Stand-capable desk use in a call center: a six-month follow-up pilot study

Pickens, Adam; Kress, M.M.; Benden, Mark E.; Zhao, Hongwei; Wendel, Monica L.; Congleton, Jerome J.

doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2015.10.024

Cited by 14 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Call agent attrition (48%) was largely due to job role changes and absence, with the attrition rate higher than a previous contact centre trial [8]. The average annual attrition in contact centres is 21%, with attrition often higher in the first 90 days of employment [69].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The workplace is an appropriate setting to promote PA and reduce SB, as typically, employed UK adults spend up to two thirds of waking hours at work [5,6]. Contact centres are a priority sector to target, as call agents have higher levels of obesity compared to customer service and office employees [7] and spend up to 90% of their working day seated [8][9][10]. Moreover, this sitting is often accrued in prolonged periods > 30 min [10] a pattern detrimentally associated with musculoskeletal discomfort [11,12] and fasting blood plasma glucose [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While multi-component interventions have successfully reduced occupational sitting time in desk-based workers [14,15], limited research has investigated the effect of PA and SB interventions in contact centre call agents [18]. The provision of height-adjustable workstations reduced call agents' self-reported occupational sitting time [8] and increased objectively-assessed productivity [22] compared to seated workstation controls over 6 months. Similarly, a multi-component pilot study in 16 call agents, which also included the provision of height-adjustable workstations, observed favourable changes in call agents' self-reported workplace sitting and standing time compared to 15 seated controls after 1, 4 and 19 weeks [23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such systematic development allows researchers to experience the delivery of a small-scale version of the intended subsequent trial [28] and seeks to enhance the likely effectiveness and sustainability of the trial [29,30]. To date, no PA or SB intervention in the contact centre setting has been developed in this manner [8,22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A multi-component intervention to sit less and move more in a contact centre setting: a feasibility study

et al. 2019

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Background: Call agents spend~90% of their working day seated, which may negatively impact health, productivity, and wellbeing. This study aimed to explore the acceptability and feasibility of a multi-component workplace intervention targeting increased activity and decreased prolonged sitting in the contact centre setting prior to a full-scale effectiveness trial. Methods: An 8-week non-randomised pre-post feasibility study was conducted. Using a mixed methods approach, focus groups and interviews were thematically analysed to explore the acceptability and feasibility of key study phases, and provide context to agents' process evaluation and survey responses. The multicomponent intervention, conducted in a single call centre, included height-adjustable workstations, emails, education and training sessions, and support from team leaders and a workplace champion. Results: Six (of 20) team leaders were recruited, with 17 of 84 call agents (78% female, 39.3 ± 11.9 years) completing baseline assessments and 13 completing follow-up. High workload influenced recruitment. Call agents perceived assessments as acceptable, though strategies are needed to enhance fidelity. Education sessions, height-adjustable workstations and emails were perceived as the most effective components; however, height-adjustable hot-desks were not perceived as feasible in this setting. Conclusions: This study has identified unique, pragmatic considerations for conducting a multi-level, multi-component PA and SB intervention and associated evaluation in highly sedentary call agents in the challenging contact centre setting. The intervention was largely perceived positively, with call agents and team leaders describing numerous perceived positive effects on behavioural, health and work-related outcomes. Findings will be of value to researchers attempting to intervene in contact centres and will be used by the current authors to design a subsequent trial.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A multi-component intervention to sit less and move more in a contact centre setting: a feasibility study

et al. 2019

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“…The combination of high levels of sedentary behaviour, and the number of constraining factors, suggest that call centres require tailored interventions. However, there have been few attempts to do so [28][29][30][31]. Feasibility work with centres in Liverpool, UK, identified a number of challenges to reducing sedentary behaviour and incorporating physical activity into the shifts of call centre workers [29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, rationale and analysis plan for the Stand Up for Health trial in contact centres: a stepped wedge feasibility study

Parker

Manner

Sivaramakrishnan

et al. 2020

Pilot Feasibility Stud

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Background Contact centres are one of the most sedentary workplaces, with employees spending a very high proportion of their working day sitting down. About a quarter of contact centre staff regularly experience musculoskeletal health problems due to high levels of sedentary behaviour, including lower back pain. There have been no previous randomised studies specifically aiming to reduce sedentary behaviour in contact centre staff. To address this gap, the Stand Up for Health (SUH) study aims to test the feasibility and acceptability of a complex theory-based intervention to reduce sedentary behaviour in contact centres. Methods The Stand Up for Health study has a stepped wedge cluster randomised trial design, which is a pragmatic design whereby clusters (contact centres) are randomised to time points at which they will begin to receive the intervention. All contact centre staff have the opportunity to experience the intervention. To minimise the resource burden in this feasibility study, data collection is not continuous, but undertaken on a selective number of occasions, so the stepped wedge design is “incomplete”. Eleven contact centres in England and Scotland have been recruited, and the sample size is approximately 27 per centre (270 in total). The statistical analysis will predominantly focus on assessing feasibility, including the calculation of recruitment rates and rates of attrition. Exploratory analysis will be performed to compare objectively measured sedentary time in the workplace (measured using an activPAL™ device) between intervention and control conditions using a linear mixed effects regression model. Discussion To our knowledge, this is the first stepped wedge feasibility study conducted in call centres. The rationale and justification of our novel staircase stepped wedge design has been presented, and we hope that by presenting our study design and statistical analysis plan, it will contribute to the literature on stepped wedge trials, and in particular feasibility stepped wedge trials. The findings of the study will also help inform whether this is a suitable design for other settings where data collection is challenging. Trial registration The trial has been registered on the ISRCTN database: http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN11580369

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Workplace interventions for reducing sitting at work

Shrestha

Kukkonen-Harjula

Verbeek

et al. 2018

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

128

137

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At present there is low-quality evidence that the use of sit-stand desks reduce workplace sitting at short-term and medium-term follow-ups. However, there is no evidence on their effects on sitting over longer follow-up periods. Effects of other types of interventions, including workplace policy changes, provision of information and counselling, and multi-component interventions, are mostly inconsistent. The quality of evidence is low to very low for most interventions, mainly because of limitations in study protocols and small sample sizes. There is a need for larger cluster-RCTs with longer-term follow-ups to determine the effectiveness of different types of interventions to reduce sitting time at work.

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Stand-capable desk use in a call center: a six-month follow-up pilot study

Cited by 14 publications

References 8 publications

A multi-component intervention to sit less and move more in a contact centre setting: a feasibility study

A multi-component intervention to sit less and move more in a contact centre setting: a feasibility study

Design, rationale and analysis plan for the Stand Up for Health trial in contact centres: a stepped wedge feasibility study

Workplace interventions for reducing sitting at work

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