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A multi-component intervention to sit less and move more in a contact centre setting: a feasibility study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Call agents spend ~?90% of their working day seated, which may negatively impact health, productivity, and wellbeing. This study aimed to explore the acceptability and feasibility of a multi-component workplace intervention targeting increased activity and decreased prolonged sitting in the contact centre setting prior to a full-scale effectiveness trial. METHODS:An 8-week non-randomised pre-post feasibility study was conducted. Using a mixed methods approach, focus groups and interviews were thematically analysed to explore the acceptability and feasibility of key study phases, and provide context to agents' process evaluation and survey responses. The multi-component intervention, conducted in a single call centre, included height-adjustable workstations, emails, education and training sessions, and support from team leaders and a workplace champion. RESULTS:Six (of 20) team leaders were recruited, with 17 of 84 call agents (78% female, 39.3?±?11.9?years) completing baseline assessments and 13 completing follow-up. High workload influenced recruitment. Call agents perceived assessments as acceptable, though strategies are needed to enhance fidelity. Education sessions, height-adjustable workstations and emails were perceived as the most effective components; however, height-adjustable hot-desks were not perceived as feasible in this setting. CONCLUSIONS:This study has identified unique, pragmatic considerations for conducting a multi-level, multi-component PA and SB intervention and associated evaluation in highly sedentary call agents in the challenging contact centre setting. The intervention was largely perceived positively, with call agents and team leaders describing numerous perceived positive effects on behavioural, health and work-related outcomes. Findings will be of value to researchers attempting to intervene in contact centres and will be used by the current authors to design a subsequent trial.

SUBMITTER: Morris AS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6416901 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A multi-component intervention to sit less and move more in a contact centre setting: a feasibility study.

Morris Abigail S AS Murphy Rebecca C RC Shepherd Sam O SO Healy Genevieve N GN Edwardson Charlotte L CL Graves Lee E F LEF

BMC public health 20190312 1

<h4>Background</h4>Call agents spend ~ 90% of their working day seated, which may negatively impact health, productivity, and wellbeing. This study aimed to explore the acceptability and feasibility of a multi-component workplace intervention targeting increased activity and decreased prolonged sitting in the contact centre setting prior to a full-scale effectiveness trial.<h4>Methods</h4>An 8-week non-randomised pre-post feasibility study was conducted. Using a mixed methods approach, focus gro ...[more]

PMID: 30866872

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Project description:Background:Many interventions designed to meet physical activity guideline recommendations focus on a single component (e.g., walking), to the detriment of other elements of a healthy lifestyle, such as reducing prolonged sitting and doing balance and strength exercises (i.e., bundled multiple behaviors). Adopting these multiple health behaviors within daily life routines may facilitate uptake and support longer-term behavior change. We tested feasibility for a three-part lifestyle intervention to support older women to sit less, move more, and complete balance and strength exercises. Methods:We used a convergent parallel mixed-methods, single-arm study design to test feasibility for a 6-week lifestyle intervention: Return to Everyday Activities in the Community and Home (REACH). We collected information at baseline, 3 and 6?weeks (final), and 6?months (follow-up) using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and performance-based measures. We describe three key elements: (1) implementation factors such as recruitment, retention, program delivery, and adherence; (2) participants' acceptability and experience with the program; and (3) health outcomes, including participants' global mobility, activity, and perceptions of their physical activity identity, and habit strength for (i) physical activity, (ii) breaking up sitting time, and (iii) balance and strength exercises. Results:We were able to recruit enough participants in the allotted time to conduct one cycle of the REACH group-based program. There were 10 community-dwelling women, median (p25, p75) age 61 (57.5, 71) years, who completed the study. The program was feasible to deliver, with high attendance (mean 5/6 sessions) and positive overall ratings (8/10). Participants rated session content and length high, and educational materials as highly acceptable and understandable. Although participants were active walkers at baseline, few were breaking up prolonged sitting or participating in any balance and strength exercises. At final and follow-up assessments, participants reported developing habits for all three health behaviors, without diminishing physical activity. Conclusion:These results show acceptability of the program and its materials, and feasibility for bundling multiple health behaviors within the REACH program. It also provides confirmation to advance to testing feasibility of this three-part lifestyle intervention with older, less active, adults. Trial registration:ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier, NCT02786394; May 18, 2016.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The web-based BeUpstanding Champion Toolkit was developed to support work teams in addressing the emergent work health and safety issue of excessive sitting. It provides a step-by-step guide and associated resources that equip a workplace representative-the champion-to adopt and deliver the 8-week intervention program (BeUpstanding) to their work team. The evidence-informed program is designed to raise awareness of the benefits of sitting less and moving more, build a supportive culture for change, and encourage staff to take action to achieve this change. Work teams collectively choose the strategies they want to implement and promote to stand up, sit less, and move more, with this bespoke and participative approach ensuring the strategies are aligned with the team's needs and existing culture. BeUpstanding has been iteratively developed and optimized through a multiphase process to ensure that it is fit for purpose for wide-scale implementation. OBJECTIVE:The study aimed to describe the current version of BeUpstanding, and the methods and protocol for a national implementation trial. METHODS:The trial will be conducted in collaboration with five Australian workplace health and safety policy and practice partners. Desk-based work teams from a variety of industries will be recruited from across Australia via partner-led referral pathways. Recruitment will target sectors (small business, rural or regional, call center, blue collar, and government) that are of priority to the policy and practice partners. A minimum of 50 work teams will be recruited per priority sector with a minimum of 10,000 employees exposed to the program. A single-arm, repeated-measures design will assess the short-term (end of program) and long-term (9 months postprogram) impacts. Data will be collected on the web via surveys and toolkit analytics and by the research team via telephone calls with champions. The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance Framework will guide the evaluation, with assessment of the adoption/reach of the program (the number and characteristics of work teams and participating staff), program implementation (completion by the champion of core program components), effectiveness (on workplace sitting, standing, and moving), and maintenance (sustainability of changes). There will be an economic evaluation of the costs and outcomes of scaling up to national implementation, including intervention affordability and sustainability. RESULTS:The study received funding in June 2018 and the original protocol was approved by institutional review board on January 9, 2017, with national implementation trial consent and protocol amendment approved March 12, 2019. The trial started on June 12, 2019, with 48 teams recruited as of December 2019. CONCLUSIONS:The implementation and multimethod evaluation of BeUpstanding will provide the practice-based evidence needed for informing the potential broader dissemination of the program. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12617000682347; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=372843&isReview=true. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID):DERR1-10.2196/15756.

Project description:Background:There is overwhelming evidence to support the promotion of physical activity in adults in terms of benefits to well-being, physical and mental health. Physical activity guidelines suggest that adults should accumulate at least 150 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. In Ireland, the majority of adults do not achieve these guidelines, with costs to health and economy. 'Move for Life' (MFL) employs behavioural change techniques delivered by an instructor and peer mentor, using a train-the-trainer (cascade) model. This study will conduct a feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial of the MFL intervention for modifying physical activity behaviours in inactive adults aged 45?years and older. Methods:The trial is set in eight Local Sports Partnership (LSP) hubs that have structured physical activity programmes. The hubs are the units of randomisation (clusters), and individuals are the units of analysis (participants). Eligible participants will contact one of the hubs, with each hub running four physical activity programmes. Each programme requires between 12-15 inactive adults, resulting in 48-60 participants per hub. Allowing for 20% dropout rate, an additional 96 people will be recruited giving a maximum sample of 576. The hub will be randomised: true control, usual programme or MFL intervention. The true control group will be given information about physical activity but will not be included in a programme for the duration of the trial; the intervention will involve the instructor training one (or more) of the participants to be a peer mentor using an educational toolkit; and usual care groups will have physical activity classes delivered as normal. Baseline data will collect physical activity measures and follow-up measurements will be obtained at 3 and 6 months. All participants will be asked to wear a device for measuring activity on the thigh (activPAL) for 7 days before commencing the programme and at 3 and 6 months. The primary objective of the study is to investigate if it is feasible to deliver the intervention and collect data on moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on all participants, thereby providing valuable information to guide sample size calculation for a future, more definitive trial. Trial registration number:ISRCTN11235176.

Project description:BackgroundProlonged sitting increases the risk of cardio-metabolic disease. Office-based employees are particularly susceptible to high rates of this sedentary behaviour during work hours. Laboratory studies indicate that regularly interrupting periods of prolonged sitting with short bouts (2 min) of physical activity can improve markers of cardio-metabolic health. This method of interrupting sitting time is yet to be tested in an occupational setting and may provide an alternative to providing sit-to-stand desks. Drawing on the Behaviour Change Wheel and evidence on the barriers and motivators to performing regular activity breaks, the Move More @ Work intervention was developed. The objectives of this pilot study are to examine the feasibility, and preliminary outcomes, of this intervention designed to encourage participants to perform 1-2 min of activity after every 30 min of continuous sitting throughout the work day. The study will inform if progress to a full effectiveness trial is warranted.MethodsAn interrupted time series design consisting of a 4-week baseline (control period), a 12-week intervention, and a 12-week follow-up will be utilised. At least 57 university employees who self-report spending > 5 h per day sitting at work on at least 3 days per week will be recruited to participate. The intervention consists of (1) a structured consultation with a Move More @ Work coach, containing a number of behaviour change techniques to create an individualised plan of how to incorporate the activity breaks into the working day, and (2) strategies to create a supportive workplace culture for performing the activity breaks. Feasibility will be assessed by recruitment and retention rates, and acceptability of the intervention. Pilot outcomes are the number of regular activity breaks taken during the workday, cardio-metabolic risk score and self-reported health, and work-related productivity outcomes.DiscussionIf the Move More @ Work intervention is shown to be feasible, acceptable, and shows evidence of effectiveness, this will provide justification for the progression to a full scale evaluation of the intervention. In the longer-term, this intervention may provide an alternative means of improving health outcomes through interrupting sedentary time than that offered by current sedentary behaviour interventions.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12620000354987 . Registered on 12 March 2020.

Project description:IntroductionThere is increasing evidence demonstrating the benefits of exercise in counteracting cancer treatment-related fatigue. Immunotherapy is an established treatment for advanced melanoma, and is associated with fatigue in a third of patients. The safety and efficacy of exercise in counteracting treatment-related fatigue in patients with advanced melanoma receiving immunotherapy are yet to be determined. This study aims to assess the safety, adherence to and acceptability of a mixed-methods parallel-group, pilot randomised controlled trial of a personalised, 12-week semi-supervised exercise programme prescribed by an exercise physiologist (iMove) in 30 patients with stage IV melanoma scheduled to commence immunotherapy: single agent ipilimumab, nivolumab or pembrolizumab, or combination ipilimumab and nivolumab. The trial will be used to provide preliminary evidence of the potential efficacy of exercise for managing fatigue.Methods and analysisThirty participants will be recruited from a specialist cancer centre between May and September, 2019. Participants will be randomised 1:1 to receive iMove, or usual care (an information booklet about exercise for people with cancer). Feasibility data comprise: eligibility; recruitment and retention rates; adherence to and acceptability of exercise consultations, personalised exercise programme and study measures; and exercise-related adverse events. Patient-reported outcome measures assess potential impact of the exercise intervention on: fatigue, role functioning, symptoms and quality of life. Follow-up will comprise five time points over 24 weeks. Physical assessments measure physical fitness and functioning.Ethics and disseminationThis study was reviewed and approved by the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC/48927/PMCC-2019). The findings from this trial will be disseminated via conference presentations and publications in peer-reviewed journals, and by engagement with clinicians, media, government and consumers. In particular, we will promote the outcomes of this work among the oncology community should this pilot indicate benefit for patients.Trial registration numberACTRN12619000952145; Pre-results.

Dataset Information

A multi-component intervention to sit less and move more in a contact centre setting: a feasibility study.

Publications

A multi-component intervention to sit less and move more in a contact centre setting: a feasibility study.

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