Hospital trials paid worker exercise

Around 100 Nepean Hospital workers will take part in a 12-month trial, which will be conducted around the hospital and in a revamped hospital break room. It will include “exer-gaming”, whereby workers use virtual reality glasses and a video game console to simulate activities like bowling, boxing and tennis, together with exercise that involves using the stairs and walking around the hospital.

“It sounds simple but really it’s a radical idea and this trial will give staff a 30-minute exercise break during their work day and then measure how these breaks impact their heart health, overall fitness and mental wellbeing,” said Heart Research Institute Senior Research Fellow and Head of Heart Research at Nepean Hospital, cardiologist Dr Faraz Pathan.

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“This is our chance to change the policy and cultural landscape of the Australian workplace by addressing the ‘time poverty’ that prevents staff from exercising,” Pathan added. “We know healthcare workers are at a particularly high risk for heart disease due to working irregular shifts that disrupt the circadian rhythm and the stressful and intensive nature of their work.”

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With data showing that physical inactivity costs the Australian economy more than $2 billion annually and with Australian workers spending approximately five hours a day at work sitting, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, Pathan said: “If it’s successful here at Nepean, there is no reason that the intervention cannot be applied to the workforce at large.”

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