All Work and No Play

Getting your workforce active

All Work and No Play?

3Central YMCA Workplace Activator Report | All Work and No Play?Activator® is a registered Trade Mark of Central YMCA © 2011 Central YMCA

Contents 0

1. Summary

2. BackgroundHealth and wellbeing at workPhysical activity in the workplace

3. What is Workplace Activator?The Activator modelWho are the Activators?Activator training

4. The Workplace Activator pilotAbout the pilotRecruitmentThe programmeData collection

5. The resultsPhysical activityWellbeingPhysical healthBusiness indicators

6. How can employers promote physical activity?

7. References

4 Central YMCA Workplace Activator Report | All Work and No Play?Activator® is a registered Trade Mark of Central YMCA © 2011 Central YMCA

• Almost10millionworkingdayswere lost in2009due to work-related stress, depression and anxiety.i

• Improving employee health and wellness andreducing workplace stress by health promotion and prevention of poor health not only makes commercial sense but is paramount to the success of both large and small companies.

• Manyofourlargercompaniesarealreadyrecognisingthebenefitsofencouragingtheiremployeestoleadmore active, healthier lives.

• The Workplace Activator model trains existingemployees to be activity champions who are then responsible for encouraging and supporting their colleagues to be more physically active.

• The model was piloted in 17 SME companies inCentral London.

• Over the first 6 months of the pilot programmethe physical activity, psychological wellbeing and physical health of employees in participating companies increased.

• Employeesreportedfeelingmorepositive,alertandfocussed at work as a result of exercising more.

• The Public Health Responsibility Deal includesa pledge to ‘develop activity champions for the workplace’. Adopting Workplace Activator is one way companies can meet this pledge and have a positive impact on their workforce.

Summary1


Health and wellbeing at workOverthecourseofourlivesmanyofuswillspendover100,000hoursatwork.

Work is often cited as one of the main barriers in enabling people to lead more active, healthier lives. But the workplace is also a great place to promote health and wellness and to encourage and support people to make healthier choices, such as being more active. Commuting to and from the workplace, engaging with colleagues and even doing simple office tasks are all potential opportunities toencourage people to be more active.

Employeehealthandwellbeingisn’tjustimportantfortheindividualconcerned,itcanalsobeasignificantcosttobusiness.Forexample:

• Almost10millionworkingdayswere lost in2009due to work-related stress, depression and anxiety.ii

• Theaveragecosttobusinessofemployeesicknessabsenceisabout£495peremployee.iii

• Theunhealthieranemployeeis,themorelikelytheywill be absent from work - an employee who has a sedentary lifestyle, smokes, and is overweight is absent 50% more often than staff with no such risk factors. The more risk factors someone has, the greater the cost to an employer they are.iv

Background 2


Background2

Companies with a healthier workforce are less likely to suffer from some of the costs ofpooremployeehealthandwellbeing.Improvingemployeehealthandwellnessand reducing workplace stress by promotion and prevention of poor health not only makes commercial sense but is paramount to the success of both large and small companies and the British economy as a whole.vItisestimatedthatforevery£1abusiness invests in workplace wellness initiatives for its employees an employer will recoup about three times as much in terms of improved productivity and reduced absenteeism and presenteeism. Aside from promoting employee health and wellness, these initiatives also boost morale and staff engagement.

Today many of our larger companies are already recognising the benefits ofencouraging their employees to lead more active, healthier lives. Businesses that have introduced wellbeing programmes for their employees, including the promotion ofactivityandexercise,reportasignificantReturnonInvestment(ROI).Businessin the Community, an organisation which supports businesses to be more socially responsible, developed the Business Action on Health campaign which makes the compelling case for investing in employee health. Business Action on Health aims to get75%ofourlargerFTSE100companiescommittingtoboardroomreportingonemployee wellbeing. They believe that through this board-level support, investing in employee wellbeing can become part of a business’ strategy, while also becoming a key driver of employee engagement and productivity.

However, despite much good work and the indisputable evidence, many employers don’t have the time, budget or resource to provide workplace wellness initiatives. Oneinthreeemployeescurrentlybelievesthattheiremployer ismoreconcernedwith generating income than the health of their employees.vi OftenthesearetheSmaller toMedium-sized Enterpriseswhich employ fewer than 250 people andmakeupabout99%ofbusinessesintheUK.


Background 2

While employers already make provision to promote workplace health and wellbeing, employees believe there are other steps that organisations can take to encourage them to be healthier. When asked in a recent surveyvii what steps their employer couldtaketohelpthemlivehealthierlivesthemainrequestswere:

• Subsidisedgym/leisureprovision(47%)

• Accesstohealthierfood(47%)

• Flexibleworking(40%).

A culture also exists which isn’t particularly supportive of promoting health and wellbeing.Forexample:

• 1in3peopleskiplunchintheirofficebecausetheyaretoobusy

• 1in5employeesfeelguiltytakingtimeouttoexerciseduringtheworkingday

• 1 in2don’t feel that their employerdoesenough to encourage staff to eathealthily

• 1in3employeesdon’tthinktheirbossisagoodhealthrolemodel

All of this demonstrates that employers can and should do more to encourage their workforce to live healthier lives. This doesn’t have to be onerous or costly, but can beachievedby implementingsomesimplesteps.Encouragingemployees tobemore physically active is one way of doing this.


Background2

Physical activity in the workplaceNearly half of employees believe that they are more productive at work if they exercise regularly

ThecosttotheUKeconomyofphysicalinactivityisestimatedtobe£8.2billion.viii Thecosttoemployersissignificant.

Participatinginregularphysicalactivitysignificantlyimprovesemployeehealthandwellbeing.Itisassociatedwithareducedriskofdepression,improvedself-esteemand lower levels of stress.ixThisissignificantforbusinessgiventhatmentalhealthproblems are amajor cause of sickness absence. Aswell as improvingmentalhealth,peoplewhoarephysicallyactivereducetheirriskofdevelopingmajorchronicdiseases (suchascoronaryheartdisease, strokeand type2diabetes)byup to50%, and the risk of premature death by about 20-30%.x

However, themajority of theworking population doesn’t get the recommendedamount of physical activity in order to gain many of these potential health and wellbeing benefits. There is considerable potential to increase employee healthand wellbeing through increasing physical activity levels. National public health guidelines recommend that efforts should be made to increase physical activity in theworkplacewhichcouldhelpimprovepeople’shealthsignificantly.xi A Government report on workplace healthxii concluded that considerable evidence has been found that health andwellbeing programmes produce economic benefits and improveworkplace productivity across all sectors and sizes of business. An economicanalysiscommissionedbytheNationalInstituteforHealthandClinicalExcellence(NICE)alsoconcludedthateconomicmodelingsupportstheintroductionofphysicalactivity programmes in the workplace. There are direct health benefits of suchprogrammesbutalsoindirectbenefitsincludingincreasedstaffretentionandloyalty.


The Activator® modelThe Activator model is based on the premise that people are key in supporting others to change their behaviour. People in positions of trust, such as friends, family, and work colleagues, are also more likely to be effective at encouraging their peers to sustain behaviour change over the long term.

The Activator model was originally pioneered as a way of encouraging people to be more physically active. The concept is based on training and supporting positive role models who in turn encourage people they know to bemoreactive.Initiallydevelopedforcommunity settings, the YMCA Activate England project engaged over 8000people nationally in physical activity by training and supporting people who work within the community such as youth workers and social workers.xiii

The workplace is another community and the idea of adapting the Activator concept for this environment was developedbyCentralYMCA in2009,and hence Workplace Activator was created.

Just as companies have a dedicated first aider or fire marshal, one way of promoting physical activity and broader health in the workplace is to develop activity champions from the existing workforce who would be responsible for encouraging and supporting their colleagues to be more physically active. It is also a cost-effective and practical method for companies, particularly SMEs, in delivering on the health at work agenda.

Central YMCA wanted to test out the idea, and joined forces with theUniversity ofWestminster to develop,deliver and evaluate an intervention usingWorkplaceActivators,tofindoutwhether the approach of using activity champions in the workplace had a positive impact on employee health and wellbeing.

What is Workplace Activator? 3


Workplace Activators are employees within companies who are there to support and encourage their colleagues to become more physically active. On a regular basisWorkplaceActivators can do a host of different things to help promote physical activity and encourage the adoption of healthier lifestyles for their colleagues. Examples of motivational strategieswhich Workplace Activators could adoptinclude:

• Attending exercise classes on aregular basis and encouraging peers tojointhem.

• Signposting work colleagues tophysical activity opportunities.

• Encouraging active travel or takingthe stairs rather than the lift at work.

• Acting as exercise buddies andaccompanying peers to the gym.

• Providingregularcommunicationonphysical activity opportunities.

• Helping work colleagues to setphysical activity goals.

• Runningcompany-widechallenges,e.g. pedometer challenges or team events.

Who are the Activators?

What is workplace Activator? 3

Not everyone is suited to being a Workplace Activator and before developing the pilot programme, Central YMCA created a person specificationforwould-beWorkplaceActivators.


TrainingOncepotentialactivitychampionshavebeen identifiedwithinanorganisation,they receive training to provide them with the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to support their lessactive work colleagues in the adoption and maintenance of a more active lifestyle. Central YMCA has developed both face to face training and most recently an e-learning version which enables employees to be trained as Workplace Activators.

The Workplace Activator training consists of a series of interactive workshops involving a variety of teaching and learningmethods. It issupported by a training manual that contains all the necessary underpinning knowledge and references for the Workplace Activators to access further resources.

Thesubjectmatterincludes: • Thehealtheffectsofphysicalactivity

• Anoverviewofworkplacehealth

• Thebenefitsofphysicalactivity

• Barriersandmotivationtoexercise

• TheroleoftheWorkplaceActivator

• Physicalactivity,fitnessandsportoverview

• Theprinciplesofbehaviourchange

• Communicationskills

• Marketsegmentationandengagementwithcolleagues

• Activityideasandplanning

What is workplace Activator? 3


About the pilotThe Workplace Activator pilot project wasdevelopedincollaborationwiththeUniversityof Westminster and funded by Central YMCA, the Government’s Health Work and Wellbeing Challenge Fund, NHS CamdenandNHSWestminster.Thepilotranacross17 Small to Medium-sized Enterprises(SMEs) in Central London and tested theimpact and effectiveness of Workplace Activators in encouraging employees to be more physically active.

Recruiting companiesOrganisationsthatwereinterestedintakingpart in the Workplace Activator programme were recruited during the spring of 2010. The programme began in June 2010 and lasted for 12 months.xiv

To be eligible to take part in the pilot organisationshadtobeaSmalltoMedium-sized Enterprise (SME), i.e. they hadto employ fewer than 250 employees. Seventeen organisations were recruited:nine from the private sector, six from the third sector and two from the public sector.

The Workplace Activator pilot 4

Someofthecompaniesparticipatinginthepilot.


Recruiting Workplace ActivatorsEach company was asked to nominate acouple of individuals who would take on the roleofWorkplaceActivator.Itwaspreferableto have two activators as they could then supporteachother.Selectingtherighttypeof person for this role was critical to the success of the programme and was based on the person specification which wasdeveloped.Thirty-oneActivators(23female,8male)were recruitedand trained,andasan incentive were provided with an annual membership at Central YMCA Club as a reward for their time and commitment.

Recruiting participantsInordertoevaluatetheimpacttheWorkplaceActivators and the programme had on employee health and wellbeing we had to track employees over a 12 month period. Inordertodothiseffectivelythenumberofparticipants on the programme was limited. Those employees who stood to gain the most from the support of a Workplace Activator were prioritised, so places were allocated to those who were inactive (notmeeting the recommended amount of physicalactivity)andalsothoseemployeeswho reported that they were highly stressed. Interestedemployeeswereaskedtoindicatetheir current level of physical activity and workrelatedstressbyreplyingtoane-flyerand this information was used to allocate places. The programme was significantlyoversubscribed with over 250 employees applying for 148 places.

Of the 148 employees whowere selectedabout two-thirds were female and one-third male,justover70%were39yearsorunder,75% were White and about 75% wereeducated to at least degree level. Activators hadasimilardemographicprofile.xv




The programmeIn addition to having trained Workplace Activators in post Central YMCA alsoprovided a wellbeing package for everyone on the Workplace Activator programme asawayofkeepingpeoplemotivated.Thisincluded:

• Freeandsubsequentlyreducedratemembershipat Central YMCA Club

• Dedicatedexercise classes for 3monthswhichwere suitable for participants

• Afreepedometerandpedometerchallenges

• Accesstoawebbasedportalwithindividualiseduser accounts, health information and social networking options.

Programmelaunch

Months 1-3

Months 4-6

Workplace Activators trained

Free access toCentral YMCA Club

Participants begin paying for membership at Central YMCA Club(optional)

First data collection takes place

Dedicated exercise classes for participants



Data collectionAll 148 employees completed a questionnaire about their health and well-being just priortobeginning theprogramme.Eighty-nine (60%)completed thesamequestionnaireagain6monthslater.Afurther9%ofbaselinerespondentshadlefttheircompaniesbeforethe6monthdata collection point. The questionnaire focussed on employees’ psychological well-being, physical health, physical activity, absenteeism and presenteeism. In addition, focus groupswereheldwithparticipantsandActivatorsafter6monthstounderstandtheirexperiencesonthe programme.

Month 4

Month 6

Months 5-6

Yoga in Leicester Square event

PedometerChallenge

Data collection and focus groups

Timeline showing the key milestones from the Workplace Activator pilot.

Winners from Pedometer Challenge enjoying the winning prize of a weekend break at a spa


The results 5

Physical activityWe asked participants how many days in a typical week they participate in 30 minutes or more of at least moderate intensity physical activity. At the start of the programme, this was on average 1.7 days per week. After 6 months this hadincreasedto3.6daysperweek.xvii

At 6 months participants were also asked whether their physical activity hadincreased,decreasedorremainedthesameoverthelast6months,60%saidithadincreased. Participants described how participating in the programme had led them to increase the amount of regular physical activity they do. Many started at a point wheretheyhadlowactivityandfitnesslevels.

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The results 5

Onewaytheparticipantsincreasedtheiractivitylevelswasthroughattendingthegym. Many had never been a member of a gym before, and the Workplace Activators often accompanied participants to exercise classes and other activities. When the period of free gym membership came to an end, around 1 in 3 participants began topaytousethegym,andthatlevelremainedhigh6monthslater.

“Onmoving to the UK from Australia I found it very hard tocontinue the outdoors lifestyle I was used to and ended upbecoming very unhealthy. I joined the Workplace ActivatorprogrammebecauseIfoundithardtogetbackintothementalityof exercising. Having the Workplace Activators and the broader supportnetwork inplacereallyhelped. Inowhate it if Idon’texerciseeveryfewdaysandamworkinghardtoensureIdon’tfallback intothesameunhealthy lifestyle. I thinkmyhusbandhas noticed quite a difference and he has also become more active so the programme had a knock on effect on my family.” SusanRousak,CrownEstate

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The results 5

WellbeingWe measured changes over a 6 month period against a range of wellbeingindicators:xvi

a) Satisfactionwithlife(ameasureofoverallpsychologicalwell-being)

b) Depression

c) Positiveandnegativemoodstates

d) Perceivedstress

Comparingparticipants’ratingsatthestartoftheprogrammeandafter6monthsshowedthatpsychologicalwell-beingincreased.Therewasasignificantincreasein satisfaction with life and positive mood states. Participants also reported a statisticallysignificantreductionindepression,perceivedstressandnegativemoodstates.

Apairedt-testfoundsatisfactionwithlifewassignificantlyhigherat6monthscomparedtobaseline,t=4.76,df=88,p<0.001.Themeanscoreforsatisfactionwithlifeatbaselinewas20.55(±6.3)andat6monthsitwas23.06(±5.6).Chartaboveshowsthedistributionofscoresateach time point.

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The results 5

Participants were asked whether they had felt sad, blue or depressed for two weeks ormoreinarowduringthepast12months.Atbaseline50answeredyesand39no,6monthslater33answeredyesand56no.

In the focus groups participants explained that exercising had made them feelhappier at work, less stressed and more energetic. Participants had been told by colleaguesoutsidetheprogrammetheyappearedtohavemoreofa‘buzz’aboutthem than previously and a more positive general outlook.

“I joined the Workplace Activator programme because Iwas feeling out of sorts, and needed some motivation and encouragementtobemoreactive.Sincejoiningtheprogrammeit’shadamajorimpactonmyactivitylevels–forexampleI’velearned to swim! But more importantly it has also helped with myoverallwellbeing–ithasboostedmyconfidencelevelsandselfesteem.IthasalsoreducedmystresslevelsatworkandIfeelthatIcancopewithstuffalotmore–Idon’tfeelastiredeither.NowIhavetheattitudethatIcandoanything.”WilhelminaCrown,FinanceManager,HFEA

McNemar’stestfoundthiswasasignificantdifference(n=89,exactp=0.001,(2-sided)).Graphaboveshowsthedistributionofdataateachtimepoint.

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The results 5

Physical healthWeassessedanumberofindicatorsofphysicalhealthincludingBodyMassIndex(BMI)andanoverallratingofgeneralhealth.Duetotimeandfinancialconstraintsonly self-reported measures of physical health were collected.

TherewasasmallbutsignificantdecreaseinBMIbetweenbaseline(mean24.9±4.6kg.m-2)andsixmonths(24.3±4.2kg.m-2).Withinthegroupofparticipantsthere were a few individuals who achieved substantial weight loss of 2-3 stones in weight.

Participantsalsoreportedmorepositivegeneralhealthat6monthscomparedtobaseline. The chart below shows the distribution of ratings at each time point.

Whenconvertedtonumericaldata(bad=1:excellent=5)themeanratingatbaselinewas(3.5±0.8)comparedto(3.9±0.9)at6months,

thiswasasignificantincrease(t=3.84,df=88,p<0.001).

In the focusgroupsparticipantsmentionedavarietyofways inwhichbecomingmore active had impacted on their health, for example through improved sleep, reduced back pain, and weight loss.

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Business indicatorsAbsenteeismwaslowatbaselineandremainedsoat6months.Presenteeismwasmeasuredas performance at work over the past 4 weeks compared to the usual performance of most workers in a similar job. Therewas a small, statistically significant increase inperformancerelativetoothersat6monthscomparedtobaseline.

Focus groups also revealed that participants felt that they were more positive, alert andfocussedatworkasaresultofexercisingmore.Exercisingbeforeworkoratlunchtimegaveabreak in the day. Participants also valued the fact that their organisations had signed up to the programme and what that said about the organisation valuing its employees’ well-being.

The results 5

“JoiningWorkplaceActivatorcreatedarealbuzzintheofficeamongouremployeesandIknowofanumberofpeopletakingpartwherethe programme hasmade a big difference.One of ourWorkplaceActivators has really been enthusiastic in encouraging colleagues to be more active, whether that’s sending encouraging emails, arranging badminton matches with work colleagues and even buddying up with workcolleaguesforgymsessionsorexerciseclasses. Itmightnotwork for everyone, but it has made a really positive contribution and has helped motivate colleagues to be more active.”ChrisWhite,HeadofHRandOrganisationalDevelopment,NationalHousingFederation

A National vision for Workplace ActivatorDuring the early stages of the Workplace Activator pilot Central YMCA secured additional funding from the Mayor of London to train Workplace Activators across the Capital. This forms part of a pan-London YMCA project and a partnershipwith the Fitness IndustryAssociation’s(FIA)“ShiftintoSport”programme.

Theleisureandfitnessindustryhasindicatedthatitisinterestedintheconcept of Workplace Activator as a means of encouraging people to be more physically active and as a new way of engaging with companies.

Central YMCA has now developed Workplace Activator training and e-learningwhichwillbemarketedbyourtrainingproviderYMCAfittocompaniesacross theUKwhoare interested indevelopingactivitychampions for their workplace.


How can employers promote physical activity? 6

Promoting physical activity in the workplaceSowhatlessonshavewelearnedfromtheWorkplaceActivatorpilot,andhowcanemployers encourage their workforce to be more physically active?

Responsibility for employee health and wellbeing traditionally sits with HR or occupationalhealthinlargerorganisations,butwithSMEsthisisn’talwaysthecase–theremaynotbeanHRfunction.Asaresulttheissuemaynotbepickedup,andbothcompaniesandemployeesmissoutonthemanybenefitsahealthyandmoreactive workforce can achieve.

Having a Workplace Activator in post might go some way to resolving this by ensuring that an organisation has a nominated individual who is happy to take responsibility for the area.

The results of this pilot are very encouraging about the positive impact Workplace Activators can have on employee health and wellbeing and consequently engagement and productivity at work.

An important role which the Workplace Activators played was providing ongoing supportandencouragementtotheirworkcolleagues.Thesupportvaried–somesimply signposted employees to activity opportunities, or gave them an occasional “nudge” tobemorephysicallyactivewithofficechatsoremails. InsomecasesActivatorswereverypro-active–organisingcompany-widechallenges,actingasagym or exercise “buddy”, and sitting down with work colleagues on a regular basis tocheckonprogress.Overthefirstfewmonthscolleagueswhowereinterestedinbecoming more active got to know one another and started supporting each other to maintain new exercise habits, freeing up the Workplace Activators to target new groups.



What makes a good Workplace Activator?

“IwantedtobecomeaWorkplaceActivatorbecauseitfittedwellwithour organisation’s aim of promoting broader health and wellbeing tostaff,andworkinginHR,Iwantedtomakeadifference,supportworkcolleaguestogetmoreactiveandleadbyexample.Seeingtheimpactonothermembersofstaff isgreat. Itcanbechallengingattimes and while you might not be able to be there for everyone, having someone in post to champion stuff like exercise, and even broader healthissuesisagoodidea.Sincetheprogrammestartedtherehavebeenlotsmoreconversationsaroundtheofficeaboutgeneralfitnessand wellbeing, and even people who weren’t part of the pilot have been asking about it. The mood has certainly been affected in a really positive way.”VictoriaFarrington,Coram

Promoting the health at work agenda is recognised by the Government as a particular priority, and was referenced in the recent Public Health White Paper ‘Healthy lives, healthy people’. The Department of Health has also launched the Public Health Responsibility Deal as a way of tapping into the potential for businesses and other organisations to improve public health and tackle health inequalities. As part of the Responsibility Deal, networks have been established covering areas such as physical activity and health at work.

The networks have published a number of “pledges” which organisations can sign up to including one which is about companies “developing activity champions for the workplace”.

However,peopleareonlyonepieceofthejigsawandthereareanumberofotherimportant steps organisations can take to promote physical activity and broader health and wellbeing in the workplace.



• AdaptingtheenvironmentThere are a number of simple steps employers can take to encourage their staff to be more physically active. Promoting active travel arrangements by encouraging employees to walk, cycle or use another mode of transport involving physicalactivitymaybeoneofthesimplestoptionstointroduce.Employersmay need to consider giving information on walking or cycling routes, providing bicycleracks,andmakingarrangementsforshoweringfacilities.Effortscouldalso be made to encourage employees to take the stairs rather than the lift. Informationandadviceonthebenefitsandopportunitiestobemorephysicallyactivecouldalsobeintroducedintheoffice–forexample,onnoticeboardsorregular email updates sent out to all staff.

• ChangingworkplacecultureWith 1 in 3 employees stating that their boss is not a good role model for how healthy they are, there is a strong indication that organisations should lead by example, through managers and senior employees engaging in physical activity and becoming role models for more healthy and active lifestyles.

Employers could also do more to tackle a culture which may frown uponemployees taking time out to exercise during the working day. Almost three quaters of employees reported that it is common for people to eat lunch at their desks, but almost half agree that they are more productive at work after exercising. Employers should continue to encourage staff to take regularbreaksandwithmanynowofferingflexibleworking,shouldactivelysupporttheiremployeestoexerciseregularly–evenifthat includesduringlunchtimeorquiettimesoftheday.Thebenefittobothanemployeeandtobusinessishigher productivity.

• UnderstandingtheneedsofyourpeopleEachorganisationisdifferent,andeveryindividualisdifferent.Whatworksinsomecompaniesmightnotinothers,andaonesizefitsallsolutionmightnotbetakenupbyallstaff.Askyouremployeeswhatwouldworkforthem–whatarebarriers to them becoming more physically active; what would encourage them to be more physically active; and more broadly would they value employers promoting healthy eating or stress reduction at work?

People are the most important part of any organisation. Their health and wellbeing is integraltobusinesssuccessandinitiativestodeliveronthisshouldn’t justbe regarded as an optional extra but fundamental to the future growth of your organisation.Energisingyourworkforcewill energiseyourbusiness–all themore reason to play.


iHSE(2009/10)

ii HSE(2009/10)

iii CBI

iv PriceWaterhouseCoopers(2008)

v BUPA(2009)

vi CentralYMCA/COMRES

vii CentralYMCA/COMRES

viii ChiefMedicalOfficer,DepartmentofHealth,2004

ix DepartmentofHealth(2009)

x DepartmentofHealth(2009)

xi NICE(2008)

xii BlackReview(2009)

xiii ActivateEngland(2005-7)SportEngland-fundedprogramme,apartnershipbetweenYMCAEngland,CentralYMCAand56memberYMCAsacrossEnglandthat engaged some 8,500 previously inactive individuals in a range of physical activity programmes.

xiv Thedatainthisreportwascollectedjustbeforethestartoftheprogrammeandatthe6monthpoint.

xv TheseshowedthemeanageoftheActivatorswas33.6±6.8years,theyoungestwas 24 and the oldest 50. Ninety-two percent of Activators were White, 4% Asian and4%Black,74%wereeducatedtodegreelevelorabove

References 7


xvi These four aspects of psychological well-being were measured using previously validatedscales:SatisfactionwithLifeScale (Dieneretal.,1985);asingle itemdepression scale “during the past 12 months, have you ever felt sad, blue or depressedfortwoweeksormoreinarow?”(Pattenetal.,2000);PositiveandNegativeMood States questionnaire (Watson et al., 1988) and the PerceivedStressScale(CohenandWilliamson,1988).

xvi Apairedsamplest-testshowedthiswasasignificantincreaseinphysicalactivity(t=8.58,df=81,p<0.001).

xvi Atbaselinethemeannumberofdayswas1.7(±1.2)andat6monthsthemeanwas3.6(±1.7).

References7

Forfulldetailsofreportpleasecontact:DuncanStephenson

CentralYMCA,112GreatRussellStreet,London,WC1B3NQ

Tel:02073431729

email:[email protected]

© 2011 Central YMCACentral YMCA is a registered charity no. 213121

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All Work and No Play