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Maximise your health: programs to help get you started

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Did you know, in addition to BeUpstanding, there are a number of other health promotion programs that are freely available? Here are 9 health promotion programs that you can implement at your workplace, and 10 programs you can take part in individually. Workplace Health Programs BeUpstanding If you are a reader of this blog, hopefully you are very familiar with the BeUpstanding program – which supports desk-based workers to sit less and move more. As a BeUpstanding champion, you are provided everything you need through the online toolkit to take up, deliver and evaluate the program within your team. The program is suitable for all desk-based workers, no matter where they are working, with the ultimate aim to build a dynamic culture where sitting less and moving more is the norm. If you haven’t run BeUpstanding yet, or if it has been over a year since you ran it last, why not sign up now. Queensland Healthy Kids Menu Initiative Do you work in a café, restaurant, hotel or club and wish to provide healthier options for children? Consider signing up to the Queensland Healthy Kids Menu initiative. After signing up and submitting your healthy  kids menu, you will be given promotional…

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How AI can help your team to BeUpstanding

BeUpstanding Stories

OpenAI and their program ChatGPT is a gamechanger in how information is synthesised and delivered. While big issues, such as the implications of the program on the future of work are under discussion, for BeUpstanding champions, it provides a great opportunity to easily get ideas to help your team sit less and move more. We decided to put the program to the test. We asked: What are ideas for a standing meeting? The program wrote:  There are several ideas for conducting standing meetings: Hold the meeting in a standing-only area, such as a standing desk or a huddle room, to encourage participants to stay on their feet. Use a whiteboard or flipchart for brainstorming and note-taking, which allows participants to move around and engage with the material in a more active way. Incorporate movement into the meeting, such as taking a short walk outside or doing a quick stretching routine. Use standing or standing-height tables for seating, this will make it less comfortable to sit and encourage standing. Use a timer to remind participants to stand up and move around during the meeting, or to take short breaks. Make it a walking meeting, where participants walk and talk while discussing…

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How your input is helping build BeUpstanding

BeUpstanding Stories

The BeUpstanding program is based on over a decade of research evidence into what works to help desk workers to sit less and move more. Throughout the program we have worked with multiple stakeholders, including current and potential users of the toolkit, employees, managers, and policy and practice partners, to continue to improve the program. We recently published a scientific article describing this user centred design process and how it was used to adapt the program to be ready for the national implementation trial. The article showcases the multiple people and multiple disciplines involved in developing and implementing a workplace health promotion program like BeUpstanding, including content experts, design thinking and interaction design, business and product development, software development, implementation science. The article also describes the multiple ways in which data were collected to inform the iterative adaptions, including through deep dive interviews, surveys, toolkit analytics, and ad hoc communication and feedback. The BeUpstanding Journey Map was developed to help users understand what was involved in the BeUpstanding program.  As we wrap up the national implementation trial, we are busily applying the user centred design approach to build the next iteration of BeUpstanding. This approach ensures that the program meets…

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Simple activities to be active at your desk – Part 3

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Desk-based workers can spend a lot of time at their desk sitting. If you are a regular follow of this blog, you will know that high levels of sitting time can have several detrimental impacts on health and wellbeing, including on cognitive function, risk of diabetes, physical function and quality of life. Prolonged sitting – that is, sitting for a long time without taking a break – is emerging as particularly harmful, which is why we promote regular breaks from sitting at BeUpstanding. Indeed, a 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis by Loh and colleagues highlighted the beneficial effects of having regular physical activity breaks on blood sugar, insulin, and triacylglycerol measures. Their article concluded that taking short breaks from prolonged sitting results in better glycemic control and improved metabolic control compared to individuals who do not incorporate short physical activity breaks. One impact of too much sitting for too long is on our musculoskeletal health. Here, prolonged sitting can cause tight hip flexors and leg muscles. Vanroelen (2022) states that these imbalances are due to the shortened and lengthened muscles in your legs due to muscle weakness and tightness. These imbalances can lead to a compensatory hyperlordosis or excessive inward…

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What did champions like about the BeUpstanding program?

BeUpstanding Stories

Upon completing the 8-week implementation phase of BeUpstanding, champions are asked to fill out a program completion survey via the BeUpstanding toolkit. The survey asks various questions about what strategies they did as a team, facilitators and barriers to implementing the strategies, as well as their experience as a champion in delivering the program. As part of our evaluation of BeUpstanding, we are looking at what worked well in the program and what aspects of the program workplace champions liked. This articles summarises champion responses to the question “What did you like about the BeUpstanding Program?” The easy to follow and simple structure of the program, along with the resources and information provided in the toolkit were key aspects of the program champions enjoyed, as highlighted by the following champion responses: “Ease of implementation, no cost, good resources. Ability to implement from home and in our purpose-designed office space.” “Easy to follow, well structured. Posters were great and the toolkit was well thought out and put together.” “Easy to implement and tailor to suit the work environment & people’s abilities.” “Resources that were engaging and easy to access and use” “Clear, structured weekly guide about what to do.” Another feature…

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How do BeUpstanding teams choose their top 3 strategies to stand up, sit less and move more?

BeUpstanding Stories

One of the key components of the BeUpstanding program is to hold a staff consultation workshop with all team members. The aim of the workshop is to provide information about the program to staff, give them the opportunity to discuss potential ways in which they can stand up, sit less, and move more at work, and the collectively select three top strategies to implement as a team during the 8-week program and beyond. Ideally the workshop is held in-person, however, we know that COVID and other factors have affected how and where people work.  As a result, an in-person staff workshop was not always possible for the teams taking part in our national trial of BeUpstanding and teams conducted this consultation and gained staff input in various ways. As part of our research, we are interested in finding out how staff were engaged in decision making around potential BeUpstanding strategies. This data was obtained via the program completion survey that workplace BeUpstanding champions completed upon finishing the 8-week implementation phase of the program. In the survey, champions were asked how they gained input from staff on how they wanted to BeUpstanding (in addition to or instead of the staff workshop),…

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Simple activities to be active at your desk – Part 2

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Guidelines recommend regular breaks from prolonged sitting, and at team BeUpstanding, we encourage breaks at least every 30 minutes. Here are some activities that you can do at your desk to help combat some of the impacts of prolonged sitting. Individuals who sit for a prolonged amount of time tend to have rounded shoulders, tight neck muscles, and have back pain and this is known as upper-crossed syndrome. Balciuniene et al. discuss that there is an imbalance with your upper body muscles like your upper trapezius, levator scapula, and pectoralis major and minor, since these dorsal and ventral muscles cross, which create a pattern of joint dysfunction leading to spinal stress and poor posture. These features of having a forward head posture and thoracic kyphosis, excessive upper back curvature, to name a few, leads to poor shoulder stability and mobility, especially at the glenohumoral joint in your shoulder. This causes an overactivation of some muscles like your levator scapulae and upper trapezius to try to maintain body alignment. Kim et al. (2016) determined that postural pain syndrome can be a result from upper-crossed syndrome and poor posture due to prolonged sitting. Lee et al. (2017) discussed that incorporating exercises using…

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Champion Insights – Barriers to engaging management and staff in BeUpstanding

BeUpstanding Stories

Implementing a well-being program in a workplace can come with some challenges, one of which can be engaging staff and/or management in the program. As part of the national trial of BeUpstanding we are interested in learning what some of the barriers were in relation to engaging staff and management in the BeUpstanding program, a workplace champion led program aimed at supporting staff to sit less and move more in the workplace. As part of the program completion survey that BeUpstanding Champions complete upon finishing the 8-week implementation phase of the BeUpstanding program, they are asked the following question: “Tell us about any barriers to engaging management or staff in the BeUpstanding program that you have noticed”. The changes associated with working from home due to COVID-19, namely the lack of visibility and the lack of equipment, were identified as common barriers. It’s hard to get everyone on board.  Working from home made it more challenging – less visibility. Some staff were working from home during the program where they didn’t have sit to stand desks and fellow workers to encourage more movement. A lack of time/being too busy, and only having support from some levels of management, were also…

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BeUpstanding Champion Perspectives: What Makes a Good Champion

BeUpstanding Stories

In a previous blog article titled ‘What makes a good champion’ we wrote about some of the qualities that make an effective workplace champion. Previous research suggests that those who have a genuine passion for health and wellbeing and are enthusiastic about the opportunity to inspire others towards a healthier lifestyle (Healy et al., 2018) are the most effective champions. They must also be committed to making long-term positive health changes in their workplace and display a good relationship with their peers. More general personality traits like outgoingness and motivation have been positively linked to champion performance (Howell, 2005). Highly motivated individuals are also more likely to engage with the content and be prepared to persist when faced with challenges. As part of the survey champions complete after finishing the 8-week BeUpstanding Program, they are asked what qualities or characteristics they believe make an effective champion in the BeUpstanding program, as well as what characteristics and qualities they possess that they feel helped them be a champion for their team. Common attributes identified by champions that they believe make a good BeUpstanding champion, based on their experiences, included motivated, approachable, committed, and positive. These qualities and others can be seen…

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Champion Insights – How BeUpstanding has Impacted Workplace Culture

BeUpstanding Stories

The BeUpstanding program was developed to support work teams to address the emergent work health and safety issue of excessive sitting.  Through taking part in the program, it is hoped that the various strategies teams implement to sit less and move more in the workplace lead to sustainable changes in their organisation and create a culture where sitting less and moving more is the norm. In order to evaluate the impact of BeUpstanding, champions taking part in the national trial of BeUpstanding complete a survey through the online toolkit at three timepoints in the trial – prior to launching the program, upon completion of the 8-week program, and 12 months after launching the program. Champions also take part in a phone call with a member of the BeUpstanding team at these same time points and are asked a series of questions about their experience. During their 12-month sustainability phone call with a BeUpstanding team member, champions were asked the following question about their workplace; “To what extent do you feel the workplace culture and norms have changed to support sitting less and moving more?” Here are some of their responses: “We include the BeUpstanding program as part of our induction…

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