NDLI: “Are we working (too) comfortably?”: a focus group study to understand sedentary behaviour when working at home and identify intervention strategies

Content Provider	Springer Nature : BioMed Central
Author	Morton, Sarah Fitzsimons, Claire Sivaramakrishnan, Divya Jepson, Ruth Niven, Ailsa
Abstract	Background The Covid-19 pandemic initiated an enduring shift in working patterns, with many employees now working at home (w@h). This shift has exacerbated existing high levels of occupational sedentary behaviour (SB) in office workers, which is a recognised risk to health and well-being. This study aimed to use the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model to better understand both employees’ SB, and line managers behaviour to assist employees to reduce SB when w@h, and identify how employees can best be supported to reduce SB. Methods Three online focus groups with employees aged 18–40 working in desk-based roles (e.g. administrative / sales / customer services) (n = 21), and three with line managers (n = 21) were conducted. The focus groups facilitated discussion regarding participants’ current behaviour, what impacts it, and what could be done to reduce employee SB when w@h. The focus group data were thematically analysed guided by the COM-B framework to understand influences on behaviour, and to identify promising intervention strategies. Results Most participants recognised that w@h had elevated employee occupational SB, and line managers reported the importance of supporting employees to manage their workload, and encouraging and modelling taking breaks. There were multiple influences on both employee and line manager behaviour with capability, opportunity and motivation all perceived as influential, although not equally. For example, a major theme related to the reduced physical opportunities for employees to reduce their SB when w@h, including blurred work-life boundaries. Changes in physical opportunities also made supporting employees challenging for line managers. Additionally, the w@h environment included unique social opportunities that negatively impacted the behaviour of both groups, including an expectation to always be present online, and social norms. A range of strategies for reducing SB when w@h at both individual and organisational level were suggested. Conclusions It was evident that SB when w@h is influenced by a range of factors, and therefore multi-component intervention strategies are likely to be most effective in reducing SB. Future intervention research is a priority to evaluate and refine strategies, and inform w@h guidance to protect both the short-term and long-term health consequences of elevated SB for those who continue to w@h.
Related Links	https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/counter/pdf/10.1186/s12889-024-18892-1.pdf
Ending Page	14
Page Count	14
Starting Page	1
File Format	HTM / HTML
ISSN	14712458
DOI	10.1186/s12889-024-18892-1
Journal	BMC Public Health
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	24
Language	English
Publisher	BioMed Central
Publisher Date	2024-06-06
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Public Health Medicine Epidemiology Biostatistics Vaccine Environmental Health COM-B Sedentary Sitting Occupational Work Teleworking Home-working Health Medicine/Public Health
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Journal Impact Factor	3.5/2023
5-Year Journal Impact Factor	3.9/2023

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

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