Goal-setting intervention to reduce occupational sedentary behaviour

Introduction: Occupational sedentary behaviour is an emerging public health concern. Office-based workplaces provide an ideal setting to implement an intervention due to the large proportion of sitting time reported during work hours. Previous sedentary behaviour interventions have included goal-setting as a behaviour change strategy with promising results. The aim of the current study was to explore the most and least effective goals as perceived by office-based workers for reducing occupational sedentary behaviour. Methods: Twenty-Seven University-based office workers participated in the study. Participants were invited to participate in an interview after the completion of a 6-week intervention where participants self-determined six incremental goals. The interview was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Following this, the data was thematically analysed. Results: As a collective group, the goals which were considered to be the most effective included walking further or up/down stairs to attend amenities, standing when the phone rang and/or standing for the duration of the phone call, walking further to fill water bottle, walking during a break or walking to visit colleagues or to a specific area. Coincidentally, the least effective goals included standing while on the phone and walking during the day. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the same goal can be considered to be the most or least effective for an individual. This indicated that sedentary behaviour goal-setting interventions need to account for individual preference and match the level of willingness of the participant as a 'one size fits all' approach is unlikely to be effective.

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ASBHM-CHP 2017: Australasian Society of Behavioural Health and Medicine Conference

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