Flagship employee health programme receives international award nomination

RESEARCHERS are to present the findings of a flagship workplace health and wellbeing study motivating NHS staff to reduce major health risks at an international public health conference in Glasgow today (Thursday 20 November).

The scheme could play a leading role in the Government’s recent drive to take hard-hitting national action on physical inactivity, obesity, smoking, alcohol and other major health risks through the development of new workplace incentives promoting employee health, wellbeing and cutting sickness-related absence. This was launched by NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens in his NHS Five Year Forward View.

The abstract submitted to the conference was singled out as one of the five highest scoring presentations in the Young Researcher category by the European Public Health Conference from a total of 1,025 abstracts received from 68 countries.

The annual European Public Health Conference is a major platform for debate to researchers, policy makers and practitioners in the field of public health and health services in Europe, helping shape and influence key improvements in public health across the continent. The findings of this study will be presented to a panel of high level public health professionals on Thursday 20 November in Glasgow.

Sue Kesterton, Exercise Science Officer/ Public Health Hub Associate at Sheffield Hallam University and lead author of the abstract said : “We’re honoured to be presenting the findings of the Sheffield feasibility study at one of the most influential international public health arenas."

"The average individual spends two-thirds of their waking hours at work making the workplace is an ideal setting for health promotion. Poor staff health and wellbeing is estimated to cost the UK economy £100 billion a year.

"Data from our feasibility study has found that NHS staff participating in a health promotion programme programme at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust made significant improvements to levels of aerobic fitness, lost weight and reduced heart disease risk. We’ve also demonstrated that for every £1 spent on the programme, the NHS as an employer has saved £3 in costs providing a positive return on investment.

"The programme, which was developed in partnership with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield Hallam University, provides evidence that a proactive approach to health and wellbeing can make a real difference to society and work as a business model.”

The workplace wellbeing programme was first tested at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2012. It aims to help NHS staff make positive changes to lifestyle through a bespoke action plan. Baseline health and fitness assessments and analysis of lifestyle habits were completed and staff were provided with personalised advice regarding exercise, healthy eating, weight management, and various other health and wellbeing topics.

The health promotion programme was carried out onsite at the NHS in work time, where possible, which improved uptake and staff engagement. In addition, staff were then supported on the programme through workshops and follow-up health and fitness assessments.

At Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust almost nine out of ten participants agreed that the project had a positive impact on their motivation to make healthy lifestyle choices and made changes to their lifestyle or health as a result.

This included increasing physical activity (71%), improving healthy eating, nutrition or diet (71%), implementing strategies for weight management (37%), introducing mental wellbeing strategies (32%); reducing alcohol intake (11%); improving back care (7%) and quitting smoking (3%).

The programme has since been rolled out to NHS staff at Bradford and Airedale NHS Trusts, with over 300 NHS staff in the region taking part to date. Furthermore, free health and wellbeing assessments are currently being offered for other NHS trusts and local companies based in Yorkshire and Humber, plus training for staff to deliver their own workplace health promotion programmes to create a sustainable legacy. http://www.shu.ac.uk/business/news/funding-improve-staff-productivity-and-reduce-absenteeism

The programme of work has been made possible through the support of the Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network, who will be a key partner in taking this programme to the next stage to maximise the benefits and increase availability to the wider regional and national NHS community.

The abstract will be published in an international peer reviewed journal in Public Health at the end of 2014.

ENDS

Photo: Sue Kesterton (left) demonstrates the flagship workplace health and wellbeing programme at the Expo2014 conference earlier this year

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Claudia Blake, Communications Specialist
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Email: claudia.blake@sth.nhs.uk
 


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