Pedometer Challenge 2014
Partners Information Session
Sinead Flavin and Siobhan Hamilton
14th August 2014
Agenda
11:30
Welcome, Refreshments and Introductions
11:45
Overview of the Pedometer Challenge & Role of the Workplace
Coordinator
12:00
‘How I Did It’ - Experience of a Workplace
Coordinator - Irene Gilroy, Health Promotion Officer, St.
Vincent's University Hospital
12:15
Registration and Team Captains Role and Leader Boards
12:30
Motivating Employees to be More Active- Slí na
Sláinte - Active@Work Award
Ann Scanlon, Irish Heart Foundation
12:50
Questions
13:00
Close
What is the
Pedometer Challenge?
Pedometer Challenge
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•
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•
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Fun & free annual event to promote walking
Teams of 3-6 people
Walk for four weeks (habit-forming)
Steps are logged on a pedometer
Participants aim for 10K steps per day
Encourages physical activity & modal shift
What did we achieve in 2013?
4,250 participants from 56 organisations
took more than 1 billion steps, travelling
over 900,000 km during the 4 week
Challenge
Participant Feedback
What were your TOP 3 reasons for participating in the
Pedometer Challenge?
90%
80%
70%
77%
60%
50%
51%
40%
43%
41%
30%
20%
24%
10%
22%
13%
12%
7%
4%
0%
Fitness/
Exercise
It was
For
To support
organised enjoyment
my
by my
colleagues
workplace
To lose
weight
To reduce To support
my carbon the Irish
footprint
Heart
Foundation
To win
prizes
For health
My
reasons colleagues
persuaded
me!
Participant Feedback
BEFORE the Pedometer Challenge... How did you usually travel to work? Pick
one box only for the longest part by distance of your typical journey
60%
51%
50%
12% walked to/from work before
the Challenge
40%
30%
20%
12%
10%
12%
9%
9%
3%
0%
On foot
Bicycle
Bus,
minibus or
coach
Luas
2%
1%
Train or
DART
Motorcycle
or scooter
Driving a
car
2%
Passenger Passenger
in a car
in a car
with driver with driver
going to
going to
same
different
destination destination
0%
0%
0%
0%
Taxi
Lorry or
van
Other
means
Work
mainly at or
from home
Walking to Work
Participant feedback
DURING the Challenge, did you walk to
or from work?
70%
60%
57%
50%
40%
30%
28%
20%
15%
10%
0%
Yes, on a regular basis
Yes, on an occasional/ one-off
basis
No
45% walked to/from work on a regular or occasional basis during the Challenge
Walking to Work
Participant Feedback
AFTER - Do you plan to walk to or from
work now that the Challenge is over?
60%
54%
50%
40%
30%
20%
26%
19%
10%
0%
Yes, on a regular basis
Yes, on an occasional/ one-off
basis
No
45% planned to walked to/from work on a regular or occasional after the Challenge
Participant Feedback
How did you and your team benefit from the Pedometer Challenge?
80%
70%
70%
65%
60%
50%
52%
51%
44%
40%
30%
20%
16%
10%
13%
13%
2%
5%
0%
Did not
benefit
Increased
Feeling Making new Boost in
Enjoyed
fitness
good about friends at staff morale being part
myself
work
of a team
Reduced
stress
Weight loss Increased
activity
Other
Coordinator Feedback
• 98% of respondents said colleagues
enjoyed the Pedometer Challenge
• Most coordinators organised some
activities and events in their workplace
during the challenge
• 100% would encourage their
organisation to take part in future
Pedometer Challenges
Participant Photos
'Roadrunners' Team, Cork County Council
Martin & The Golden Girls, Cook Medical
Waist Watchers, University
Hospital Galway
Happy Feet, Cork
County Council
Knicker Walker Glories, Croke
Park
The Accelerators, University
Hospital Galway
6 Left Feet Team Trinity College
Dublin
2014 Prizes
• Best Workplace Trophy
• Prizes of tablets for top 3 teams on the final
leaderboard for desk and non-desk based
• Best Coordinator Prize
• One place worth approx €2,500 on Irish Heart
Foundation 2015 overseas walk
• Spot prizes throughout the Challenge including activity
trackers and goodie bags
2014 Pedometers
• Omron HJ005 & Silva Ex Step
• Used in previous events
• €10 – portion of every sale goes to
the Irish Heart Foundation
• Retails at approx €12
• Available online through challenge
website
www.pedometerchallenge.ie
!!!!! NEW THIS YEAR !!!!!
• Only Steps on Your Pedometer Count!
• Activities you can record on your pedometer
e.g. walking, gardening, jogging, aerobics.
• Activities where your pedometer is not a
reliable measure such as swimming, cycling,
rowing can’t be included.
• The use of an activity converter is no
longer permitted for converting effort into
steps.
• Evens up the competition!
How to Purchase Pedometers
NO Cash/Cheque Handling
• Team Captain buys pedometers online at
www.pedometerchallenge.ie
• Using PayPal – need a credit or debit card
• Print out receipt & gives to Coordinator in
exchange for Pedometers
• Coordinator returns receipts to NTA Smarter Travel Team
If participants already have a pedometer
they can use it.
Faulty/ Lost Pedometers
• Faulty: replace free of
charge– coordinator
please test and return to
us with completed ‘faulty
pedometer form’
• Lost – must repurchase
Pedometers
Buying pedometers on behalf of employees:
• Use a company credit card & PayPal (10, 50 or
100 units)
Unsold units:
• If you have a large number of unused
pedometers once event begins – please return
most of them (keep some replacements)!
• End of event – return all unsold units
All unsold units and PayPal receipts must
be returned by 31st October 2014.
Pedometer Challenge 2014
Participants should aim for 10,000 steps per day. Steps
should be built up gradually.
Weekly ‘Virtual’ Challenge
Team Pledge
Promoting the Event
Publicising to Colleagues
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Email all staff (email text provided)
Newsletter & Intranet
Posters in halls, canteens, lifts, toilet doors
Present at management & team meetings
Sign up PC in canteen over lunch – get help
Create internal competition
Give it a last big push in early Sept. - have a
launch event, e.g. lunchtime walk!
• Promote from next week!!
Getting Management Support
Why get involved?
• Increases physical activity
and employee wellbeing
• Contributes to team
building
• Reduces pressure on
parking
• Positive publicity
75% of adults &
86% of children in
Ireland
DO NOT MEET
the relevant National
Physical Activity
Guidelines.
Keeping Colleagues Motivated
During the Challenge
Sponsor Internal Prizes
• Inter and intradepartmental competition
• Staff vs Management
• Internal prizes – more
chance of winning, more
local involvement
• Great content for
newsletters/intranet
My Experience
Irene Gilroy, Health Promotion Officer
St. Vincent’s University Hospital
St. Vincent’s University Hospital
(SVUH)
Pedometer Challenge 2013
11th September - 8th October 2013
Planning process
• Identify a coordinator
• Enlist assistance
• Set a challenge
• Arrange motivational events
• Prize giving event
Setting the target
Can your team walk to
Westport in 28 days!
Why Westport?
• 268km from SVUH to
Westport
• 8km = 10,000 steps
• SVUH to Westport = 335,000 Westport
Steps
• Challenge = 28 days
• Team would have to average
12,000 steps per
day to reach Westport in 28
days
• Virtual challenge
SVUH
Seeking participation
• Participation – built on each year
• Factors which encouraged participation:
– Involvement in previous challenges
– Interdepartmental competition
– Individuals wanted to become more active
– Staff wanted to be part of something
– Good weather
– And of course…PRIZES!
In order for staff to become
involved, they have to know
about it!
Communication,
Communication,
Communication
Communication methods
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•
•
•
•
All users emails
Newsletters
Posters
Word of mouth
Heads of Department
meetings
• Staff briefings
• “Who took the most
steps?” competition
• Information stands
Active@work Day
• 11th September
• Badminton Ireland
• Sports clubs from
within SVUH and
from the local area
• Competitions
• Prizes!!
Maintaining motivation
• Map of Ireland was set up in hospital showing
how far each team is along the road to
Westport each week.
• Encouraged staff to work harder to reach
Westport before the end of the challenge.
• Served as a promotional tool for the
Maintaining motivation
Interdepartmental competition
was rife!
Outcome
• 34 teams signed up in
SVUH
• 30 teams finished the
challenge
• 174 staff took part (up
from 77 in 2012)
• 23 (77%) teams made it
to Westport and some
were on their way back to
Dublin
The Pedometer Challenge Winners!
939,145 steps –
enough to take them to
Westport, back to Dublin and
back to Westport again!
‘Walking on the Wild Side’
The Tone Rangers
Haematology A
How the winning team did it…
“We walked or cycled to work instead of commuting and
also scheduled in team lunchtime walks on the Slí na
Sláinte walking route around the hospital.
…..We increased (perhaps a little obsessively!) our afterwork exercise routines including going swimming, playing
tennis, tag rugby, jogging, walking the dog and general
walking and cycling. After the first week, an evening did
not go by that we all did not complete some form of
exercise.”
How the winning team did it…
“Two of our team did a lot of cycling, on average 2 hours
each evening. Another team member reported to really
increase their dog walking activities!!
….At weekends, the two cyclists targeted a very lengthy and
challenging cycle.
….On one particular night out, we all avoided using taxis, to
instead walk home!!
….From an early stage we used weekends to target big
scores, initially, 40,000 was the target, but that soon
increased to 55,000 and over on a few occasions.”
How the winning team did it…
….As we were doing well, we kept an eye on what the
top team was achieving and calculated what we
needed to do to be in with a chance and set targets as a
result, again our approach was definitely obsessive!”
….We walked a lot, laughed a lot, and felt an enormous
sense of achievement in completing such a strongly
supported national challenge. We genuinely hope to be
involved again in 2014.”
Another “regular” participant….
“Since I started the pedometer challenge I am much
more conscious of what I am doing walking-wise on a
daily basis.
….We have a circle route around our hospital campus
that I enjoy traversing to get air and relaxation and
exercise, and I cycle to and from work.
….All in all it is proving to be a very worthwhile exercise
in every way. I generally feel a lot better, and it is very
good for relaxing given the stressful nature of my work
at times.”
Key Learning/Tips
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Make it fun!!
Make it achievable!
Make it easy to participate!
Events to maintain motivation through out
the four weeks.
Registration/ Step Logging/
Leader Boards/ FAQs
All online!
Individual Step Logs
Go Online to
download
and printout
Provide a
copy to
participants
with
pedometer
Registration – Team Captain only
pedometerchallenge.ie
Please let your IT
department know that
your colleagues will
be accessing this site!
smartertravelworkplaces.ie
Please note that only the
team captain must have
an email address
Team Captain Registration
Complete Personal Details
Complete Team Details
Team Captains – Log Steps
Click on the date you
wish to record steps for
Enter Team Steps
Enter steps for
each team
member beside
their name
See Team Captain Savings &
Average Team Steps
Active Travel Logger
• Steps can be entered on a daily or
weekly basis by Team Captain
• Back-logging possible for one week
• Excel sheet for Team Captains to keep
records – download from website
Team Statistics
Organisation Statistics
Leader Boards
Leader Boards
• Updated after Week1 on Tuesdays and Fridays.
• Steps to be logged by 2pm each Monday and
2pm every Thursday to be included in the weekly
and mid-week leaderboards.
• Final Leader Board – after event ends and QA has
been conducted!
• You can download leaderboard for your
workplace online and put it on display in your
workplace (noticeboards/intranet)
Kick-off
• Participants can register online from
next week (you’ll be sent an email reminder)
• Posters- please take these today
• Step Logs/ Pedometers sent to you
from next week
• Publicise from next week so teams start
forming
Key Dates
• Pedometer Challenge Starts Monday 8th
September
• European Mobility Week 16th -22nd September
• World Heart Day Monday 29th September
• Pedometer Challenge Ends Sunday 5th Oct
• Final day to log steps Wednesday 8th
October at 2pm.
Next steps…your role!
1. Publicise the event – put up posters &
circulate email text provided
2. Help teams find each other (if
required)
3. Receive and manage pedometers
4. Provide Pedometers to participants in
exchange for PayPal receipts
5. Return PayPal receipts and unused
Pedometers to NTA following the
challenge (by 31st Oct 2014).
Motivating Employees to be More Active
Slí na Sláinte
Active@Work Award
Where does your Fundraising Go?
Ann Scanlon
Workplace Health Promotion Officer
Step up to the
challenge!
Ann Scanlon
Health Promotion Officer
www.irishheart.ie www.stroke.ie
What do we do?
Where your money goes?
Quiz
How much moderate intensity physical activity is
recommended for heart health?
20 minutes daily
30 minutes three times a week
At least 30 minutes five days of the week?
Quiz
Physical inactivity carries a similar health risk to that of
smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol?
True
False
Some facts!
• Physical inactivity carries a similar health
risk as smoking, high cholesterol and high
blood pressure (Bauman 1998)
but yet
• Over ½ the Irish population is inactive
• Higher social classes more active
• Men remain active for longer than 6
months compared to women (SLAN 2008)
Your programme
• Creating awareness
• Changing behaviour
• Changing the environment
Are employees in your
company ready to Step up to the
Pedometer Challenge?
• Physical readiness
• Psychological readinessbigger barrier
Are employees in your
company ready to Step up to the
Pedometer Challenge?
• Physical readiness
• Psychological readinessbigger barrier
What are barriers to activity?
Common barriers to
getting active
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Time
Weather
Inconvenient
Lack self-motivation, self confidence
Fear of injury
Lack support/encouragement
No parks, bicycle trails, walking paths
Cost
Exploring the mindset?
Maintenance
(PA is a habit)
Pre-contemplation (Inactive
+ not thinking about PA)
Contemplation
(Inactive + thinking
about PA)
Action (Doing
enough PA but for
less than 6 mths)
Preparation
(Doing some
PA)
How do your employees
measure up?
• NO, I’m not physically active now and don’t have
plans to change
• NO, I’m not physically active now but I’m
thinking about being active in the next 6 months
• NO, I’m not physically active now but I plan to
become active in the next 30 days
• YES, I’m physically active now but it has been less
than 6 months since I started
• YES, I’ve been physically active for more than 6
months
Raising Awareness
• Increase knowledge ( leaflets, ezine)
• Understanding benefits of being active
• Be aware of risk (Inactivity and health
risks)
• Increasing healthy opportunities (short
breaks at work)
Increase motivation
• Make if fun and enjoyable –how you advertise it
• Make it achievable –goal setting
• Introduce small changes- parking car further
away, take the stairs
• Reduce boredom-vary walking route, walk with
friends etc
• Support PA breaks during the day
Increase motivation
• Map out local public transport, Dublin Bike
station map
• Set up lunch-time walking group
• Signage at lifts-count out steps to different
locations in office
• Provide bike racks/shower locker facilities
• Promote walking meetings
• Liaise with local fitness centres for discounts
• Provide weather gear at reception
• On site classes
Encouraging change
• Substituting alternatives (PA when tired or
stressed, walk after dinner)
• Social support (family, workplace,
workmates)
• Reward oneself (goals and reward for
achievement)
• Commitment (plans)
• Reminders (runners at work)
Slí na Sláinte mapped
workplace routes
Slí na Sláínte
‘Time to Walk’ Signs
From here to:
(Location e.g. Town
Centre)
Distance in Km (time it
takes in minutes)
Multiple distance in Km x
12.5 minutes to work out
average walking time
Slí na Sláínte
Indoor signage
Walking Leader Training
Slí na Sláínte
Slí na Sláinte Programme
Edel Byrne
ebyrne@irishheart.ie
www.irishheart.ie/sli
Slí na Sláínte
Active@Work Award
• All workplaces can apply
• Bronze, Silver, Gold level
Can you apply?
• YES! Already meeting Bronze level
Must meet criteria
• Management buy-in 
• Active@Work champion and team 
• Identifying employees’ needs 
• Communication with employees vital 
• Inactive people participate in programmes 
Achieving the award
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Register: email ascanlon@irishheart.ie
Decide which level
Portfolio of evidence (October 2014)
Co-ordinator and Employees’ survey
Certificate of Achievement
Award Ceremony November 2014
Bronze Award
•Baseline survey
•Create awareness
•One 4-5 week physical activity
programme
•Programmes inclusive of all
workers
•Reduce sedentary activity
•Company/employee survey
Silver Award
Meet criteria for Bronze Award
plus............
•2 physical activity programmes 4
weeks
•Links to local walking/sporting
organisations
•Develop component of Slí na
Sláinte workplace programme (or
similar programme)
Gold Award
Meet criteria for silver award
plus....
• Walking group
•National campaigns
•Total of 3 physical activity
programmes
•Workplace policy
•Encourage active commuting
Cost of active@work
programme
• For organisations with 50 employees or
less: No charge
• For organisations with 51-300 employees:
€100
• For organistaions with 301-500 employees:
€200
• For organisations with 500 or more
employees: €300
Review of workplace
interventions
Workplace walking interventions that
focus on:
• Facilitated goal setting
• Diaries
• Self- monitoring
• Walking routes
Can increase walking/step count
A review of Effectiveness of workplace Heath Promotion Interventions
on Physical activity and what works in motivating and changing employees’ health
www.nice.org.uk
Dugdill et al 2008
Irish Heart Month 2014
•Magazine 24 page
•Posters
•Wallet card with
information on
standard drink
www.irishheart.ie/saywhensooner
Happy Heart at Work
•Healthy Eating
Award
•Health Checks
•Physical Activity
For more information
• www.irishheart.ie
• Email:ascanlon@irishheart.ie
• Telephone: 01-6346956 DD
Queries
www.pedometerchallenge.ie
pedometerchallenge@smartertravelworkplaces.ie
Best of Luck!