Planning a programme to motivate employees Dr. Catherine Woods Senior Lecturer School of Health and Human Performance conference 17th June, 2008

Outline HEPA Determinants Motivation Behaviour Change

Part 1 Health Enhancing Physical Activity

“any bodily movement that is produced by the skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure” (Caspersen et al., 1985) Physical Activity

Active Living Types of Physical Activity Competitive Sport Structured Exercise

Booth et al., J Appl Physiol 2000cc Professor, Dept of Biomedical Sciences School of Medicine University of Missouri-Columbia “With the possible exception of diet we know of no single intervention with greater promise than physical activity to reduce the risk of virtually all chronic diseases simultaneously” What the Experts Say!

HEPA recommendations requency Most days of the week ntensity MVPA ime 30+ minutes accumulated PA ype Sport, Exercise or Active Living. (ACSM, 2008, Guidelines for promoting PA with older adults)

HEPA recommendations Muscle Conditioning  Twice weekly  10 to 15 repetitions  muscle strengthening exercises using major muscle groups Flexibility  Exercises for 10 mins x 2 week (ACSM, 2008, Guidelines for promoting PA with older adults)

Part 2 How active are we?

% of adults doing no exercise in an average week by gender and year (1998, 2002, 2007). (SLAN, 2008)

Low 10,000 steps per day (SLAN, 2008)

Part 5 Understanding Motivation

Build support for your programme Organisational Goals

Typically recruit only 20% of employees 10% are retained within the programme within 6 months

Stage of Organisational Readiness StageAction Not InterestedSell the concept or wait Interested in concept; not sure it will work Feasibility study Sold on the conceptNeeds assessment Impatient for the programme Implement quickly O’Donnell, Design of Workplace Health Promotion Programmes, 1995

Foster a more positive attitude to PA Create a social norm for good health and good health habits Move the most unmotivated individuals close to adopting some PA least thinking about becoming PA in the near future.

Employers support is NB If not…  Schedule a home-based PA programme from the workplace.

The individual Perspective

Physical Activity: Why we do, why we don’t… Motivation through feelings of control  Everything’s under control Motivation through feelings of competence and confidence  I think I can, I think I can, I know I can… Stage-based models of physical activity  Moving from thinking to doing… (Biddle & Mutrie (2008) Psychology of Physical Activity, Routledge).

Before you begin Physical Readiness… “For most people, a medical exam or stress test is not required before increasing moderate-intensity physical activities”