Barriers and facilitators of midwives' physical activity behaviour in hospital and community contexts in Scotland

Abstract

Aims:To investigate barriers and facilitators of physical activity in midwives in hospital and community environments.Design: A sequential mixed-methods approach. Data sources: Focus groups and subsequent questionnaire survey. Methods: Four focus groups were conducted in urban and rural areas with community and hospital-based midwives in Scotland in 2015. Topics were based on the behaviour change theories via the Theoretical Domains Framework. Findings informed development of a questionnaire, sent to midwives in 2016 in Scottish health boards via managers, or online survey. Results: Thirty-three midwives participated in focus groups. Workplace environmental context and resources were both barriers and facilitators. Similarly, negative social influences were barriers, whereas positive social support facilitated physical activity. The questionnaire was completed by 345 midwives. Most (90%) were physically active with high levels of activity. Commonest activities included walking, swimming and housework. Physical activity facilitators included subsidized classes and protected breaks. Barriers included tiredness, stress, family responsibilities, unpredictable breaks and shift patterns. Conclusions: Interventions should address midwives' workplace context and resources and interpersonal factors such as stress and social support. Impact: Midwives' high levels of overweight/obesity and stress impact on their own health and delivery of patient care. More workplace physical activity could help. We found most were physically active but identified workplace barriers and facilitators, including resources, shift patterns and breaks. Findings could help midwifery managers to recognize and reduce barriers, thereby improving midwives' physical activity in the workplace, supporting weight management and enhancing their health and well-being. K E Y W O R D S barriers and facilitators, behaviour change, healthcare environment, midwives, physical activity, social support, work patterns

The Factors Affecting the Physical Activity of the Health Care Workers of Iran University of Medical Sciences: A Qualitative Study

“…Worksite wellness programs as the promotion of physical activity can help businesses creating effective policies and programs to meet employee and business priorities (11). In agreement with previous studies (23), the present study showed that interventions should focus on improving interpersonal relationships, reducing workplace stresses, and increasing social support. Just like previous studies (26), the present ndings emphasized the need to pay further attention to women, especially working mothers, as the needs of this group should be further addressed by health counseling (26).…”

“…As another example, employees in the transport industry, who are at a greater risk of inactivity compared to other jobs, regarded the changes in their work schedule, bad weather conditions, and the lack of planned holidays as the main barriers to their physical activity (22). The barriers and facilitators of physical activity for the midwives working in Scotland hospitals and health centers included fatigue, stress, family responsibilities, unpredictable rest hours and the work shifts (23). These items were more or less discussed in the same way by the hospital staff in the present study.…”

“…Incentives (facilitators) were placed into organizational and motivational categories. In previous studies, the most powerful incentives for physical activity consisted of family relationships, social support, and the perceived health bene ts of physical activity (6), social support, subsidies for classes, and breaks given at speci c times (23). The environmental background and resources of the workplace can be both a barrier and a facilitator of physical activity (23).…”

“…In previous studies, the most powerful incentives for physical activity consisted of family relationships, social support, and the perceived health bene ts of physical activity (6), social support, subsidies for classes, and breaks given at speci c times (23). The environmental background and resources of the workplace can be both a barrier and a facilitator of physical activity (23). In the present study, creating a space for exercise with family and friends was cited as a factor for increasing the motivation to exercise.…”

An ORBIT Phase 1: Design study of a citywide employer-based walking challenges in a predominantly Mexican American metropolitan area

“…Few studies have taken into account employment status or occupation as additional barriers to physical activity for Mexican Americans (Gay et al, 2017), despite the growing pervasiveness of work-based wellness programs in other groups (Pieper et al, 2019). Additionally, although there is a growing body of literature that has assessed the effectiveness of wellness programming on sustained physical activity and on employer-level barriers to wellness program offerings, studies have largely occurred outside of the United States, and none have been conducted on any Latino group (Bailey et al, 2018; Garne-Dalgaard et al, 2019; Holly & Swanson, 2019; MacEachen et al, 2010; Michaels and Greene, 2013; Sedani et al, 2019; Stankevitz et al, 2017; Taylor et al, 2016).…”