Abstract
Aims: 1) What characteristics do customer-facing retail employees in Australia report in regards to levels of energy and activity, sleep, and stress? (2) Does, Happy People, a 4-week multimedia application deliver useful strategies for managing health and wellbeing in the workplace and at home?
Design: Single group pilot study
Methods: A pilot study was conducted throughout retail outlets nationally of a major Australian telecommunications company. Pre-and post-program data were collected via anonymous surveys and application engagement captured using background analytical software.
Results: Pre-and post-program surveys on 482 and 360 participants respectively, with application engagement data from 1100 participants. Over 77% of participants were aged under 30 years. Less than 17% reported meeting physical activity guidelines. Over 40% reported often feeling tired or exhausted, 43% reported back pain and 41% headaches. Sleep was commonly disturbed by worries about personal issues (65%) and work (51%). Over 30% reported feeling overwhelmed with stress some of the time. Higher stress was associated with increased physical complaints, particularly headaches (rs = .391, p=.000), and difficulty in managing customers (rs = .303, p=.000). Engagement in the program was high, with 72% of participants reporting that the program helped them improve overall health and wellbeing, including strategies for managing stress (63%), sleep (68%), and upset customers (69%).
Conclusions: Retail employees, despite being young in age, are experiencing high levels of stress, sleep disturbance and physical complaints. A brief, interactive multimedia application was engaging and can provide useful strategies for improving health and wellbeing.
Design: Single group pilot study
Methods: A pilot study was conducted throughout retail outlets nationally of a major Australian telecommunications company. Pre-and post-program data were collected via anonymous surveys and application engagement captured using background analytical software.
Results: Pre-and post-program surveys on 482 and 360 participants respectively, with application engagement data from 1100 participants. Over 77% of participants were aged under 30 years. Less than 17% reported meeting physical activity guidelines. Over 40% reported often feeling tired or exhausted, 43% reported back pain and 41% headaches. Sleep was commonly disturbed by worries about personal issues (65%) and work (51%). Over 30% reported feeling overwhelmed with stress some of the time. Higher stress was associated with increased physical complaints, particularly headaches (rs = .391, p=.000), and difficulty in managing customers (rs = .303, p=.000). Engagement in the program was high, with 72% of participants reporting that the program helped them improve overall health and wellbeing, including strategies for managing stress (63%), sleep (68%), and upset customers (69%).
Conclusions: Retail employees, despite being young in age, are experiencing high levels of stress, sleep disturbance and physical complaints. A brief, interactive multimedia application was engaging and can provide useful strategies for improving health and wellbeing.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2017 |
| Event | Australian Physiotherapy Association Conference Momentum 2017 - Sydney Convention Centre, Sydney, Australia Duration: 19 Oct 2017 → 21 Oct 2017 |
Conference
| Conference | Australian Physiotherapy Association Conference Momentum 2017 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Sydney |
| Period | 19/10/17 → 21/10/17 |