step into the Unknown

• We had the themes
• We had the format
• We had the sponsor
• AND
• No way of knowing how many people would sign up
• No way of delivering all of the activities across
  the county

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How did we fix it?

• Two tier approach
• County wide, using the intranet - open to all
• More focussed activities on one site in addition
  to the web based materials
• All staff registering for the challenge received
  a pack (multi media approach)

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Virtual Walk

• Challenge to walk around Warwickshire virtually!
• Engaged staff across the county in physical
  activity
• Team based activity (with some very imaginative
  names, e.g. drug runners for pharmacists, bean
  counters for finance, etc.)

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Getting Warwickshire Walking

• Pedometers essential, thank you NHS Choices!
  (more of this in lessons learnt)
• Steps had to be taken in work time to count
• Counted by team leader at the end of each week
• Entered onto the website
• Translated into miles virtually walked
• Progress marked on map of Warwickshire

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8 Week Challenge on the Web

• Updated each week
• NHS Choices information
• Useful links
• Chat rooms
• Blog pages

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8 Week Challenge on the Ground

• Weekly fruit baskets provided by Snitterfield
  Fruit Farm
• Themed display and leaflets
• Weekly health walks highlight was the walk
  around Warwick Castle, 50 people attended
• Activities including belly dancing card making

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Lessons Learnt

• Invest in good quality pedometers
• Do a small pilot first
• Only give out goody bags in exchange for
  completed questionnaires!
• Have an accurate estimate of how many people will
  take part
• Know when to stop having good ideas

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Results So Far

• Initial estimates of 50 participants in the one
  site challenge and 100 in the Warwickshire wide
  scheme
• Over 150 signed up for the one site challenge
• Over 250 signed up for the web based scheme
• Of the 500 packs produced, only 5 remain

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Feedback

• This is the best thing that has ever happened at
  this PCT
• I have got to know lots more people because of
  this challenge
• This challenge has really got me walking a lot
  more
• This challenge has improved my health as I have
  discovered I wasnt drinking enough water

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Contact Details

• Deb Saunders
• Health Development Manager
• 01926 493491 ex 460
• deb.saunders_at_warkpct.nhs.uk