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Workplace Health Promotion Programme to Encourage Physical activity among Workers

The workplace, along with the school, hospital, city, island, and marketplace, has been established as one of the priority settings for health promotion into the 21st century. The workplace directly influences the physical, mental, economic and social well-being of workers and in turn the health of their families, communities and society. It offers an ideal setting and infrastructure to support the promotion of health of a large audience. The health of workers is also affected by non-work related factors. Regrettably the concept that the workplace is an important arena for health campaigns of many kinds, as well as basic occupational health and safety programmes is not yet widely accepted.

Workplace health promotion is about fostering healthy workplace policies and supportive environments, enhancing positive social conditions, building personal skills and organisational resilience, and promoting healthy lifestyles. Workplace health and wellbeing programs not only have real potential to positively influence the health of our workforce, they also make good business sense – increasing employee engagement and team cohesiveness in the short-term, and leading to reduced absenteeism, increased productivity and improved corporate image in the longer term. There are many programmes that related to health promotion in workplace such as healthy eating, smoke-free workplace, social and emotional wellbeing in workplace, and physical activity in workplace.

Physical activity is good for the heart and blood pressure. It helps to control weight, prevent and control diabetes and relieve stress. This physical activity doesn’t have to be done in one block of 30 minutes per day. It can be achieved by combining a few shorter sessions of 10 to 15 minutes each, such as walking to and from the bus stop or parking your car further away and walking the last bit. For those workers spending many of their waking hours sitting, emerging research is showing that this is also a risk for poor health, even for adults who are undertaking the recommended 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days.

Hence, Workplace Health Promotion Programme aims for the workers to get at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each day and to be active in as many ways as possible, including moving more and sitting less. Today, with the increasing amount of working hours and job burdens, it has becomes more challenging for the workers to be physically active in workplace.

Journal about a study to describe rural-based working men’s views about health to distil acceptable workplace approaches to promoting men’s healthy lifestyles:
Healthy Eating and Active Living:Rural-Based WorkingMen’s Perspectives

Journal about standing work and its effect in encouraging workers to become more physically active:

Installation of a stationary high desk in the workplace: effect of a6-week intervention on physical activity

Journal which compares between pedometer-based intervention and Aerobic Training in increasing the number of physical activity among middle-aged women workers:

Interventions to Increase Physical Activity in Middle-Age Women at the Workplace:

A RandomizedControlled Trial

Journal about the efficacy of email-based intervention in promoting physical activity in workplace:

Efficacy of an E-mail Intervention for the Promotion of Physical Activity and Nutrition

Behavior in theWorkplace Context

Journal about intervention using posters to promote stair climbing in workplace

A Workplace Intervention to Promote StairClimbing: Greater Effects in the Overweight