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This paper sets out to provide an overview of the development processes, key drivers and the impact of a workplace health strategy developed in the North West of England, between 2005 and 2007. The strategy is led by a Regional Workplace Health Co‐ordinator (funded for two years by regional‐level bodies), and is aimed at a broad range of stakeholders across every layer of influence.

The paper consists of narrative which was co‐constructed by the Guest Editor (third author of the paper) and the co‐authors of the original strategy (first and second authors of the paper). A reflective interview was conducted with the first and second authors, who were interviewed by the third author in the summer of 2008. This interview was transcribed verbatim and then used to co‐construct the paper that follows. The key questions that the narrative was designed to answer were: why and how was the strategy developed? What was the interplay between national and regional levels of the system? What was the value/impact of the strategy?

The strategy provided an important platform from which regional players could develop actions that would, in the long term, positively influence the health of workers in the region. The scope and breadth of the regional strategy further informed national developments, but its effective delivery within the North West region was seriously hampered by the lack of co‐ordination, governance and ownership. The long‐term impacts of the strategy are not being measured as no funding was available for its evaluation.

Although many workplace health strategies have been developed, few are ever critically evaluated.

This paper aims to report a synopsis of a recent systematic review of the literature regarding the effectiveness of workplace physical activity interventions, commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

A search for English‐language papers published between 1996 and 2007 was conducted using 12 relevant databases and associated grey literature. Search protocols and analysis regarding study quality as recommended by NICE were utilised. Key inclusion criteria were, workplace intervention aiming to increase physical activity, intervention aimed at working adults, intervention initiated/endorsed by the employer, physical activity outcome. Thirty‐three studies (38 papers) met the inclusion criteria and were independently reviewed (checked by two reviewers) with a narrative synthesis of findings.

Fourteen studies were graded as high quality or good quality. Evidence from previous systematic reviews was inconclusive. Data regarding the effectiveness of stair walking interventions was limited and intervention effects were short‐lived. Three public sector studies provided evidence that workplace walking interventions using pedometers can increase daily step counts. One good quality study reported a positive intervention effect on walking to work behaviour (active travel) in economically advantaged female employees. There was strong evidence that workplace counselling influenced physical activity behaviour. There is a dearth of evidence for small and medium enterprises.

Due to the necessary UK focus and time constraints, only studies from Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada were included.

The paper shows that there is a growing evidence base that workplace physical activity interventions can positively influence physical activity behaviour.

The purpose of this paper is to present an evaluation of the design of a stress management intervention (rather than an evaluation of the implementation and outcomes of the programme).

This paper uses data generated from a large study carried out in two social service departments in the UK. The study is carried out in three phases: first, a problem diagnosis phase, comprising the development of a questionnaire and survey (n=1,234); second, focus groups (n=16) to develop interventions in a participatory way from the baseline established; and finally, an evaluation of the processes involved in phases one and two.

Key barriers include: major changes are currently taking place within the organisations; staff are distrustful of management and sceptical of the value of the research; lack of resources; and difficulties translating the findings into actions. Key factors necessary for success include: strong commitment from senior management; willingness by staff to participate; realistic expectations, responsibilities and time‐frames agreed at the outset of the project. Key health promotion outcomes achieved include: improved health literacy; changes to organisational policies and practices and staff empowerment and participation.

Future research designing and implementing stress management interventions can draw on the evidence from this study in order to improve intervention effectiveness.

Evaluating the design of the stress management intervention has identified: what worked well, what did not, and in what context; difficulties associated with managing change; and unanticipated successes.

This paper provides an overview of the conditions which need to be created in order to achieve potentially successful outcomes and improve intervention effectiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to gauge how the perception of smoking by children has evolved since the last primary schools survey in Guernsey in 2007 and to investigate whether there is an increase in the percentage of smoke‐free homes since the last survey.

A total of 377 Year 6 (aged 10‐11 years) primary school students were surveyed through an online questionnaire made up of 58 questions and based on the health attitudes of children. The statistics arising from this survey were compared with those obtained in a similar survey in 2007.

Year 2007, 2009 (respectively): Total=(575, 377); girls (48 per cent, 55 per cent) never smoked (94 per cent, 97 per cent); will not smoke when older (83 per cent, 82 per cent); have a smoke‐free house (60 per cent, 64 per cent); get information about smoking through Guernsey Adolescent Smokefree Project (GASP) (92 per cent, 90 per cent); have never been offered cannabis (91 per cent, 97 per cent).

The results of this survey forced a list of actions to be taken by GASP to ensure that the young people of the island would continue to receive smoke‐free education.

This paper aims to explore a health at work initiative (“Fair Chance at Work”) for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and identify opportunities for improving engagement of businesses in such activities.

A case study approach is used

Two problems are identified ‐ engagement and participation. A model of engagement incorporating aspects of Prochaska and DiClemente's transtheoretical model of behaviour change is proposed based on findings from the case study and existing literature. It is concluded that improving the engagement of SMEs requires a greater understanding of their current needs, perceptions and attitudes towards health at work. Schemes such as the Teaching Companies Scheme could be useful in testing the model.

The Teaching Companies Scheme could be useful in testing the model.

These findings may inform the development of health promotion projects to SMEs using an applied model behaviour change.

This paper is useful to health promotion workers when developing projects in SMEs.

Awareness of potential health impact and variations in key risk factors for chronic disease are important considerations in multi‐site, workplace physical activity interventions. This study seeks to examine associations and site variations between workday step counts, sitting times, waist circumference and blood pressure in three universities.

Participants were white‐collar, university employees (172 women and 44 men; aged 41.0±10.3 years) from Barcelona, Spain (n=81), Brisbane, Australia (n=71) and Leeds, UK (n=64). Workday step counts and sitting times (five days) and waist circumference and blood pressure were assessed and compared against health‐related thresholds. Step counts were classified into tertiles and differences in sitting time, waist circumference and blood pressure were compared across tertiles using ANOVA, as were site variations in key variables.

Daily step counts were inversely associated with sitting times (p<0.05), women's waist circumference (p<0.05) and systolic (p<0.01) and diastolic (p<0.05) blood pressure. Activity rates – relative to the public health criterion of 10,000 daily steps – were lower in Brisbane (16 per cent) and Leeds (15 per cent), compared with Barcelona (47 per cent). Barcelona employees also sat less (p<0.001), had lower men's and women's waist circumference (p<0.01) and lower women's diastolic blood pressure (p<0.001).

The small number of male participants precluded meaningful analyses for men.

The findings evidence the health benefits of workplace walking in the samples and highlight the need to account for variations in multi‐site, multi‐national interventions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the moderating effect of supervisor support on the relationship between work schedule flexibility and job stress.

For the study a survey methodology was used and 232 software developers attached to offshore outsourced software development firms responded.

It was found that supervisor support moderates the relationship between work schedule flexibility and job stress.

The findings of this study will provide useful information for both practitioners and academics to better understand the nature of strategies to be adopted in mitigating job stress.

This paper reflects on the appropriateness of using focus groups with young children, based on a real life study carried out in Liverpool, UK which used 12, single‐sex focus groups (n=50, mean age=7) to explore children’s perceptions of smoking. The technique proved both useful and appropriate for young children, although in practice the groups needed more direction by the moderator than is thought to be ideal with adults. The findings produced by the study were comparable to those attained by other research methods. There was no evidence of over conformity as a range of responses were given, and the children appeared to enjoy the exercise, which encouraged spontaneity. We conclude, with certain preconditions, that focus groups with young children are a viable method for exploring young children’s perspectives but need to be small in number, homogenous and interactive, to maintain a high level of interest.

Most adults do not follow the minimum requirements for physical activity despite the benefits such activity can provide toward improving quality of life. On average, an adult spends 60% of daily hours in the workplace, making it essential to create working environments that are favorable to avoiding harmful effects on the health of workers. Toward this end, the application of physical activity programs in a work context is one of the possible interventions. This study aims to carry out a systematic review of the literature to identify the impact of physical activity programs applied in the workplace, on employee wellness and organizational productivity.

The search for reports was carried out in two databases, namely, Thomson Reuters Web of Science and Scopus, according to several inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) was applied to ensure the quality of the study. Microsoft Excel 2016 was used to organize the database to support the data analysis.

The sample comprised 64 reports published in international journals between 1986 and 2019. From these studies, six thematic clusters were formed: Workplace Physical Activity Interventions, Workplace Wellness, Physical Activity and Organizational Performance, Barriers to Developing Physical Activity Programs in the Workplace, Physical Activity and Sedentary Occupations and Workplace Physical Activity Incentives. The analysis of these clusters confirmed that the implementation of physical activity programs in this context could represent beneficial effects for workers and the organizational system by contributing to a reduction in the rates of absenteeism and presenteeism. However, there are still many organizations that do not implement such programs.

The results of this study are essential for managers of organizations to be able to implement physical activity programs in a work context, similarly to the application of a strategy of corporate social responsibility in an intra-organizational environment. This research may also be useful for professionals in the areas of sports and physical exercise, who want to build their business around physical exercise programs applied to a work context.