Employees who exercise in a fun way do more sports, which improves their general health and well-being.
- The 15 Minute Challenge is a game-based workplace wellness program that encourages daily 15-minute bouts of physical activity for six weeks with the goal of improving health outcomes and overall well-being.
- This challenge led to increases in physical activity levels, with 95% of participants meeting (36%) or exceeding (59%) international recommendations for physical activity.
- Volunteers’ fitness, energy, overall health, sleep quality and mood improved significantly after participating in the program.
“Regular physical activity offers important benefits for physical and mental health. It plays a key role in the prevention and management of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, and also reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety. Yet almost half of adults in Australia do not meet recommended levels. Given that the majority of adults spend a large proportion of their waking hours working, workplaces provide an ideal setting to promote physical activity,” said Ben Singhprofessor at the University of South Australia.
Physical activity: 11,575 employees took part in the “15-minute challenge”
Based on this observation, the researcher and his team decided to create a challenge: the “15-minute challenge”. This is a workplace mental health initiative that uses gamification (i.e. integrating game elements) to promote physical activity, with the aim of improving health outcomes and overall well-being. “This challenge serves as an accessible starting point, especially for people who are particularly sedentary. It reduces barriers and helps develop the habit of regular exercise.”
In a study published Healthcarethe scientists wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of the program among employees from various workplaces in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. A total of 11,575 people from 73 companies participated in this game-based workplace wellbeing program, which encourages daily 15-minute sessions of physical activity for six weeks. At the start of the study and after the intervention, participants reported on their physical activity and fitness, energy, general health, sleep quality and mood. Program satisfaction, engagement rates and adherence to the program were also assessed.
12 more minutes of sport per day thanks to the game-based workplace well-being programme
The results showed a significant increase in physical activity. Volunteers’ average daily exercise levels increased by 12 minutes per day (85 minutes per week) throughout the six-week challenge, with an average daily exercise duration of 45 minutes. In addition, 95% of volunteers met or exceeded international physical activity recommendations, compared to 57% at baseline. As a reminder, World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults (ages 18 to 64) get at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or at least 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity over the course of a week.
Participants also reported improvements in fitness (14%), energy (12%), overall health (8%), sleep quality (8%), and mood (7.1%). They reported high levels of satisfaction, and 92% recommended the program. Part of the program’s success, the authors say, is the gamification and social aspects of its application.
“Physically active employees are happier and healthier”
“Encouraging and empowering your team members through friendly competition is at the heart of the 15 Minute Challenge app, and is a key part of what motivates participants to stay engaged. (…) Physically active employees are happier and healthier, they are more productive, more satisfied, less stressed and less likely to get sick. Sustainable and scalable initiatives, like the 15 Minute Challenge, that can help employees improve their health and wellbeing should be on every employer’s agenda,” concluded Carol Maher, co-author of the research.
