Employment-Based Project Proposal: Physical Activity and Health

This project proposal outlines a mixed-methods study designed to assess the effectiveness of exercise and non-exercise based physical activity interventions in reducing workplace sitting time and improving health outcomes among employees. The project aims to evaluate changes in body mass index, blood sugar, and blood pressure. The proposal is motivated by the high prevalence of obesity and cardiovascular disease in the UK, and the established link between sedentary work environments and poor health. Participants from a local organization with sedentary occupations will be randomized into control and experimental groups. The experimental group will receive physical activity interventions. Data collection will include anthropometric measurements, metabolic assessments, and interviews. The study will review current evidence-based research to develop effective physical activity guidelines for preventing adverse health outcomes in the workplace. The proposal includes a literature review, detailed methodology, ethical considerations, and expected findings. This study intends to contribute valuable insights into strategies for promoting employee health and well-being through workplace physical activity initiatives.

EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
NDILIPOMWENE SHEEKULI
40339956
EXPLORING EVIDENCE TO IMPROVE PRACTICE
NMS111174

1EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
EMPLOYEMNT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL (EFFECTIVENESS OF EXERCISE AND
NON-EXERCISE BASED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY TO REDUCE WORKPLACE SITTING
TIME AND IMPROVE BODY MASS INDEX AND WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE ACROSS
EMPLOYEES - A MIXED METHODS PROJECT)

2EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Abstract
This project proposal aims to: assess the effectiveness of exercise and non-exercise based
physical activity to reduce workplace sitting time and improve anthropometric, metabolic and
cardiovascular outcomes across employees, in terms of changes observed in values of body mass
index, blood sugar and blood pressure. The high prevalence rates of obesity, and cardiovascular
death in the UK, coupled with the evidenced association between poor health outcomes and
sedentary workplace environments formed the key rationales underlying the development and
implementation of this project proposal. The project will comprise of a mixed method study
comprising of both quantitative and qualitative methods. Participants will comprise of employees
from a local organization engaging in primarily sedentary occupations with prolonged sitting
hours. Participants will be randomized into a total of two groups: a control group and an
experimental group receiving exercise and non-exercise based physical activity interventions.
After the 1 month follow up, participants will be interviewed on their experiences and analysed
in terms of body mass index, blood glucose and blood pressure levels. By reviewing current
evidence based research, this project paper also provides an extensive and elaborate detail of the
key interventions and strategies to consider for establishing effective physical activity guidelines
in order to prevent future adverse health outcomes across the workplace.

3EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................5
Search Strategy....................................................................................................................7
Inclusion Criteria.........................................................................................................8
Exclusion Criteria........................................................................................................8
Literature Review................................................................................................................9
Research Project Aims.......................................................................................................12
Research Project Objectives..............................................................................................12
Research Project Questions...............................................................................................13
Methodology......................................................................................................................14
Proposed Project Methodologies...................................................................................14
Sample Recruitment.......................................................................................................15
Inclusion Criteria.......................................................................................................16
Exclusion Criteria......................................................................................................16
Proposed Interventions..................................................................................................16
Data Collection and Outcomes......................................................................................17
Data Analysis.................................................................................................................18
Research Validity...........................................................................................................19
Ethical Issues.................................................................................................................20
Expected Findings.............................................................................................................20

4EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Recommendations..............................................................................................................21
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................21
References.........................................................................................................................24
Appendix: Gantt Chart.........................................................................................................0

5EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Introduction
With the onset of globalization and technological advancements, lifestyle conveniences
and dynamic work environments comprising of enhanced automation rather than manual labour
have increased (Lewis et al., 2019). Such advancements have apparently resulted in an alarming
increase in the consumption of convenience foods and adherence to sedentary lifestyles which
have in turn, contributed to a rise in the prevalence of metabolic disorders such as obesity (Lewis
et al., 2019). According to a recent news report, the United Kingdom has observed an increase in
sedentary lifestyles with approximately 30% of the population engaging in 6 hours of sedentary
work during weekdays (Donnelly, 2019). Obesity is the name given to a chronic metabolic
condition characterized by accumulation of adipose tissue within the body, at excessive and
abnormal levels. In the absence of untimely and ineffective mitigation, obesity is likely to
increase the risk of future acquisition of chronic and adverse metabolic conditions such as
hypertension, hyperglycaemia, diabetes mellitus, which in turn can pave the way for fatal
outcomes like poor cardiovascular health, stroke, diabetes and even cancer (Daw, Margolis &
Wright, 2017). One of the most prevalent and likely facilitators of pathologies contributing to
obesity is a state of excessive higher calorie consumption as compared to the basal metabolic
rates of calorie expenditure in an individual. The major risk factors which are associated with
such a positive calorie balance include: high consumption of convenience, processed and
packaged foods rich in calories, sugars, saturated fats and sodium and prevalent preoccupation
with low levels of physical activity (Blümel et al., 2016). A key risk factor of inadequate
physical activity is a prolonged engagement in sitting and sedentary lifestyle. This risk may be
higher in employees engaging in prolonged sitting hours at the workplace. Such sedentary
workplace environments and occupational responsibilities associated with desk jobs, are not only

6EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
key risk factors for obesity but also its associated metabolic adversities such as hypertension,
hyperglycaemia, poor cardiovascular health and fatal outcomes like stroke across employees
(Bertoglia et al., 2017). Current workplace environments compel employees to contribute a
significant proportion of their days’ time towards desk jobs (White et al., 2016). There is thus a
need for organizations to incorporate physical activity based interventions for improved health
outcomes at the occupational workplace (White et al., 2016). The aim of this employee health
based research project is to thus propose an examination the effectiveness of administrating
physical activity based interventions upon improvement of cardio metabolic outcomes like body
mass index, blood sugar and blood pressure across employees working in sedentary workplace
environments. The key rationales which prompted the development of this proposal is the direct
association between employee engagement in sedentary occupational environments and
increased risk of fatal metabolic outcomes like obesity, hypertension and hyperglycaemia (Nunez
et al., 2018).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020), obesity and overweight were
reported to impact approximately 650 million and 1.9 million adult individuals belonging to the
age group of 18 years and above and is likely to increase with age due to reduced metabolic
rates. In addition to highlighting the tripling of obesity prevalence rates across the population
since the mid-1970s, the WHO (2020) also denoted the direct association between obesity,
sedentary lifestyles and increased rates of deaths due to fatal cardiovascular outcomes and
disease as the highest contributor of global mortality rates during the year 2012. According to
AlQuaiz et al., (2019), cardiovascular diseases were estimated to contribute to 18 million deaths
every year, of which, 94% of affected individuals presented with modifiable risk factors like
obesity and engagement in sedentary lifestyles.

7EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Indeed, the WHO (2020) further reported cardiovascular diseases as the highest cause of
mortality on a global scale, inflicting approximately 17.9 million individuals worldwide. On a
national level, according to the National Health Service (NHS, 2019), obesity has been reported
to affect approximately one out of a group of every four individuals. In addition to highlighting
factors like sedentary lifestyle and obesity as the key risk factors, the ‘Health Survey for England
in 2017 (NHS, 2018) also reported the prevalence of cardiovascular disease incidences and
ischemic heart disease outcomes succeeding stroke across approximately 14% and 9% of men
and women within the United Kingdom (UK) respectively. According to the ‘UK Chief Medical
Officers' Physical Activity Guidelines’ prolonged engagement of sitting for more than one or two
hours daily are likely to increase the risk of obesity as well as chronic metabolic outcomes like
diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease (Department of Health and Social Care, 2020). For
this reason, the UK Chief Medical Officers' Physical Activity Guidelines advises the need to
incorporate 1 to 2 minute long periods of movement between prolonged sitting periods well as
physical activity guidelines of approximately weekly 150 minutes or 75 minutes of moderate or
vigorous levels of exercise for optimum health outcomes (Department of Health and Social Care,
2020). Additionally, it has been evidenced that increased lengths of sitting time and sedentary
activities at the workplace are associated with a range of negative health outcomes like. Some of
the examples of such negative health outcomes include: inadequate blood circulation and
resultant deep vein thrombosis and sensations of limb numbness or swelling due to inadequate,
inadequate utilization and resultant degeneration of muscles, ergonomic injuries such as back
aches, back slumping, herniation in the lumbar disc, carpal tunnel syndrome as well as an
excessively forwarded head, decreased rates of metabolism and energy expenditure contributing
to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity, enhanced risk of depression and anxiety,

8EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
susceptibility to premature death, possible damage to the brain and even cancer (MacEwen et al.,
2017).
From the above evidence, it can thus be understood that prolonged engagement in sitting
hours increase the risk of obesity in individuals – a key risk factor which paves the way for
metabolic diseases like diabetes and also cardiovascular deaths. Recent statistics both in the UK
as well as in the global level, already indicate the high prevalence of sedentary behaviours and
their role in increasing incidences of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular death. Thus, the high
prevalence rates of obesity, and cardiovascular death in the UK, coupled with the evidenced
association between poor health outcomes and sedentary workplace environments formed the
key rationales underlying the development and implementation of this project proposal.
Search Strategy
An electronic search strategy was conducted for acquiring articles relevant to the
literature review and the proposed research topic. Electronic databases, CINAHL, PubMed,
EBSCO, BioMed, Cochrane, PsycINFO and Google Scholar were used for the article screening
process, due to their collection of articles based on subjects relevant to the research topic such as
healthcare, nursing, health sciences, biological sciences, behavioural science, psychology and
medicine (Mourão et al., 2017). For the purpose of acquiring articles which are relevant and
focused to the proposed research aims, databases were searched using relevant keywords such as
‘workplace’, ‘sedentary lifestyle’, ‘sitting hours’, ‘obesity’ and ‘cardio-metabolic outcomes,
along with Boolean operators like conjunctions. Articles with relevance to the keywords and
published within the last 5 years were selected to ensure acquisition of valid and updated
evidence based findings (McGowan et al., 2016). Such an article search revealed a total of 35500
articles, of which approximately 250 articles were removed based on their abstract alone since

9EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
they were irrelevant to the above key words. Of the remaining 3300 papers, approximately 3000
papers had to be excluded based on the irrelevance of the title to the keywords or due to the
absence of a full text article. Out of the remaining 300 papers, relevant articles were selected for
the literature review based on the following exclusion and inclusion criteria. To further ensure
congruence between selected articles and the identified research question, the following
inclusion and exclusion criteria were considered:
Inclusion Criteria
1. Studies published within the last 5 years, which is between the years 2016 to 2020.
2. Studies which demonstrate relevance to the above mentioned keywords.
3. Studies which comprise of adult participants engaging in full time sedentary workplace
lasting for a minimum of 6 hours or more.
4. Studies examining the effectiveness of exercise and non-exercise based physical
interventions at the workplace.
5. Studies examining outcomes in the form of body mass index, waist circumference or
subjective feedback from participants in response to physical activity interventions at the
workplace.
Exclusion Criteria
1. Studies found to have publication dates older than the last 5 years, which is between the
years 2016 to 2020.
2. Studies which do not demonstrate relevance to the above mentioned keywords.
3. Studies which do not comprise of adult participants engaging in full time sedentary
workplace lasting for a minimum of 6 hours or more or comprise of elderly participants
or employees engaging in less than 6 hour at the workplace.

10EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
4. Studies which do not examine the effectiveness of exercise and non-exercise based
physical interventions, or focusing only upon educational based physical activity
interventions at the workplace.
5. Studies which are not examining outcomes in the form of anthropometric, metabolic and
cardiovascular values or subjective feedback from participants in response to physical
activity interventions at the workplace.
Literature Review
Physical interventions incorporating exercise have been evidenced to yield beneficial
outcomes with regards to the anthropometric, cardiovascular and metabolic health of employees
at the workplace. The systematic review by Reed et al., (2017) aimed to evaluate the association
between workplace sitting hours and changes in workers body mass index and blood glucose
levels. By acquiring a range of evidence based articles and using meta-analysis for evaluation,
the systematic review by Reed et al., (2017), evidenced a positive association between workplace
physical activity associated with reduced sitting hours and exercise and decreased levels of body
mass index and blood levels of cholesterol and glucose. The systematic review and meta-analysis
by Podrekar, Kozinc and Sarabon (2019), screened articles to evaluated the relationship between
cycling interventions and improved levels of glucose, insulin and weight loss in the workplace.
Likewise, the meta-analysis and systematic review by Podrekar, Kozinc and Sarabon (2019),
demonstrated the impact of treadmill and cycling interventions at the workstations on the levels
of cardio metabolic and energy expenditure outcomes across employees engaged in sedentary
activity at the workplace. The findings from selected studies demonstrated enhanced rates of
energy expenditure and decreased levels of insulin and glucose in the blood as a result of

11EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
treadmill and cycling interventions at the workplace station (p < 0.001). From the above, it can
be observed that these systematic reviews provide a more comprehensive information on the
beneficial effects of exercise and reduced body mass index and blood glucose at the workplace.
However, considering that systematic reviews are associated with a range of limitations such as
publication bias and poor methodological quality of selected studies, there is thus a need to
review quantitative evidence relevant to the project proposal (Yardley, 2017).
The cross sectional study by Winkler et al., (2018), aimed to evaluate the impact of non-
exercise based interventions like reducing siting time on levels of body fat, waist circumference,
blood pressure, blood glucose and insulin across workers. According to the cross sectional study
by Winkler et al., (2018), employees participating in interventions of increased standing and
decreased sitting were found to demonstrate reduce levels of cardiovascular risk in terms of
decreased levels of insulin, glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol after approximately 3 months
coupled with decreased values of body fat, waist circumference and triglycerides (p < 0.005).
The research by Peterman et al., (2019, in comparison to the above, examined the relationship
between exercise based interventions like cycling on the cardiovascular health of workers.
Additionally, the experimental research by Peterman et al., (2019), assessed the impact of
stationery based cycling interventions at the workplace across a group of 21 employees at
sessions lasting for 15 minutes on an hourly basis. The findings acquired from the research
reported increased levels of oxygen capacity and heart-healthy high density lipoprotein levels
across employees (p < 0.001).
However, in criticism, despite the comprehensive nature of the acquired findings,
exercise based physical activity interventions at the workplace such as those mentioned above,
have been evidenced to demonstrate key limitations. These include inadequate feasibility of

12EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
administering stationery cycling interventions across small scale organizations functioning with
limited financial resource or engaging employees on a work from home basis (Crandall et al.,
2016). Additionally, such exercise based interventions are likely to not be feasible enough to be
administered across workplace environments during months of peak business rates. Thus, from
the above reviewed literature, it can be implied that even though inclusion of physical activity
interventions may be beneficial for weight reduction and overall health improvement, these may
still not be feasible enough to be implemented at the workplace. It is worthwhile to note that the
above reviewed quantitative studies do not incorporate any form of randomization which in turn
increases the risk of bias and research invalidity. This is because randomized controlled trials use
randomized research methodologies and blinding which in turn, helps to correct the possibility of
bias (Stephens et al., 2019).
Further, the interview by Olsen et al., (2018), evaluated the opinions of employees
towards the effectiveness of physical activity based interventions to combat sedentary sitting
hours at the workplace. Using a semi structured interview across a group of 28 participants the
authors asked open ended questions concerning employees’ preferences and understanding of
workplace physical activity interventions. Based on the thematic analysis, the key themes were:
participants were found to express their concerns towards those physical activity interventions
which are associated with prompts to motivate employees to stand and move more as well as
interventions associated with social interactions; and participants demonstrated a disinterest
towards interventions like exercise which are associated with complete alteration of the
workplace environment stating that they do not wish to be told or educated always on the
importance of sitting less. The above study thus provided interesting insights into the views and
opinions of physical activity interventions at the workplace by employees. Thus the

13EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
administration of non-exercise based physical activity may be associated with greater levels of
efficiency in terms of feasibility and compliance as mentioned below. However, as mentioned
previously, qualitative studies like interviews are associated with some form of bias and social
desirability and thus indicate the need to conduct further quantitative studies relevant to the
workplace (Cypress, 2017)
Likewise, the cohort study by Mainsbridge et al., (2018), assessed the impact of a non-
exercise based workplace intervention on the outcomes of blood pressure at the workplace.
Participants were administered with a desktop notification instructing them to stand up and walk
after every 20 to 30 minutes. The findings demonstrated a decrease in the systolic blood pressure
and arterial blood pressure of employees at 9 and 12 months respectively (p < 0.01) thus
demonstrating the importance of non-exercise based physical activity interventions at the
workplace. Additionally, the systematic review and meta-analysis by Lock et al., (2020),
examined the effectiveness of both exercise and non-exercise interventions at the workplace.
Studies which assessed a combination of both types of interventions such as employee prompts
as well as exercise activities were found to inflict the most significant increments in oxygen
capacity (p < 0.001). Thus, the above studies demonstrated the combined effectiveness of both
exercise as well as non-exercise based intervention at the workplace in improving heath outcome
at the workplace.
Thus, from the above reviewed literature, conflicting and mixed evidence can be acquired
with regards to the effectiveness of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies as well as
exercise and non-exercise based physical activity interventions. However, the above literature
demonstrates the effectiveness of both exercise as well as non-exercise interventions at the
workplace for reducing body mass index. There is however limited evidence on the differences

14EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
in effectiveness between exercise and non-exercise based interventions for reducing body mass
index at the workplace. Such findings as well as the dearth of mixed method based literature
prompted the development of this proposed research project (Chau et al., 2018). The limited
number of evidence demonstrating the combined effectiveness of both exercise and non-exercise
interventions at the workplace further form the key rationale underlying the development of this
proposed research project.
Research Project Aims
Thus, based on the above literature, the aim of this project proposal is to: assess the
effectiveness of exercise and non-exercise based physical activity to reduce workplace sitting
time and body mass index across employees.
Research Project Objectives
Thus, considering the above, the aforementioned project outline proposes to expound
upon the following objectives:
1. To assess the effectiveness of exercise based physical activities to reduce workplace
sitting time and improve body mass index across employees.
2. To assess the effectiveness of non-exercise based physical activities to reduce workplace
sitting time and improve body mass index across employees.
3. To obtain subjective feedback with respect employee perceptions on compliance and
effectiveness of non-exercise based physical activities to reduce workplace sitting time
and improve body mass index.

15EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Methodology
Proposed Project Methodologies
The project will be a mixed method study comprising of both quantitative and qualitative
methods. Quantitative research methods, as the name suggests, comprises data collection tools
specific to procuring numerical, objective and measurable data, prevalently for the purpose of
establishing or verifying causal links between proposed interventions and outcomes (McKim,
2017). Quantitative methodologies demonstrate limitations with regards to their inability to
provide an in-depth, qualitative and subjective exploration of views, perceptions, feelings and the
value of experiences of participants (Shannon-Baker, 2016). With this respect, qualitative
methodologies pose a significant advantage due to their ability to provide a wide range of
subjective data on participant experiences, thus providing a more detailed explanation of the
identified research question. A mixed methods approach integrates the best of both
methodologies and thus enhances the strength, validity, applicability, rigor and transferability of
a concerned research (Venkatesh, Brown & Sullivan, 2016).
A mixed methods research has been used here since it will incorporate both quantitative
data in the form of body mass index changes as well as subjective feedback from employees in
response to exercise and non-exercise based interventions at the workplace. According to the
proposed project outline as well as the reviewed literature, there exists an evidenced association
between the administration of physical activity interventions and reductions in body mass index
across workers at the workplace. With respect to the aims, objectives and questions identified in
this proposed research project, incorporation of quantitative methodologies would prove to be
useful for the purpose of collective numerical data on specific participant details such as body
mass index (BMI) (Hadgraft et al., 2016). Additionally, as discussed previously in the above

16EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
review of literature, employees have been evidenced to express variations with respect to
preferences for each type of exercise as well as non-exercise interventions. Thus integration of
qualitative methodologies will enhance the ability of the proposed research to address the
subjective feedback of employees regarding their opinions of these interventions (De Cocker et
al., 2017). Thus, the selection of a mixed methods approach to the study methodologies is of
relevance to the proposed project in terms of enhancing its ability to provide a more robust,
comprehensive and applicable set of findings concerning the effectiveness of physical activity
based interventions at the workplace (Wallmann-Sperlich, Chau & Froboese, 2017).
Sample Recruitment
Purposive sampling will be used since this study will only comprise of workers in
sedentary workplaces. The sample of participants for this research will be recruited from a local
organization such as those associated with accountancy, where the prevalent workplace scenario
comprises of sedentary activities with prolonged hours of sitting of more than 7 hours. A total of
100 adult participants, both female and male belonging to the age group of 21 to 30 years will be
selected as the key sample for this research for the purpose of preventing the confounding effect
of old (Jones, Credeur & McCoy, 2019). Prior to sample recruitment, the overall staff of the
selected organization will be educated on the purpose of the study and details of proposed
interventions via an educational and interactive workshops. Participants who will then
demonstrate an interest towards the research will then be recruited after being explained and
educated in detail by the researcher concerning study intervention detail. Participants will then be
randomly allocated equally to the two arms – 50 each in exercise and non-exercise groups. To
further ensure recruitment of a sample relevant to the research question and proposed
interventions, the following inclusion and exclusion criteria will be considered.

17EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Inclusion Criteria
1. Employees engaging in a minimum of 7.5 hours of sedentary activities at the workplace.
2. Employees belonging to the age group of 21 to 55 years, comprising off both female and
male.
3. Employees who are free form of severe chronic illnesses or learning disabilities which
may impair physical activity or cognitive soundness. The screening will be done based
physical assessment by healthcare personnel from a local healthcare organization.
Exclusion Criteria
1. Employees engaging in less than 6 hours of sedentary activities at the workplace.
2. Employees belonging to an age group of either less than or greater than 21 to 55 years.
3. Employees who report the prevalence or medical history of any form of severe chronic
illnesses or learning disabilities which may impair physical activity of cognitive
soundness.
4. Employees who are already engaging in some form of exercise after or before working
hours.
Proposed Interventions
Participants will be divided and randomized into a total of two groups: one control group
and one experimental groups. The control group will be receiving no interventions and will
prove to be useful for the purpose of comparing the differences in body mass index observed in
the experimental groups as a result of participating in physical activity interventions. This will be
done by comparing body mass index values of both groups at baseline and after the intervention.
The first experimental group will be receiving a non-exercise interventions proposed in the study
by the Mainsbridge et al., (2018), comprising of an alarm or prompt as a reminder sent to

18EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
employees after every 30 minutes on the need to stand from the workstation or engage in a quick
stroll across the workplace environment. This will be monitored by the researcher to ensure
participant compliance to the interventions. After every 30 minutes, based on this prompt,
participants, as per the Department of Health and Social Care (2019), will be instructed to
engage in a 2 minute long stroll across the occupational floor. The second experimental group
will be receiving exercise based physical activity interventions like an aerobic exercise session in
collaboration with a fitness centre. This will comprise of interventions proposed by Peterman et
al., (2019), and will include a daily session of either cycling or aerobic exercises for a duration of
a 15 to 30 minutes, for all work days of the week. The duration of each daily session of exercise
will be based upon the physical activity guidelines outlined previously by the Department of
Health and Social Care (2019), which includes a minimum of 75 to 150 minutes of moderate to
vigorous levels of aerobic exercise per week. These interventions will be continued for a total
period of 1 month, before and after which, data pertaining to body mass index will be collected
from the participants, which have been enlisted in the following sections. Lastly, after the
completion of the one month study period, participants will be engaged in a group discussion to
share their experiences and suggestions of preferred physical activity interventions at the
workplace, as per the postulated by Olsen, et al., (2018), for the purpose of obtaining qualitative
and subjective participant feedback.
Data Collection and Outcomes
Prior to administration of the proposed interventions, baseline data in the form of body
mass index will be collected from participants in collaboration with a local health centre, who
will be involved by the research communicating the research details and requesting for assistance
from the healthcare administrators(Brakenridge et al., 2018). Participants will also be measured

19EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
based on the above anthropometric, metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes after 1 month of the
interventions for the purpose of evaluating the differences observed between pre-intervention
baseline data and the aforementioned post intervention outcome data after administration of
physical activity interventions (Sudholz et al., 2018). The effectiveness of the physical activity
interventions administered at the concerned workplace will be determined based upon the rate at
which they induce reductions in the body mass index of participants. It has been evidenced that
factors like excessive BMI due to obesity, hyperglycaemia and hypertension are the potential
metabolic, anthropometric and cardiovascular risk factors of chronic disorders like obesity,
diabetes and stroke as a result of sedentary lifestyle, which in turn, forms the rationale for
collection of data concerning the above outcomes (Clark et al., 2017).
Additionally, for the purpose of collecting qualitative data on the subjective experiences
of participants concerning their participation in physical activity based interventions at the
workplace, group discussion will be conducted after the completion of this research and at the
workplace where they will be encouraged to share their feedback. Group discussions will be
useful with regards to collection of subjective and experiential data of participants. Thus
inclusion of the same will hence prove to be relevant for the purpose of collecting subjective
participant feedback on the perceived effectiveness and experiences associated with
administration of physical activity based interventions at the workplace (Olsen et al., 2018).
Data Analysis
To assess the significance and validity of differences observed in body mass index before
and after engagement in physical activity interventions at the workplace, descriptive statistics in
the form of mean outcome values and students t-test will be used (Healy et al., 2018). Statistical
analytical methods such as students t-test has been evidenced to be useful with regards to

20EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
assessing the differences between mean values of pre and post intervention outcomes. Thus,
adoption of such strategies will prove to be useful for the purpose of assessing the mean
differences between baseline values and post intervention values concerning participant
anthropometric, metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes. To assess the significance of
differences observed across mean values of outcomes, a p value of less than 0.005 will be
considered, which will imply the mean differences observed to be less than the same will
demonstrate a 0.5% probability of error or 95% accuracy that physical activity intervention at the
workplace have the ability to inflict significant improvements or reductions across
anthropometric, metabolic and cardiovascular outcomes (Healy & Goode, 2018).
For the purpose of evaluating the subjective and qualitative responses of participants with
regards to their experiences during administration of the physical activity interventions, thematic
analysis will be used. Thematic analysis is a prevalently used qualitative analytical tool which is
used for the purpose of categorizing a large amount of subjective interview data into similar
contents, groups or themes followed by elaboration of the same via drawing from relevant
evidence based literature. Considering that evaluating subjective interview data and feedback
from each and every participant will prove to be relatively a time consuming and erroneous
process, the inclusion of thematic analysis based qualitative data analysis strategies will prove to
be useful and of relevance (Olsen et al., 2018).
Research Validity
One of the major limitations which may hinder research validity is the tendency for
participants to engage in social desirability during the interview. This implies the tendency of
participants to give incorrect responses perceived to be ‘desirable’ which in turn, can impact
result validity (Cor, 2016). To prevent the same, participants will be gently persuaded on the

21EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
importance of giving honest responses (Yardley, 2017). However, in addition to the researcher’s
attempts to prevent the same, keeping participants fully blinded will not be possible due to their
direct participation. Nevertheless, this research is one of the few studies which demonstrated a
simultaneous evaluation of both non-exercise and non-exercise interventions for addressing
sedentary workplaces as compared to exiting evidence based literature (Perron et al., 2017).
Ethical Issues
Ethical approval will be obtained for the proposed research from the university’s ethics
review committee. Additionally, prior to administering the educational workshop, permission
and approval to implement the same will be obtained from the concerned organization
(Greenwood, 2016). To further demonstrate ethical compliance of patient autonomy, informed
consent will be obtained and participants will be made aware that their participation is voluntary
and that their lack of participation will not impact their current employment or rights. Lastly, for
the purpose of ensuring compliance to privacy and confidentiality, participants will be made
aware that their details will not be disclosed and that their identity will be kept hidden. To
enhance safety, participant information will be kept secure or encrypted as per the General Data
Protection Regulation will be stored either in a locked cabinet or in a secure database with
restricted access to only authorized personnel (Ryen, 2016). Participants may be allowed to
withdraw considering the need to maintain client autonomy.
Expected Findings
Based on the above, it is expected that new knowledge will be obtained considering the
effectiveness of both non-exercise as well as exercise interventions at the workplace.
Additionally, it is expected that new knowledge will be acquired in terms of what employees feel
regarding these interventions as evidenced in previously reviewed literature.

22EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Based on reviewed literature, it is expected that participants recruited in experimental
groups will demonstrate lower levels of body mass index and blood pressure as compared to the
control group. It is however expected, that participants in the experimental group may provide
mixed feedback with regards to work pressures, convenience and perceived health outcomes
(Mainsbridge et al., 2018). As per the findings demonstrated by Olsen et al., (2018), employees
prefer interventions which keep them motivated or prompt them to participate in physical
activity or involve some form of social interaction at the workplace rather than integrating
complete alterations in the physical features of the workplace environment such as exercise.
Thus, in addition to presumed differences in anthropometric, cardiovascular and metabolic
outcomes, it is expected that a mix of positive and negative feedback may be received from the
participants with regards to the administered physical activity interventions (Olsen et al., 2018).
Recommendations
Sedentary lifestyle is a key risk factor of obesity and adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
Considering the fact that employees are compelled to engage in prolonged sitting hours due to
the nature of their work, it is recommended that organizations make arrangements to integrate
physical activity interventions at the workplace (Burn et al., 2019). Based on the range of mixed
and conflicting evidence concerning the validity and effectiveness of both exercise and non-
exercise interventions, it is recommended that organizations consider policies and procedures
targeting implementation of physical activity interventions at the workplace.
Conclusion
Indeed, it is not surprising to find that prolonged engagement in sitting hours and
sedentary lifestyles at the workplace are a key cause of concern with respect to the rising rates of

23EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
obesity, cardiovascular disease and fatal metabolic outcomes across both international as well as
national level. Such a serious and adverse health risk may be a major concern with regards to
employees engaged in sedentary workplace environments which require them to engage in
sitting-based job responsibilities for long hours. To address this issue as well as the evidenced
effectiveness of various physical activity interventions, this paper proposes a project to evaluate
the effectiveness of both exercise as well as non-exercise based interventions at the workplace in
reducing employee’s body mass index. Additionally, this paper also proposes the opportunity to
obtain subjective feedback from employees regarding their opinions on intervention
effectiveness after the completion of the project. This paper successfully draws upon and
highlights the possible causative association between such lifestyle and workplace behaviours as
well as the prevalence of possible cardiovascular and metabolic risk across employees at the
workplace.
As per existing literature, there is a growing evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of
exercise or non-exercise based interventions of physical activity for the purpose of mitigating the
risk of adverse cardiovascular, metabolic and anthropometric outcomes associated with long
hours of sitting at the workplace. Thus, with respect to the same, this paper provides a critical
insight into the efficacies of such interventions and the application of the same in the workplace
in the form of proposing relevant research interventions. However, it is worthwhile to note that
the interventions proposed for administration across the concerned work environment are limited
in terms of their type and duration of implementation. Thus, despite the scope of the proposed
research to provide a comprehensive range of findings relevant for application in future practice,
there is a need to conduct further research with larger sample sizes and study durations for
greater possibility of data transferability.

24EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Thus, the significance of this project proposal lies in its ability to direct organizations and
industries containing sedentary workplaces on the strategies to be undertaken for the purpose of
ensuring long term positive health outcomes across its employees. To conclude, despite its
considerable limitations, this paper also provides a foundational research protocol and possible
interventions for researches to implement with regards to future studies evaluating the impact of
workplace physical activities using more robust methodologies.

25EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
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EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Appendix: Gantt Chart you need to ensure you mention this in the proposal
Weeks
1st
Week
2nd
Week
3rd
Week
4th
Week
5th
Week
6th
Week
7th
Week
8th
Week
9th
Week
10th
Week
11th
Week
12th
Week
Tasks
Lecture on
Employee
Research
Project
Supervisor
allocation
Topic Selection
Topic
Confirmation
Supervisor
Meeting
Literature
Search and
Research
Approval
Article Selection
and Data
Collection
Literature
Review and

1EMPLOYMENT BASED PROJECT PROPOSAL
Data Analysis
Project
Completion