Facilitating Greater Health in Employees: Healthy Business Project Focus Group Results

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Facilitating Greater Health in EmployeesHealthy
Business ProjectFocus Group Results

• Owen Carter
• Research Fellow
• Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Control
• Curtin University of Technology

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Study Aim

• To develop strategies to promote and maintain
  healthy lifestyles in the workplace
• Especially target blue collar workers

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Rationale

• Employees spend one-third of their weekdays at
  work
• Blue collar workers
• More likely to work outdoors
• More likely to smoke
• Have poorer diets
• Higher incidence of many cancers, heart disease
  and diabetes

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Methodology

• Seven organisations recruited
• Two small, two medium and three large
• 68 participants (52 males, 16 females)

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Methodology

• Participants first completed brief questionnaires

• Two open-ended items
• Seven closed-ended items

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What are the most important things we can do to
maintain our health?
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What are the most important things we can do to
maintain our health?
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What stops you from doing more things to
maintain your health?
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What stops you from doing more things to
maintain your health?
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How healthy do you consider yourself?
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How physically fit do you consider yourself?
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How healthy do you consider your lifestyle?
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How concerned are you about your current health?
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How much does your work impact on your health?
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How much does your work encourage healthy
living?
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Exercise

• Half exercised on a regular basis
• Sports, gym, cycling, walking
• Physical intensity varied greatly
• 2001 National Health Survey
• 36 exercise moderately
• 15 exercise vigorously

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Exercise

• not enough time
• ABS (1998) How Australians Use Their Time
• average Australian has5 hours free time per day
• 2.5 hours watching TV
• Facilitate activity diaries
• too expensive
• too tired
• cant be bothered

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Physically Demanding Work

• Many thought they were sufficiently active at
  work
• Im active all day at work
• Im exhausted by the timeI get home
• Difficult to independently verify
• Pedometers, average load lifted, etc.

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Work Organised Exercise

• Popular demand for low impact activities
• Walking clubs, tai chi, yoga,pilates
• Previous classes too slow
• Onsite gym or subsidisedclub membership
• Liability
• Cost

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Work Organised Exercise

• before work too busy
• after work too tired
• only half hour lunch break
• during work hours
• Corporate events
• City to Surf
• Relay for Life
• Cycle to Work Instead Week

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Riding to Work

• very few currently ride
• little enthusiasm
• too far
• would take too long
• traffic too heavy

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Riding to Work

• Average cycling speed 20 km/h

• 50 million spent on bike paths

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Riding to Work

• Too hot/cold
• Showers necessary
• Bicycle racks unnecessary
• Education necessary

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Public Transport

• Very few interested
• impractical
• limited availability
• takes too long
• would get bashed up
• Make timetables readily available
• Allow some flexibility

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Diet

• avoid fatty foods
• two fruit and five veg
• I eat whatever
• fast foods
• taste better
• more convenient
• healthy food is more expensive

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Canteens Lunch Bars

• convenient
• mostly junk foods
• anything fried
• food displays dedicatedto fried foods
• even if you want toeat well you cant
• takes too much time toorder salad rolls

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Food Vans

• mostly junk food
• muck on a truck
• pies, sausage rolls, soft-drinks, choc milk
• no one looking for healthy food would go to the
  food van
• very expensive
• convenient

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Self Prepared Meals

• salads
• cold meat sandwiches
• yoghurt
• fruit
• leftovers
• generally quite healthy

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Diet

• Ensure healthy foods available
• Make healthy foods more convenient
• pre-ordering
• food delivery
• Corporate healthy food policy

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Smoking

• Very few smokers
• Workplace smoking restrictions largely enforced
• Designated smoking areas
• Quit promotional materials in lunch rooms
• General support forsmoke-free workplaces

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Sun Protection

• Generally strict sun protection policies enforced
• Compulsory hats, long sleeves sun glasses
• dressed up like Eskimos in the middle of summer
• Uniformed drivers wearingcaps and short sleeves

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Sleep

• Split shifts very disruptive
• Up to four hours down time
• Physically and mentally demanding
• quiet area concept popular

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Conclusions

• Three-quarters had fair to great desire to
  undertake behaviours to improve their health
• Most thought work impacted to a fair extent
  upon their health
• time and cost greatest perceived barriers to
  healthy behaviours
• Motivation greatest apparent barrier
• Employers best efforts should be aimed at
  motivation and convenience

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Recommendations

• EXERCISE
• Measure daily physical exertion in workplace
• Personal time audits
• Worksite exercise activities and facilities
• Showers, lockers, bike racks, Perth Bike Maps and
  time/distance cycling estimates between work and
  home
• Public transport timetable and route information
• Corporate participation in health events

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Recommendations

• DIET
• Corporate healthy food policies
• Review canteen and catering arrangements
• Pre-ordering and delivery
• Subsidization through staff discounts

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Recommendations

• SMOKING
• Ensure smoking policies enforced
• Establish organisation as smoke-free
• SUN PROTECTION
• Periodically review sun protection policies
• SLEEP
• Establish quiet areas with reclining furniture

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Recommendations

• Incorporate healthy living into the culture and
  policies of the organisation
• In consultation with employees, develop pervasive
  and ongoing health education messages

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