ORCID Profile
0000-0001-7648-701X
Current Organisation
University of Tasmania
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-07-2020
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 11-06-2020
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 08-2001
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.2001.93.1.249
Abstract: This study evaluated the effects of three popular physical activities on the psychological well-being of university students. 44 students in three physical activity classes enrolled in the Fitness for Life Program at Montana State University which included circuit training, weight training, and racquetball were administered the Profile of Mood States scale 5 min. before and 5 min. after one bout of physical activity. Two of the three activities appeared to be associated positively with scores on certain subscales. The results supported positive psychological well-being of students after physical activity. Implications for research are presented.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 12-2020
Abstract: Low-cost workplace interventions are required to reduce prolonged sitting in office workers as this may improve employees’ health and well-being. This study aimed to assess the acceptability and feasibility of an e-health intervention to reduce prolonged sitting among sedentary UK-based office workers. Secondary aims were to describe preliminary changes in employee health, mood and work productivity after using an e-health intervention. Healthy, university office workers (n = 14) completed this study. An 8 week randomised crossover design was used, consisting of two trials: Intervention (computer-based prompts) and Control. Eligibility and retention rates were recorded to assess the feasibility of the trial and interviews were conducted following the intervention to explore its acceptability. Sitting, standing and stepping were objectively assessed prior to and during week 8 of each trial. Before and after each trial, measurements of vascular function, cerebrovascular function, mood and work productivity were obtained. This study had eligibility and retention rates of 54.5% and 77.8%, respectively. Participants expressed a lack of autonomy and disruption to their workflow when using the e-health intervention, raising concerns over its acceptability and long-term implementation. Preliminary data indicate that the intervention may improve the patterning of activity accrued during work hours, with increases in the number of standing and stepping bouts completed, in addition to improving vascular function. This e-health intervention is feasible to deliver in a cohort of university office workers. However, adaptations to its implementation, such as personalised settings, are needed to increase acceptability before larger trials can be conducted.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 25-04-2017
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 11-2014
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 09-2018
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 13-10-2207
DOI: 10.1108/IJWHM-01-2015-0005
Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of a workplace intervention designed to interrupt prolonged occupational sitting time (POST) and its impact on the self-reported health of a cohort of desk-based employees. – In total, 43 participants received an interactive computer-based software intervention for 26 weeks. For the first 13 weeks the intervention passively prompted the participants to interrupt POST and perform brief bouts of non-purposeful movement. The second 13 weeks involved the passivity of the intervention being removed, with the intervention only accessible voluntarily by the participant. This approach was adopted to determine the sustainability of the intervention to change workplace health behaviour. – ANOVA results revealed a significant interaction between group and test occasion, F (2, 42)=2.79, p 0.05, such that the experimental group increased their total health from pre-test to post-test (13 weeks), and to second post-test (26 weeks) with a medium effect size of Cohen’s d =0.37. – An action research approach was implemented for this study, and hence the participants were organised into one group. Based on a communitarian model, the intervention aimed to monitor how desk-based employees adapted to specific health behaviours, and therefore a control group was not included. – Passively prompting desk-based employees to interrupt POST and perform non-purposeful movement at work improved self-reported health. Participant perceptions of health were maintained following the removal of the passive feature of the intervention. – Interventions predicated on a social ecological model that modify how employees interact with the workplace environment might provide a framework for health behaviour change in populations where sitting is customary. – The passive approach used in this study removed the in idual decision-making process to engage in health behaviour change, and established a sustainable effect on participant health.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-2016
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 24-09-2016
Abstract: In the present study, we examined the effect of working while seated, while standing, or while walking on measures of short-term memory, working memory, selective and sustained attention, and information-processing speed. The advent of computer-based technology has revolutionized the adult workplace, such that average adult full-time employees spend the majority of their working day seated. Prolonged sitting is associated with increasing obesity and chronic health conditions in children and adults. One possible intervention to reduce the negative health impacts of the modern office environment involves modifying the workplace to increase incidental activity and exercise during the workday. Although modifications, such as sit-stand desks, have been shown to improve physiological function, there is mixed information regarding the impact of such office modification on in idual cognitive performance and thereby the efficiency of the work environment. In a fully counterbalanced randomized control trial, we assessed the cognitive performance of 45 undergraduate students for up to a 1-hr period in each condition. The results indicate that there is no significant change in the measures used to assess cognitive performance associated with working while seated, while standing, or while walking at low intensity. These results indicate that cognitive performance is not degraded with short-term use of alternate workstations.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-02-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S12529-023-10155-4
Abstract: Growing evidence suggests that sitting is activated automatically on exposure to associated environments, yet no study has yet sought to identify in what ways sitting may be automatic. This study used data from a 12-month sitting-reduction intervention trial to explore discrete dimensions of sitting automaticity, and how these dimensions may be affected by an intervention. One hundred ninety-four office workers reported sitting automaticity at baseline, and 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months after receiving one of two sitting-reduction intervention variants. Principal component analysis extracted two automaticity components, corresponding to a lack of awareness and a lack of control. Scores on both automaticity scales decreased over time post-intervention, indicating that sitting became more mindful, though lack of awareness scores were consistently higher than lack of control scores. Attempts to break office workers’ sitting habits should seek to enhance conscious awareness of alternatives to sitting and afford office workers a greater sense of control over whether they sit or stand.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2008
DOI: 10.1071/HE08064
Abstract: This study investigated the effectiveness of positive and negative-themed message prompts encouraging stair use at the point of choice between an elevator and stairwell in a professional workplace. A simple time series design using two control periods assessed the efficacy of positive and negative messages on the pedestrian choice between stairs and an elevator in a restricted-entry, four-story building. Traffic volume was restricted to employees. Their movements were measured at two sites within the building - ground floor access doors and stairwell entry - by small infrared motion-sensing devices (MSD) linked to incremental LCD counters. A positive or negative poster prompt did not significantly modify employees' stair usage when compared with baseline levels. Odds ratios (OR) for stair usage in the workplace were OR=0.6, 95% CI=0.3- 1.1 for the positive and OR=1.0 (95% CI=0.5-1.9) for the negative poster prompts.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 16-01-2020
DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2019.1705840
Abstract: This study aimed to examine the effects of yoga and physical fitness exercises on stress and the underlying mechanisms.
Publisher: American Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS)
Date: 2022
DOI: 10.3934/PUBLICHEALTH.2022040
Abstract: abstract Occupational sedentariness is problematic for office-based workers because of their prolonged sitting periods and the advent of technology which reduces work-based movement. A common workplace strategy to deal with this preventable health risk is to have workers engage in brief movement breaks throughout the workday. To date, the use of interventions underpinned by in idual self-regulation has had less than optimal impact on changing workers sedentary work behaviours. An alternative design for workplace interventions is the use of nudge theory. Nudge theory incorporates strategies that are delivered at the point of choice designed to influence in idual decision making regarding alternative behaviour options. In this study, desk-based workers were exposed to two nudge strategies which suggested alternative behaviours of regular standing and taking movement breaks during work periods to the default behaviours of prolonged sitting and sedentary work behaviour. A small group of women managers who served as peer ch ions (n = 6), withdrew early from the study, and then took part in an exit interview to gain an understanding of their experiences of being exposed to the two nudge strategies. Verbatim transcripts were analysed using inductive, reflexive thematic analysis. Two major themes with seven second order themes central to their experiences were extracted: facilitative behaviour and feelings (advocacy, acceptance & facilitative burden) and dysfunctional behaviours and feelings (dysfunctional behaviour & feelings, control, reactance & presenteeism). Participants initially perceived a positive exchange associated with exposure to nudge strategies. Yet, participants' emotional connection to their work roles and behaviour were perceived as a negative exchange. Participants cited numerous maladaptive feelings because of a perception of incongruency with the established work normative behaviour. These findings reveal that nudge strategies of reduced choice and social norms are viable, but perceptions of monitoring can moderate adherence. /abstract
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 14-11-2014
Abstract: We aim to provide a better picture of the outcomes associated with implementing a nonpurposeful, physical activity, e-health intervention in a professional workplace. There is a need for health professionals to evaluate physical-activity-based workplace health interventions with a full range of measures. Using a social ecological model as a basis, we identify a range of subjective outcomes from 15 interviews of a cross section of participants. We document that not only did participants report a range of positive outcomes across multiple systems of influence, but they experienced some negative outcomes because of disruption to work flow and a changing of work habit. We conclude that using subjective evaluations provides a comprehensive picture of the factors that influence judgments of the efficacy of a workplace health intervention.
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1155/2013/128376
Abstract: There is a plethora of workplace physical activity interventions designed to increase purposeful movement, yet few are designed to alleviate prolonged occupational sitting time. A pilot study was conducted to test the feasibility of a workplace e-health intervention based on a passive approach to increase nonpurposeful movement as a means of reducing sitting time. The study was trialled in a professional workplace with forty-six participants (33 females and 13 males) for a period of twenty-six weeks. Participants in the first thirteen weeks received a passive prompt every 45 minutes on their computer screen reminding them to stand and engage in nonpurposeful activity throughout their workday. After thirteen weeks, the prompt was disabled, and participants were then free to voluntary engage the software. Results demonstrated that when employees were exposed to a passive prompt, as opposed to an active prompt, they were five times more likely to fully adhere to completing a movement break every hour of the workday. Based on this pilot study, we suggest that the notion that people are willing to participate in a coercive workplace e-health intervention is promising, and there is a need for further investigation.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 11-01-2018
Abstract: Debate about teacher gender balance in primary education is a constant. This debate is fuelled by recommendations to increase recruitment and retainment of males into primary education. In parallel, 10-year trend data indicate a continual decrease in male primary school teachers. Although many factors contribute to the decreasing percentage of male primary teachers, one factor is the gender-related challenges they face in their profession. Previous research has identified some of these challenges however, a limitation of these claims is contextual and in idually bound data derived from qualitative research methods. Large-scale interventions have not been realised as current trends are unable to be generalised to the wider population of male primary teachers. Thus, the aim of this paper is to expand upon previous literature through discussing the development and validation of a scale which quantifies the gender-related challenges faced by male primary teachers.
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Date: 08-2015
Abstract: Sedentary behavior is related to metabolic syndrome and might have implications for the long-term health of workers in a low activity environment. The primary aim of this pilot study was to determine activity levels of adults working at a University during work hours. A secondary aim was to determine the relationship between actual and perceived activity levels. Activity levels of university staff (n = 15, male = 7, age = 53 ± 7 years, BMI = 26.5 ± 2.5kg·m 2 ) were monitored over 5 consecutive workdays using SenseWear accelerometers, then participants completed a questionnaire of their perception of workplace sedentary time. Each participant spent 71.5 ± 13.1% (358 ± 78 min) of their workday being sedentary ( 1.5 METs), 15.6 ± 9.0% involved in light activity (1.5–3 METs), 11.7 ± 10.0% in moderate activity (3–5 METs), and 1.1 ± 1.3% in vigorous activity ( 5 METs) ( P .0001). The mean difference between actual (SenseWear 1.5 METs) and perceived sitting time was –2 ± 32% however, perceived sedentary time was reported with a range of under-to-over estimation of –75% to 51%. This pilot study identifies long periods of low metabolic activity during the workday and poor perception of in idual sedentary time. Interventions to reduce sedentary time in the workplace may be necessary to ensure that the work environment does not adversely affect long-term health.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-07-2020
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 02-1997
DOI: 10.2466/PMS.1997.84.1.307
Abstract: Gross motor development, using the Test of Gross Motor Development was investigated in 7– and 10-yr.-old Tasmanian school children ( N = 574) to provide normative data for primary school children. The effects of daily physical education, time spent on physical education per week, schools with and without a trained physical educator, motor skill training programs, and their effects upon development of fundamental movement patterns was also investigated. Time spent on physical education instruction per week, significantly influenced Gross Motor Development scores in that the more time spent on physical education, the higher the score. Having a motor skill training program in the school was significant for 10-yr.-olds. A review of daily physical education with perhaps a goal of greater emphasis on manipulative control skills such as kicking, throwing, and striking should take place especially for girls, as their scores were significantly lower than those of boys.
Publisher: Scientific Research Publishing, Inc.
Date: 2018
No related grants have been discovered for Dean Cooley.