Investigating the Effectiveness of Physical Activity Policy and Environmental Strategy Interventions for Adults in the Workplace

The purpose of this study was to use the RE-AIM framework to evaluate the effectiveness of a written workplace physical activity policy for increasing adult physical activity. Sixty-five adults between the ages of 23 and 64 (M = 44.89, SD = 11.35) from one worksite volunteered for the intervention. Participants at the headquarters office were assigned to the intervention group and those in the three satellite office locations were assigned to the control group. The intervention group was given 30 minutes, in addition to lunch, with no penalty to work hours to utilize walking routes. All participants were provided a pedometer to track steps during the workday and were asked to complete a self-report measure of physical activity at pre-intervention (T1), week 5 (T2), and post-intervention (T3). Results revealed that 18.30% of the total population of eligible employees volunteered to participate and the representativeness of the volunteers did not reflect the eligible population (reach). MANCOVA revealed that the group x time interaction and the main effect for group were not significant for step counts, walking (MET min/week), and total physical activity (MET min/week); however the main effect for time was significant for step counts from T1 to T2, T1 to T3, and T2 to T3, and total physical activity (MET min/week) from T1 to T2 and T1 to T3. No participants progressed a category of physical activity (e.g. from low to moderate or moderate to high) throughout the 10 weeks (effectiveness). The adoption rate was 14.29% and the representativeness of the companies who declined to participate were not different that the volunteer company. A fidelity rate of 89.00% was achieved (implementation), but maintenance was not examined. This worksite study was unique in that it was the first to use the RE-AIM framework to evaluate the effectiveness of a written, workplace physical activity policy