Title: Stair Use: A workplace intervention to promote physical activity
1Stair Use A workplace intervention to promote
physical activity Dr Holly Blake
Lecturer/Chartered Health Psychologist School of
Nursing, University of Nottingham On behalf of
the Q-Active Project Team
A Q-Active Study
2Overview
- The Q-Active Team
- What is Q-Active?
- How does the stair use study fit in?
- How will this initiative be scientifically
evaluated?
3The Q-Active Team
-
- An alliance between QMC, Sport England and the
University of Nottingham - Dr Sandra Lee, Active Workforce Project Manager,
QMC - Prof Mark Batt, Centre for Sports Medicine, QMC
- Mrs Pauline Hodgson, Human Resources, QMC
- Ms Isobel Schofield, Finance Department, QMC
- Mrs Ilana Freestone, Sport England
- Dr Holly Blake, School of Nursing, University of
Nottingham
4The Q-Active Project
- Primary aim
- To change the health culture of QMC to encourage
increased physical activity and healthy
behaviours amongst staff - Secondary aims
- To produce a cost-saving to QMC in terms of
- reduced lost days due to sickness absences
- Increased productivity
- To improve staff physical health, psychological
wellbeing and job satisfaction - To improve the perception of the organisation in
the local community and amongst staff
5How will we achieve this?
- To improve current staff physical activity
facilities - and provide more opportunities to be physically
active at work - To significantly increase physical activity
levels of QMC staff - To improve the nutrition facilities for QMC staff
- To significantly improve nutritional intake of
staff whilst at work - To provide facilities for staff to unwind,
socially interact, take breaks and to enhance
their psychological wellbeing at work - To reduce stress/improve wellbeing in QMC staff
- To develop Trust health policies
- To affect the health culture of QMC management
6Providing opportunities to be physically active
- Stair Use A workplace intervention to promote
physical activity - The goal of this intervention is
- to make taking the stairs the norm and not the
exception by presenting stair climbing in a new
way - To meet the objectives of the Q-Active project in
providing an ecological environmental
intervention to increase physical activity and
change the health culture of staff at QMC
7Why be more physically active?
- Physiological benefits of exercise
- can favourably alter important cardiovascular
risk factors in previously sedentary individuals - (Boreham et al, 2005)
- increases in daily energy requirements
- (Bunyard et al., 1998)
- reductions in body fat
- (Bunyard et al., 1998 Cox et al., 2001)
- decreased resting heart rate
- (Cox et al., 2001 Kobayashi et al, 2001)
- increased flexibility
- (Adams, 2001)
- reduced blood pressure
- (Cox et al., 2001 Moreau et al., 2001).
- helps to control changes associated with midlife
and menopause - including depression, weight gain, loss of muscle
mass and bone density and risk of heart disease - (McAuley Rudolph, 1995 Shangold Sherman,
1998).
8Why be more physically active?
- Psychosocial benefits of exercise
- increased self-efficacy towards exercise
- (Adams, 2001 McAuley et al, 1995)
- reduced physique anxiety
- (McAuley et al., 1995 Sorensen et al, 1997)
- decreased symptoms of depression
- (Moore et al., 1999)
- positively influence quality of life
- (Shepherd, 1995)
- Improved social well-being
- (Biddle and Mutrie, 2001).
9Why the stairs?
- BENEFITS TO EMPLOYEES
- Activities like stair climbing can significantly
contribute to the 30 minutes of physical activity
we all need everyday, plus - Stair climbing is easy to do in most workplaces
- Moderate intensity lifestyle activities like
taking the stairs may be more successfully
promoted than structured vigorous intensity
exercise
10More benefits to employees
- Cardiovascular disease and death lower amongst
regular stair users - Two flights of stairs climbed per day can lead to
2.7 kg weight loss over one year and using the
stairs burns twice as many calories as walking - Taking the stairs is often the quickest way to a
destination especially at peak times
11Benefits to the EmployerQMC NHS Trust
- People spend more than one-half of their waking
lives at work. - In order to stay healthy we need to find ways to
incorporate physical activity into our workday - Active employees are healthier and more
productive employees - Physical activities like stair climbing are a
great way for employee to cope with job-related
stress.
12More benefits to the employer
- Economically viable
- Stair climbing is less costly and more accessible
than other employee wellness programs - Effective
- Stair climbing interventions typically result in
a 6-15 increase in stair use - Results
- Workplaces which implement stairway physical
activity programs report improved employee
relations, camaraderie and teamwork.
13Furthermore
- No health inequalities
- Using the stairs requires no special skill,
equipment or clothing - Good for the environment!
- Stair climbing is a 'green' activity, the only
energy source used is what is stored in our
bodies.... good for you and the environment!
14Stair use as incidental activity
- focus is now upon the accumulation of physical
activity during the course of a day - (Jakicic and Wing, 1995).
- Accumulating activity in this way may result in
attaining the adequate level of energy
expenditure across the course of a day - (Dunn et al, 1998).
- focusing on incidental activities may help to
target less active individuals. - Incidental activities such as stair climbing and
walking are easy ways to increase activity levels
by accumulating activity throughout the day
15Research Design Scientific Evaluation
- a mixed-methods study incorporating
- an observational study with a time-series design
- a questionnaire study of self-reported stair use
- a qualitative study using staff focus groups
- Data will be collected at baseline, intervention
and follow-up
16Setting
- Queens Medical Centre NHS Trust (QMC)
- Participants all QMC Trust employees
- Observational data will be collected on staff and
members of the general public (incl.
patients/visitors) during each phase of the
study. - Self-report questionnaire data will be collected
from staff working on floors C-F of the Queens
Medical Centre building. - Focus groups will be run with a representative
group of staff working on various floors at QMC
from various occupational backgrounds
17Intervention
- The environmental intervention will consist of
appropriately placed signs (point of decision
prompts) conveying health messages - eg step up to better health
- possible Q-Active button at lifts
18Phases of study
- Following a two-week set-up period, data
collection will occur in phases as below - Baseline (weeks 3-4) Two weeks
- Intervention 1st phase (weeks 5-6) Two weeks
- No intervention control phase one (weeks 7-8)
Two weeks - Intervention 2nd phase (weeks 9-10) Two weeks
- No intervention control phase two (weeks 11-12)
Two weeks
19Procedures
- Observational Measures
- Counts of stair use during a 24-hr period on each
day during each phase of the study - Using thermal camera proximity sensors which will
assess direction of stair walking in a
non-obtrusive and accurate way - Questionnaire data
- Self-report questionnaire about stair use will be
sent to staff working on floors C-F at baseline
(week 3) and following first phase intervention
(week 6) - This data will allow us to further determine
stair use amongst staff (as QMC is a public
building and so observation will include many
non-staff individuals).
20Procedures
- Focus Groups
- Staff focus groups will be run at baseline
(during week 3-4) to explore existing staff
attitudes towards physical activity and stair
climbing as a method of increasing physical
activity. - We can determine from this
- How active are staff at QMC already?
- Do they most frequently use stairs or lifts?
- At the second phase of focus groups (during week
13-14) we will be able to determine - How active are staff at QMC following
intervention? - Do they now most frequently use stairs or lifts?
- How effective/influential did they find the
prompts?
21A great plan! And scientifically valid
- The proposed study is one of a number of
evaluations that are planned for Q-Active - It will be the first mixed-methods study of its
kind with the potential for long term follow-up - It is vital that this important study is
scientifically evaluated in order to provide firm
evidence to influence policy and practice - Results will contribute to Trust policy on
physical activity and health
22Summary
- We need to increase physical activity in the
population for a variety of health reasons - The workplace is a good setting to target large
numbers - Healthcare settings need to set the example for
workplace interventions for health - By increasing stair use at QMC (added to other
Q-Active interventions) we aim to do this - We need immediate funding! Any ideas?