Examining Exercise, Health Coaching and Meditation for University Employees

January 3, 2020 updated by: Shalini Moonsammy Persaud, York University

The Healthy Staff Initiative Study: Examining Exercise, Health Coaching and Meditation for University Employees: a Randomized Trial

There is evidently great potential in implementing workplace health promotion programs, but more randomized trials are needed to determine which interventions are worksite-effective in helping to decrease inactive behaviors and increase engagement in healthy lifestyle activities. For employers, it could mean improving the health and productivity of employees. For workers, especially those in physically and/or psychologically demanding positions, it could mean developing strength, muscular endurance and agility to reduce musculoskeletal pain while developing the stress reduction skills that reduce long-term sickness and absenteeism risks. While changing behavior in a complex workplace is, as seen in multiple studies, difficult due to the need to change workplace and organizational culture between employers and employees, this study aims to identify the effectiveness of workplace interventions in relation to counseling for university employees to increase overall work fitness without affecting any hierarchal interactions at the work site. Simply put, the investigators will examine the benefits of a workplace exercise and mindfulness (two-prong) intervention (in combination) vs. a group who just receive a workplace exercise intervention. Both interventions will be guided by health coaches. Given the limited research with health coaching and workplace interventions for university workers, the aim is to contribute to a developing research literature. This study is geared to engage university employees at their workplace over a 3 month period. Participants will be assessed through pre and post physical and psychological measures and will also undergo semi-structured interviews (SSI).

Study Overview

Status

Terminated

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

There is evidently great potential in implementing workplace health promotion programs, but more randomized trials are needed to determine which interventions are worksite-effective in helping to decrease inactive behaviors and increase engagement in healthy lifestyle activities. For employers, it could mean improving the health and productivity of employees. For workers, especially those in physically and/or psychologically demanding positions, it could mean developing strength, muscular endurance and agility to reduce musculoskeletal pain while developing the stress reduction skills that reduce long-term sickness and absenteeism risks. While changing behavior in a complex workplace is, as seen in multiple studies, difficult due to the need to change workplace and organizational culture between employers and employees, this study aims to identify the effectiveness of workplace interventions in relation to counseling for university employees to increase overall work fitness without affecting any hierarchal interactions at the work site. Simply put, the investigators will examine the benefits of a workplace exercise and mindfulness (two-prong) intervention (in combination) vs. a group who just receive a workplace exercise intervention. Both interventions will be guided by health coaches. Given the limited research with health coaching and workplace interventions for university workers, the aim is to contribute to a developing research literature. This study is geared to engage university employees at their workplace over a 3 month period. Participants will be assessed through pre and post physical and psychological measures and will also undergo semi-structured interviews (SSI). The investigators hypothesize that making available these various fitness and well-being programs for university employees will effectively improve their overall fitness (peak VO2) and psychological health (stress, depression, anxiety, work satisfaction), making them more efficient, positive and work-productive. Specifically, the investigators hypothesize that the exercise and mindfulness meditation group will demonstrate significant improvements when compared to the group solely receiving exercise-oriented health coaching. Improvements will be seen across all measures of physical (such as VO2 peak and BMI) and psychological (such as depression, stress, anxiety, work-life balance) function and will be sustained at 3 month follow-up, indicating a more effective means of initiating fitness at the workplace

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M3J 1P3
        • York University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Employees at York University;
  • fluency in English;
  • provision of informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • currently engaged in regular exercise programs or routines which meet or exceed the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines
  • neurological or musculoskeletal co-morbidities inhibiting participation in exercise program
  • > 65 years old;
  • medical history of cardiovascular diseases such as CAD and CHF, uncontrolled hypertension
  • currently engaged in a mindfulness meditation program or meditative practice at advanced levels;
  • not in possession of a smartphone (android/i-phone)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Exercise and Health Coaching

Walking exercise protocol program, carried out by themselves, over 12 weeks.

Health Coach addresses various topics with participant, half-hour sessions on a weekly (12 sessions)
Behavioral: Exercise and Health Coaching
Comparing Exercise and Health Coaching Alone
Experimental: Exercise, Health Coaching and Meditation

Walking exercise protocol program, carried out by themselves, over 12 weeks.

Health Coach addresses various topics with participant, half-hour sessions on a weekly (12 sessions)

Mindfulness Meditation intervention will incorporate varied types of MBI techniques 3 times per week for 12 weeks, during work hours and/or during their time on campus (after work hours).
Behavioral: Exercise, Health Coaching and Meditation
Comparing Exercise, Health Coaching and Meditation In Combination

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
VO2 Peak
Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks
Assess changes in VO2 peak over time
Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Psychological Questionnaires
Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks
Assess changes over time
Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

York University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Shalini Moonsammy Persaud, PhD (cand), York University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 12, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 15, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

October 18, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 6, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 3, 2020

Last Verified

January 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STU 2016 - 121

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

IPD Plan Description

Data is analyzed as group data

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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