12.09.14
NHS office workers to trial ‘sit-stand’ desks to improve health
A new study into the benefits of ‘sit-stand’ desks will be trialled on support staff at Leicestershire hospitals.
Workers will be able to raise or lower the desks depending on whether they feel like standing or sitting. Up to 100 of them will be installed for workers in Leicester Royal Infirmary, Glenfield Hospital and Leicester General Hospital.
The study, being led by Dr Fehmidah Munir from Loughborough University, hopes to prove that the staff will feel “more energised and better psychologically” from using the desks, as evidence suggests sitting for eight hours a day is bad for people.
The three-year study comes at a time when sickness absence rates among NHS support staff is said to be high.
Dr Munir, senior lecturer in psychology in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences (SSEHS), said: “Sitting is extremely harmful. It has been linked to a risk of diabetes, obesity, and a lot of metabolic diseases. People are sitting far too long.
“The evidence now suggests that if you are sitting for eight, nine hours and you then do one hour of exercise, it has very little impact.
“I’m hoping to find that workers will feel much more energised because they are breaking up their bouts of sitting, and allowing the blood and oxygen to flow through the body better.”
The project, called SMArT Work (Stand More AT Work), has received £524,429 in funding from the Department of Health and is a collaborative venture between SSEHS, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester – Loughborough Diet, Lifestyle and Physical Activity Biomedical Research Unit (BRU), and the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria University Melbourne, Australia.
Dr Munir and her colleagues will spend the first year identifying areas where the desks can be introduced and researching people’s attitudes and behaviours in an attempt to make them receptive to the desks.
The desks will be introduced in the middle of next year and the researchers will monitor the differences in health, well- being and performance between those who use them and another group who use sitting desks.
Tell us what you think – have your say below or email [email protected]