How to Be More Active During the Working Day

The final event in Italy for the Active Businesses project took place on 17^th December on the Zoom meeting platform. The event titled “Let’s stay active in the workplace and also at home!” was led by trainer and dance therapist Soad Ibrahim from the CESIE team. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event activities were held online, taking place at Teatro Atlante in Palermo, a theatre that deals with production, theatrical workshops, training and research, and then streamed live to an online audience.

During this event, the final project results and outcomes of the Physical Activity (PA) Programme in companies were presented. A practical workshop followed, were the workplace exercises developed for the PA Programme were showcased along with other practices to stay active, promote body awareness, and improve health and well-being in the work from home environment.

Over the last 3 years, the Active Businesses project has supported the adoption of a comprehensive based approach to promote health and physical activity, using the workplace as the venue of delivery. The project has piloted an 18-month physical activity (PA) programme led by sports coaches in different working environments across Slovenia, UK, Italy, Poland and Turkey reaching 1252 participants, in order to improve the health and physical conditions of employees. Results show that 89% of participants believed the PA programme was beneficial to them and 96% of participants said they would continue to participate in such a programme if their employer offered it.

The global pandemic has meant that it won’t always be possible to access gyms and fitness classes, and with the introduction of smart working by many companies, the home has now become the workplace for many. Results from the project show how it’s essential to keep moving for physical and mental wellbeing even when working from home. The PA programme combined a series of practical exercises, available to download at https://activebusinesses.eu/activities/, that can be easily incorporated into the working day to avoid inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle.

The project has produced the following outputs to support the promotion of health and physical activity in the working environment across Europe.

• Aggregated National Research Reports for Slovenia, United Kingdom, Italy, Poland and Turkey
• Aggregated Rsearch Report
• Guidebook for Health Promotion in Businesses
• Physical Activity Programme Summary Report

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