Health Intervention: Introducing walking and yoga classes among office workers in order to reduce sedentary lifestyle

Running head: HEALTH INTERVENTION PROPOSAL
HEALTH INTERVENTION PROPOSAL
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1HEALTH INTERVENTION PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
1. Introduction......................................................................................................................2
1.1. Background...............................................................................................................2
1.2. Rationale...................................................................................................................3
1.3. Aims and Objectives.................................................................................................7
1.4. Research Questions and Hypothesis.........................................................................7
2. Method.............................................................................................................................8
2.1. The Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) Model............................................................8
2.2. Design.......................................................................................................................9
2.3. Participants.............................................................................................................11
2.4. Sample Selection....................................................................................................11
2.5. Strategies and Procedures.......................................................................................11
2.6. Size.........................................................................................................................12
2.7. Materials.................................................................................................................12
2.8. Relevant Psychological Theory..............................................................................13
2.9. Ethical and Legal Issues.........................................................................................14
2.10. Funding.................................................................................................................14
3. Evaluation......................................................................................................................14
3.1. Data Analysis Strategy...........................................................................................14
3.2. Outcome Evaluation...............................................................................................14

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3.3. Process Evaluation..................................................................................................15
3.4. National Implications..............................................................................................15
4. Implementation Issues...................................................................................................15
4.1. Methodological Issues............................................................................................15
References..........................................................................................................................17

3HEALTH INTERVENTION PROPOSAL
Title: Health Intervention: Introducing walking and yoga classes among office workers in
order to reduce sedentary lifestyle
1. Introduction
1.1. Background
Increased occupational stress coupled with a lack of adequate knowledge and awareness
on the debilitating effects of prolonged sitting are the key contributors to the increased rates of
British adults engaged in sedentary lifestyle, which the World Health Organization (WHO)
estimates to be 21 billion in the United Kingdom UK), as reported by the BBC. The risk of
engagement in sedentary lifestyle for prolonged periods is higher in high income countries such
as the United Kingdom, due the increased inclination of citizens in such nations to engage in
sedentary based occupational and recreational activities (BBC News, 2019). In accordance to
the British Heart Foundation (BHF), 8.3 million men and 11.8 million women are engaged in
sedentary lifestyles in the UK, which contributes as a key risk factor in the development of a
cardiovascular deficits and premature death. Further prolonged periods of engagement in a
sedentary lifestyle have been implicated to be an additional determinant of chronic and harmful
health conditions like obesity, diabetes, high blood pressures as well as cancer (British Heart
Foundation, 2019). Further, as reported by the BHF as well as the Guardian, excessive sedentary
lifestyle compliance contributes to approximately 70, 000 deaths in the UK and an alarming
financial implication of £700m for the NHS, required for the management of health conditions,
of which, 40% are caused due to risk factors which are modifiable, such as prolonged sitting,
smoking, alcohol intake and unhealthy diet (Davis, 2019). To reduce such risks, the National
Health Service (NHS) recommends engagement in a minimum of 150 minutes of weekly

4HEALTH INTERVENTION PROPOSAL
physical activity (National Health Service, 2019). However, as per the BHF’s Physical Inactivity
and Sedentary Behavior Report 2017, 60% of adults in the UK lack awareness on these
guidelines and the harmful effects of sedentary lifestyle and prolonged sitting. Hence, the need of
the hour is to implement a health behavior change process which will be effective in targeting the
perceived barriers underlying this unawareness among adults, as well as modify adherence to
sedentary activities at the workplace (British Heart Foundation, 2019).
1.2. Rationale
Prolonged engagement in sitting results in reduction in the metabolic effectiveness of an
individual, leading to slowing down of metabolism and reduced capabilities of the individual’s
body to metabolize dietary fat, sugar and additional nutrients hence contributing to high blood
pressure and glucose and disruption in the lipid profiles (Bailey & Locke, 2015). Lack of
mitigation of workers engagement to such sedentary occupational environments further results in
aggravation of symptoms to yield chronic metabolic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension,
dyslipidemia, cancer and fatal consequences such as untimely death. The symptoms of such
disease conditions have been implicated to be modifiable and reversible with health interventions
aimed at reduction of sitting and increased compliance to mild and moderate levels of physical
activity as recommended by the NHS (Mainous et al., 2019). Hence, one of the key rationales
underlying the administration of a physical activity based health intervention plan is the
prevention of fatal and chronic metabolic harmful lifestyle health conditions.
Mild to moderate physical activities such as walking and yoga have been implicated to
yield beneficial effects by reversing the metabolic complications associated with sitting and
sedentary lifestyle (Rockette-Wagner et al., 2015). Authors Balaji and Varne (2017), examined

5HEALTH INTERVENTION PROPOSAL
the metabolic effects of yoga and brisk walking in an experiment conducted among diabetic
adults engaging in the above exercises. The results reported by the study indicated diabetic
participants adhering to activities of yoga and brisk walking had beneficial reduced levels of
fasting blood glucose (FBS), post prandial blood sugar (PPBS), glycosylated hemoglobin
(HbA1C), Total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein
(LDL), triglycerides (TG ) as well as improvements in terms of anthropometric measurements
like weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumferences (WC) and waist to hip ration, after the
study period ranging from October 2016 to February 2017. Balaji and Varne (2017) also discuss
the implications of such findings by addressing the key benefits associated with such exercises.
Walking is an exercise which is strongly preferred by individuals since it does require any
complicated equipment, relevantly safe as compared to alternative exercises and can easily be
incorporated in daily lifestyle. Further, bouts of physical activity, in the form of brisk walking,
has been implicated metabolic complication associated with sitting such as enhanced levels of
insulin sensitivity as well as enhanced uptake of glucose. Similarly, physical activity like yoga
has been implicated to reduce harmful levels of oxidative stress as well as improve
neuroendrocrinal functioning resulting in positive metabolic outcomes. Further, like walking,
yoga due to its simplicity and relaxing effects is preferred widely among adults, especially for
the management of occupational stress (Lurati, 2018). Hence, the positive effects and
desirability associated with exercises like yoga and walking form the underlying rationale behind
selection of these exercises as part of the health intervention plan.
Not only are individuals engaged in stressful occupations are highly susceptible to remain
engaged in prolonged periods of sitting and sedentary activities, but also possesses inadequate
levels of awareness considering the harmful effects of excessive sedentary activity. Thus, such