Walking Works Wonders: a tailored workplace intervention evaluated over 24 months

Abstract

This article presents longitudinal data from 1120 participants across 10 worksites enrolled in Walking Works Wonders, a tailored intervention designed to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour. The intervention was evaluated over 2 years, using a quasi-experimental design comprising 3 conditions: tailored information; standard information and control. This study explored the impact of the intervention on objective measures (BMI, %Fat, waist circumference, blood pressure and heart rate) and self-reported measures of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, physical and psychological health. Interventions tailored to employees’ stage of change significantly reduced BMI and waist circumference compared to standard and control conditions. Employees who received either a standard or tailored intervention demonstrated significantly higher work ability, organizational commitment, job motivation, job satisfaction and a reduction in intention to quit the organization. The results suggest that adopting a tailored approach to interventions is particularly effective in terms of improving health in the workplace.Practitioner Summary: This study describes Walking Works Wonders, a tailored intervention, which aims to encourage physical activity in the workplace. The study evaluated Walking Works Wonders over a 2 year period and demonstrated that interventions are more effective in improving health outcomes where the information is tailored to employees’ stage of change.