L33 - Workplace, Urban & Green Exercise Initaitves

• US Occupation Related PA Trends

  (1960-2006):

  • 1960 almost half jobs required moderate PA (active jobs)
  • Now less than 20%
  • Downward trajectory in jobs that require more PA
  • Light jobs have increased significantly over time
  • Massive decline in jobs with moderate level of PA
  • Occupation PA gone down
• US Occupation Related PA Trends (1960-2006):

  • Mean daily EE has dropped more than 100 calories
  • Estimate occupational PA dropped
  • Reduction in work related PA has major contribution to obesity pandemic
• Rationale - on top of physiological, psychological benefits of PA (why work related PA important):

  • Employee engagement
  • Allows for comprehensive holistic approach
  • Programmes can be aligned with organisation goals
  • Offers an inclusive approach to health promotion
  • Social responsibility
  • Ease of access
  • By having PA already where you are, saves time
  • Amount of time spent at work
  • Changing work profile
  • Existing infrastructure in workplace - to offer relatively low cost interventions
  • Vested interest of employers/workplace
• Employer benefits (additional):

  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Increased performance & productivity (decrease presenteeism)
  • Decreased sickness absence
  • Decreased accidents & injury
  • Decreased prevalence of chronic disease
  • Increased employee engagement
  • Increase staff retention & recruitment
  • Heavier at work less incline to go somewhere else
  • Positive workplace culture
  • Improved corporate image
  • Financial benefits
• Financial Benefits for Employers:

  • Decrease in health care costs
  • Decrease in costs relating to absenteeism & presenteeism
  • Increase in return on investment
  • From increased productivity (ie increased innovation or efficiency) or cost savings (ie reduced workplace accidents, greater staff retention)
  • Economic return on investment for various workplace health promotion programmes ranged from $1.50 USD to $5.96 USD saved for every $1 USD spent
  • Massive financial benefit from employer perspective
• Benefits to Employees:

  • Health benefits
  • Physical wellbeing & clinical health improvements such as reduced cholesterol, reduced risk of chronic disease, reduced incidence of musculoskeletal disorders
  • Increased mental wellbeing, energy & resilience, reduced stress & depression, & increased quality of life
  • Financial benefits
  • eg if workplace offering don’t need to seek it elsewhere (eg gym)
  • Improved job satisfaction
• Workplace Strategies for Preventing Chronic Disease:

  1. Leadership
  2. Culture
  3. People
  4. Process
• Workplace Strategies for Preventing Chronic Disease:

  • Leadership
  • Promote active leadership of senior management in wellness initiatives
  • Culture
  • Align wellness goals with business strategy
  • Create a supportive environment & culture focused on wellness
• Workplace Strategies for Preventing Chronic Disease:

  • People
  • Target interventions based on unique characteristics of employee population
  • eg time of day that work
  • Offer incentives to encourage participation & better outcomes
  • Use targeted & ongoing mass communication
  • Everyone involved & aware of what's going on (informed)
  • Educating employees about benefits of PA
  • Providing access to safe spaces for activity
• Workplace Strategies for Preventing Chronic Disease:

  • Process
  • Collaborate with external parties through public-private partnerships
  • Establish evaluation & monitoring programmes to measure change, outcomes & financial impact
  • To show how effective to get more involved
• Examples of Workplace Wellness Activities:

  • Active/green commute
  • Exercise facility & exercise breaks
  • Diet groups or counselling
  • Healthy food options
  • Classes: relaxation, dance etc
  • Walking initiatives
  • Health assessment & advice
  • Can be a good incentive
  • Subsidised sports team participation
  • Standing workstations
  • Treadmill desk
  • Onsite gym facilities
  • Walking challenges (eg use pedometers, stair usage)
  • Encourage standing while talking on the phone
  • Centralising office resources
  • Walking meetings/Exercise breaks
  • Facilities (bike storage, showers, lockers)
• Treadmill Desk

  • Expends an extra 100 calories an hour even if super slow walking
• Sit Less, Move More - Workplace resources:

  • Workplace resources
  • Stair challenge: competition who can climb Aoraki first by taking stairs instead of lift
• Successful workplace health promotion programme implementation:

  • Fostering networks & partnerships
  • Using a variety of communication/education strategies
  • People learn differently
  • Including environmental support/modifications
  • Including the use of incentives & rewards
  • Having strong management support
• Natural Environments:

  • Described as green/blue spaces, or conservation
  • Built = in urban parks
  • Green/blue = different levels
• The Great Outdoors:

  • When talking about green &/or blue environments
  • Role of environment to become more healthier & how we have to take care of it
  • Natural environment = good for health
  • Improved health outcomes & amount of time people spend in a natural environment
• Declining PA levels:

  • Increase in physical inactivity
  • ⅓ physically inactive
  • Use of natural environments for PA as has additional benefits
• Green Exercise:

  • Nature provides an environment that doesn’t require our direct attention
  • Decrease mental fatigue
  • Live in increasing busy world
  • No direct attention gives relaxing feel
  • Increase in outdoor recreational activities
  • Exercising outdoors appears to be more beneficial to mental health
  • Natural environments have a greater impact on psychological health especially when exercise is incorporated
  • Also evidence on improving other factors such as physiological etc
  • Innate affiliation with nature (from hunter gatherers) - build in us
• Benefits of Green Exercise:

  • Mental Health & Wellbeing
  • Improvements in mood
  • Reduced tension, anger & aggression
  • Better recovery from mental fatigue
  • Improved self esteem
  • Stress relief
• Benefits of Green Exercise:

  • Physical Health & Wellbeing
  • Post exercise BP (decreases)
  • Hypotension is better when be performed in green environment
  • Increase human immune function
  • Increase natural killer cell activity
  • Increases in concentrations of the hormones protective against heart disease, obesity & diabetes
  • A greater average reduction in blood sugar level
• Motivation, perception of effort & behaviour change:

  1. Green exercise is perceived as a motivator
  2. Exercise may feel easier performed in natural environments
  3. Self selected intensity is higher & perceived as less effort
  4. Green spaces work positively on behavioural change
• Urbanisation:

  • Means that share of total population is increasing
  • In 2020 NZ - 86% still live in urban cities/areas
  • Most live in urban space so got to consider this
• 
  

  Accessibility:

  • Quality & usability of green space are as important as accessibility
  • No one will go if not accessible, such as parking available, bike lane/path to get there
  • Design urban areas so that they more effectively provide, integrate with, or support ecosystem services
  • Urban park use indicate that most users want to come by food, & will only do so on a regular basis if the park is within 3 to 5 minutes walk of their home or workplace
• Accessibility:

  • Urban has flow on neg effects on PA & ecosystems, redesign urban areas so can be used more effectively
  • Reduce pressure
  • Healthier ecosystems are more readily used
  • More planned out so people can compete in PA easily
  • Can be provided by having footpaths, bike lanes
  • Redesign so is PA friendly
  • Urban resident prefer to live close to an urban park/green environment
• Neighbourhood:

  • Community within a larger city, town or other geographic area that have geographical dimension that is integrated with socio-cultural aspects
  • PA in neighbourhoods has the potential to enhance individual & communal wellbeing & bring benefits to local neighbourhoods by enhancing social capital
• PA emerging from architecture & urban areas:

  • Skateboarding, parkour, roller-blading
  • Known that children more active in their neighbourhoods than sports, school & home
• Neighbourhood:

  • Immediate environment so important
  • So look at initiatives within a neighbourhood
  • Social communities where people come together & interact & have mutual benefit for people & community
  • Therefore stimulate social interactions to put PA initiatives
  • Neighbourhood natural setting shaped by built environment
  • Benefits of getting community together (while doing PA)
• PA in the neighbourhood:

  • Familiar place
  • Social engagement → social capital
  • Social capital: internal social & cultural coherence of society, the norms & values that govern interactions among people & the institutions in which they’re embedded
  • Root in neighbourhood thru social networks
  • Get comfortable in places we go often
  • That feeling of comfort in familiar places in-licit positive effect
• Barriers in neighbourhoods:

  • Fear
  • esp if live in unsafe area
  • Poor urban design
  • Can be overcome by community PA initiatives