Details about the initiative

Purpose of the wellness initiative

U.S. adults spend, on average, about 11-12 hours per day sedentary (seated and somewhat inactive).  Daily sedentary time is strongly associated with risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) (disease of the  heart and blood vessels), diabetes, and other chronic diseases. It is also associated with fatigue and decreased mood (Young et al, 2016).

In order to decrease people’s sedentary time to improve health, health professionals most often tell people they should sit less and move more, but the advice is usually very general. In response, many people take this advice to mean that they should incorporate at least 30 minutes of exercise into their daily routine. 

Researchers at Columbia University conducted a study and found out that taking movement breaks throughout the workday has a significant impact on physical and mental health (Duran et al, 2023). In the study, participants who took a break to move for 5 minutes every 30 minutes or 1 hour throughout the workday showed improvements in their health, mood, and experienced decreased fatigue. The study also found that taking periodic 5-minute movement breaks throughout the day was acceptable in real-world conditions. 

The purpose of this wellness initiative is to implement the findings and recommendations from the Columbia University study across the Simmons workforce to improve the well-being of employees individually and enhance the overall effectiveness and success of the organization. This wellness initiative will have a particular focus on how breaking up sedentary time throughout the day can have positive impacts on fatigue, mood, and emotion.

Details: What you'll be asked to do

Active participation in the wellness initiative will last 2 weeks. Everyone can participate remotely. 

As an overview, this wellness initiative involves the following: 

• Completion of a sign-up form  

• Completion of an initial survey 

• Taking activity breaks throughout the workday for 2 weeks

• Responding to daily activity surveys during a 2-week period where you will break-up periods of being sedentary with timed activity (like walking) 

• Completion of a final survey 

Sign up 

If you agree to participate, you’ll complete a sign up form that asks for your full name and Simmons email address. You will receive links to surveys and reminders to complete the survey at your Simmons email. 

Participation in this wellness initiative is completely voluntary! Choosing to participate or not to participate will not impact your employment or standing at the University in any way. You may skip questions that you do not want to answer. And, you may stop participating at any time.

Initial survey

You will be asked to complete an initial survey online.

As part of the initial survey, you will be asked to create a Unique ID that you will enter on each survey you complete. This Unique ID will preserve the anonymity of the information you provide. Your Unique ID should not be your name, Simmons email, or other information that may identify you.

It will collect information about you including  demographic information, employment status and work habits/performance, fatigue/energy levels, and  sedentary behaviors/physical activity habits. It also asks questions about your work environment. It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. 

Activity Breaks

For two-weeks, we ask that you take activity breaks as often as you can  throughout your workday. Based on the research, it is recommended to take an activity break either every 30 minutes, every hour or every two hours. You can do whichever type of activity  that works best for you during these activity breaks! For example, one way to “be active” is to take a walk for the 5-minute period. You can take your walking  break in whichever way is most comfortable and safe for you. For example, you could walk around your  office or home, or take a short walk outside. You could also walk stairs or try stepping in place. Walk in  whatever way is convenient and possible for you. If you use an assistive device such as a wheelchair or  walker, you can wheel or walk. Upper body exercises with resistance bands, chair-based exercises, and  dance breaks are other ways to be active during the 5 minutes. 

Wellness Initiative daily surveys (2-weeks taking movement breaks) 

During the wellness initiative, you will receive daily emails at the Simmons email you provided on the sign-up form for the entire 2 weeks with a link to a daily survey. The daily survey asks that you give feedback about your activity and activity breaks throughout the workday. It will also include questions about your work, mood, and energy levels.

• We ask that you try to complete each survey as close to the time of receiving it as  possible. 

• Each survey will take approximately 3 minutes to complete. The link to the survey will  remain active until midnight ET each day. 

• At the end of the 2 weeks, you will be informed that the 2 week period of taking movement breaks is complete; you will no longer receive daily emails.

Final survey 

At the end of the 2-week wellness initiative period, you will receive an email with a link to complete a final survey online. The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to  complete. It will ask questions about your progress and experiences participating in this wellness initiative. Upon completion of the final survey, your participation is complete! 

Risks

While injury is not anticipated, the risk of injury exists. Such risk includes, but is not limited to, the risk of bodily injury, including other severe or fatal bodily injury, to participant and/or third parties.  By participating in this wellness initiative, you acknowledge the potential risk of injury or death.

Specifically, there may be risks or discomforts if you take part in this wellness initiative. These may include: some feelings of  boredom or stress while responding to the surveys, but these are generally mild and go away  quickly.  

The activity done as part of the wellness initiative might cause minimal tiredness or fatigue; however, we  expect this fatigue to subside when you are sedentary once again. 

Another risk of taking part in this wellness initiative is the possibility of a loss of confidentiality or privacy. Loss of  privacy means having your personal information shared with someone who is not on the wellness initiative team and  was not supposed to see or know about your information. The team plans to protect your privacy.  Their plans for keeping your information private are described in the Confidentiality section below. 

If you think you have been injured because of taking part in this wellness initiative, tell Leigh Haynes or Dolores Wolongevicz  as soon as possible. You can call them at 781-718-2580. They can help you get the care you need. If you have an urgent injury, call 911. 

Simmons University does not endorse or recommend this program. The University, the Department of Public Health and the faculty organizing this initiative have not set aside funds to pay you for any such injuries, illnesses, or reactions, or for the related medical care. Any costs for medical expenses will be billed to you and your insurance company. You may be responsible for any co-payments and your insurance may not cover the costs of injuries related to this wellness initiative. 

Confidentiality

Any information collected during this wellness initiative that can identify you by name will be kept confidential. We  will do everything we can to keep your data secure, however, complete confidentiality cannot be  promised. Despite all of our efforts, unanticipated problems, such as a stolen computer may occur,  although it is highly unlikely.  

If you choose to take part in this wellness initiative, you are giving us the authorization (i.e. your permission) to use  the information collected during the project that can identify you. Your Unique ID will keep your responses anonymous. We will not be able to link your responses to you. Your email will be used for sending the daily surveys. Your email will not be linked to your responses.  Only the project team will have access to your data. All data will be stored on the secure Simmons University Google Drive. 

Your anonymized information will be reported in aggregrate when we share the results in publications, presentations or other communications.  Your anonymized data could also be used for future research studies without your additional consent.  

Benefits to Participation

You may or may not receive personal (direct) benefit from taking part in the wellness initiative. Such benefits may include improved mood, energy and productivity. In addition,  the information collected from this wellness initiative may help others in the future. Our hope is that we may be able  to provide more precise and effective guidance for reducing one’s sedentary time at work in future wellness initiatives.   

Compensation 

You will not receive any compensation for participating in the wellness initiative. 

Whom do I contact if I have questions or problems? 

If you have any questions or concerns about this wellness initiative, you may use contact Leigh Haynes and Dolores Wolongevicz by email at movementsnack-group@simmons.edu.

Taking part in this wellness initiative is your choice. You can decide not to take part in or stop being in the wellness initiative at any time for any reason.