IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2019i1p23-d299394.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Implementing a Physical Activity Promoting Program in a Flex-Office: A Process Evaluation with a Mixed Methods Design

Author

Listed:
  • Viktoria Wahlström

    (Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section for Sustainable Health, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden)

  • Anncristine Fjellman-Wiklund

    (Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Section of Physiotherapy, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden)

  • Mette Harder

    (Umeå School of Architecture, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden)

  • Lisbeth Slunga Järvholm

    (Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section for Sustainable Health, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden)

  • Therese Eskilsson

    (Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Section of Physiotherapy, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate facilitating and hindering factors when implementing a physical activity (PA)-promoting program among office workers moving to a flex office, by conducting a process evaluation. Additionally, we evaluated self-reported and perceived PA behaviors. With a mixed methods design, analyses were based upon data from interviews with 70 employees and repeated questionnaires from 152 employees. The PA-promoting program was fully implemented and supported by management. There was a strong health promoting culture, encouraging PA in the organization already at the start of the study. The lecture and the office design were rated as the most motivating program components. The use of stairs, breaks during meetings and social acceptance for standing and walking at work increased. Employees described a strive for variation, and how managers, the office environment, productivity and ergonomic aspects influenced sedentary behavior (SB) and PA. The need for the PA-promoting program was questioned, and the timing of the program was debated. To conclude, a strong organizational health culture combined with a facilitating physical environment can create sustainable positive PA behaviors in office settings. A thorough understanding of organizational needs and a participatory process are needed to tailor organizational interventions to decrease SB.

Suggested Citation

  • Viktoria Wahlström & Anncristine Fjellman-Wiklund & Mette Harder & Lisbeth Slunga Järvholm & Therese Eskilsson, 2019. "Implementing a Physical Activity Promoting Program in a Flex-Office: A Process Evaluation with a Mixed Methods Design," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-20, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2019:i:1:p:23-:d:299394
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/23/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/23/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sharon Parry & Leon Straker & Nicholas D Gilson & Anne J Smith, 2013. "Participatory Workplace Interventions Can Reduce Sedentary Time for Office Workers—A Randomised Controlled Trial," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(11), pages 1-10, November.
    2. Carla F. J. Nooijen & Lena V. Kallings & Victoria Blom & Örjan Ekblom & Yvonne Forsell & Maria M. Ekblom, 2018. "Common Perceived Barriers and Facilitators for Reducing Sedentary Behaviour among Office Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-8, April.
    3. Lidewij R. Renaud & Maaike A. Huysmans & Hidde P. Van der Ploeg & Erwin M. Speklé & Allard J. Van der Beek, 2018. "Long-Term Access to Sit-Stand Workstations in a Large Office Population: User Profiles Reveal Differences in Sitting Time and Perceptions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Viktoria Wahlström & David Olsson & Fredrik Öhberg & Tommy Olsson & Lisbeth Slunga Järvholm, 2020. "Underlying Factors Explaining Physical Behaviors among Office Workers—An Exploratory Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Anna Puig-Ribera & Judit Bort-Roig & Angel M González-Suárez & Iván Martínez-Lemos & Maria Giné-Garriga & Josep Fortuño & Joan C Martori & Laura Muñoz-Ortiz & Raimon Milà & Jim McKenna & Nicholas D Gi, 2015. "Patterns of Impact Resulting from a ‘Sit Less, Move More’ Web-Based Program in Sedentary Office Employees," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Lidewij R. Renaud & Maaike A. Huysmans & Hidde P. van der Ploeg & Erwin M. Speklé & Allard J. van der Beek, 2020. "Natural Patterns of Sitting, Standing and Stepping During and Outside Work—Differences between Habitual Users and Non-Users of Sit–Stand Workstations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-12, June.
    4. Kelly Mackenzie & Elizabeth Such & Paul Norman & Elizabeth Goyder, 2021. "Using Co-Production to Develop “Sit Less at Work” Interventions in a Range of Organisations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-12, July.
    5. Holly Blake & Betsy Lai & Emil Coman & Jonathan Houdmont & Amanda Griffiths, 2019. "Move-It: A Cluster-Randomised Digital Worksite Exercise Intervention in China: Outcome and Process Evaluation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-23, September.
    6. Bradley MacDonald & Xanne Janssen & Alison Kirk & Mhairi Patience & Ann-Marie Gibson, 2018. "An Integrative, Systematic Review Exploring the Research, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance of Interventions to Reduce Sedentary Behaviour in Office Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-29, December.
    7. Jessica Stone & S. Fiona Barker & Danijela Gasevic & Rosanne Freak-Poli, 2023. "Participation in the Global Corporate Challenge ® , a Four-Month Workplace Pedometer Program, Reduces Psychological Distress," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-23, March.
    8. Jihoon Kim & Ryoko Mizushima & Kotaro Nishida & Masahiro Morimoto & Yoshio Nakata, 2022. "Multi-Component Intervention to Promote Physical Activity in Japanese Office Workers: A Single-Arm Feasibility Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Emily Mear & Valerie Frances Gladwell & Jamie Pethick, 2022. "The Effect of Breaking Up Sedentary Time with Calisthenics on Neuromuscular Function: A Preliminary Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-14, November.
    10. Amanda H. Wilkerson & Nuha Abutalib & Ny’Nika T. McFadden & Shristi Bhochhibhoya & Adriana Dragicevic & Bushra R. Salous & Vinayak K. Nahar, 2023. "A Social Cognitive Assessment of Workplace Sedentary Behavior among a Sample of University Employees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(15), pages 1-12, July.
    11. Emerald G. Heiland & Örjan Ekblom & Emil Bojsen-Møller & Lisa-Marie Larisch & Victoria Blom & Maria M. Ekblom, 2021. "Bi-Directional, Day-to-Day Associations between Objectively-Measured Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Sleep among Office Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-12, July.
    12. Samson O. Ojo & Daniel P. Bailey & David J. Hewson & Angel M. Chater, 2019. "Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Breaking Up Sitting Time among Desk-Based Office Workers: A Qualitative Investigation Using the TDF and COM-B," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-19, August.
    13. Sara Moreira & Maria Salomé Ferreira & Maria Begoña Criado & Jorge Machado & Cristina Mesquita & Sofia Lopes & Paula Clara Santos, 2021. "Occupational Health: Does Compliance with Physical Activity Recommendations Have a Preventive Effect on Musculoskeletal Symptoms in Computer Workers? A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-13, July.
    14. Kristina Larsson & Örjan Ekblom & Lena V. Kallings & Maria Ekblom & Victoria Blom, 2019. "Job Demand-Control-Support Model as Related to Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Time in Working Women and Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-10, September.
    15. Rui Wang & Victoria Blom & Carla F. J. Nooijen & Lena V. Kallings & Örjan Ekblom & Maria M. Ekblom, 2021. "The Role of Executive Function in the Effectiveness of Multi-Component Interventions Targeting Physical Activity Behavior in Office Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-14, December.
    16. M. Lauren Voss & J. Paige Pope & Jennifer L. Copeland, 2020. "Reducing Sedentary Time among Older Adults in Assisted Living: Perceptions, Barriers, and Motivators," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-11, January.
    17. Lidewij R Renaud & Erwin M Speklé & Allard J van der Beek & Hidde P van der Ploeg & H Roeline Pasman & Maaike A Huysmans, 2020. "The user and non-user perspective: Experiences of office workers with long-term access to sit-stand workstations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, July.
    18. Lars Donath & Oliver Faude & Yannick Schefer & Ralf Roth & Lukas Zahner, 2015. "Repetitive Daily Point of Choice Prompts and Occupational Sit-Stand Transfers, Concentration and Neuromuscular Performance in Office Workers: An RCT," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-14, April.
    19. Meng, Annette & Borg, Vilhelm & Clausen, Thomas, 2019. "Enhancing the social capital in industrial workplaces: Developing workplace interventions using intervention mapping," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 227-236.
    20. Vera Schellewald & Jens Kleinert & Rolf Ellegast, 2018. "Introducing a Dynamic Workstation in the Office: Insights in Characteristics of Use and Short-Term Changes of Well-Being in a 12 Week Observational Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2019:i:1:p:23-:d:299394. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.