Implementation of a Fitness Education and Training Program to Support Safe Patient Handling and Safe Lifting

Implementation of a Fitness Education and Training Program to Support Safe Patient Handling and Safe Lifting in a Community Based Hospital (The Fit for Work Project)

This project involves the delivery of education and training sessions to Seven Oaks General Hospital (SOGH) staff, with the goal of workplace injury prevention. Education will include review of provincial safe patient handling and back injury prevention guidelines and review of core fitness competencies required to comply with injury prevention standards. Training sessions will include exercises to improve core, gluteal and quadricep strength, hip/knee mobility and hamstring flexibility. Training will also be an opportunity to provide feedback on functional movement performance. Outcomes will include questionnaires on: low back pain/dysfunction; movement confidence; work injury rates and participant satisfaction with program. The project will advise stakeholders of the benefits and challenges associated with implementation of a fitness program to support safe patient handling techniques, as outlined in the provincial guidelines for healthcare workers.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Lower Back Injury
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: An Educational and Training Program

Detailed Description

The Fit for Work Project is an educational and training program outcome evaluation. It is a two-part education and practical program designed to evaluate the effects of training on movement confidence, low back dysfunction and changes in rates of lower back injury. In the first part, participants will attend the education session developed by physiotherapists who specialize in return to work programs. In the second part participants will participate in a 4-week practical program, where they will stretch, lengthen and strengthen key muscles used in squatting, weight shifting and the hip hinge movement. Feedback and movement coaching are an important element in performing and mastering these movements correctly and this workplace wellness training program will provide staff the support needed.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 55
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Manitoba
    • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R2P 2W7.
      • The Wellness Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female, age 18 years or older
• Staff of Seven Oaks General Hospital during the time of the program
• Able to communicate in English and provide written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• An acute injury, a medical condition, or other personal reason inhibiting participation in all 4 weeks of exercise training sessions

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: SOGH employees, taking part in the same education and training program.; Participants will be recruited from the Seven Oak General Hospital staff population and will complete a two-part education and practical program.	Other: An Educational and Training Program; Education and practical training program designed to evaluate the effects of training on movement confidence, low back dysfunction and changes in rates of lower back injury

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change from baseline in staff confidence in performing the core fitness competencies required to abide by safe patient handling, safe lifting and back injury prevention guidelines	A Movement Confidence Questionnaire will be used, asking participants to rate their confidence as either 1-Very Low, 2-Low, 3-Moderate, 4-High, 5-Very High in completing 10 different movements without difficulty: Get down to and back up from the floor without using support; Walk continuously for 1 hour; Balance on 1 foot for 30 seconds; Bend over to clean the bath tub; Move the fridge to clean behind it; Lift a 24 pack of water bottles off the floor; Place carry-on luggage in overhead bin on airplane; Lift a heavy suitcase in and out of the trunk of a car.; Carry 2 heavy bags of groceries 100 ft or 30 m; Shovel snow from a 1 car driveway.	At the beginning of the program (baseline), at week 4 (the end of the 4-week training program), and one year after completion of the training program
Change from baseline in severity of low back pain and/or dysfunction	Measured as change from baseline in the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (Designed to evaluate functional limitations related to pain, to monitor the progress of individual patients and to compare the evolution of lower back pain (LBP) subjects incorporated in rehabilitation programs)	At the beginning of the program (baseline), at week 4 (the end of the 4-week training program), and one year after completion of the training program
Change from baseline in severity of low back pain and/or dysfunction	Measured as change from baseline in the Oswestry Disability Index, also known as the Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire. (A self-reported measurement tool that measures both pain and functional status. It is used for evaluating disability caused by lower backache).	At the beginning of the program (baseline), at week 4 (the end of the 4-week training program), and one year after completion of the training program
Change from baseline in incidence of back injuries	Measured as change in the number of new low back injuries or flare-ups of existing back conditions sustained in the past year.	At the beginning of the program (baseline), and 1 year after completion of the 4-week training program
Change from baseline in frequency of back injuries	Measured as the number of new low back injuries or flare-ups of existing back conditions sustained at work in the past year.	At the beginning of the program (baseline), and 1 year after completion of the 4-week training program
Change from baseline in time loss cost of back injuries	Measured as the duration of time away from work due to low back pain/injury.	At the beginning of the program (baseline), and 1 year after completion of the 4-week training program

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Benefits and challenges associated with implementation of a fitness program to support safe patient handling and safe lifting techniques, as outlined in the provincial and regional guidelines for healthcare workers	A "Program Exit Questionnaire" will be administered to collect participant experiences and views on the benefits and challenges associated with the program.	Collected at week 4 (at the end of the 4-week training program)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Manitoba
• Collaborators: Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba; Seven Oaks General Hospital; The Wellness Institute Powered by Seven Oaks General Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Shelley Sargent, BMRPT MSc, The Wellness Institute at Seven Oaks General Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 14, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 11, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): October 30, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 13, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): April 28, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): November 17, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 14, 2023
• Last Verified: November 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Safe Patient Handling; Safe Lifting; Injury Prevention.; Program Outcome Evaluation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Wounds and Injuries; Back Injuries
• Other Study ID Numbers: HS25745 (H2022:355)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No