The vision of the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) is to protect and improve the health, safety and wellbeing of working people, and to promote their full and inclusive work participation by producing and mobilizing high-quality and relevant research. One way in which this goal is advanced is through workplace programs that are informed by the work of the Institute. The development and implementation of the Make Your Move at Work (MYMAW) program in Nova Scotia offers an example of this type of impact.
MYMAW was born out of Let’s Get Moving Nova Scotia, a strategy launched by the Nova Scotia government in 2018 to encourage Nova Scotians to move more throughout the day. The government recognized the importance of developing a workplace component and established a Physical Activity in the Workplace Committee to oversee the project. This committee was led by staff in the department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage (CCTH), with representation from several departments and agencies of the government of Nova Scotia, the Worker’s Compensation Board (WCB) and the Nova Scotia Association of Municipal Administrators. The goal of MYMAW is to help employers create work environments that support their employees in adding more movement to the workday, helping to enhance their physical and mental health and wellness.
A key part of the program is the Make Your Move at Work Toolkit. It was developed by the Acadia University Centre of Lifestyle Studies under the leadership of Dr. Jonathon Fowles, with contributions from the Physical Activity in the Workplace Committee. The toolkit includes a summary of key evidence on physical activity in the workplace, an overview of effective strategies, a framework for planning and implementing a MYMAW strategy in a workplace, assessment tools (about where the organization is at) for employers and employees, a Best Moves Guide
that highlights policies, practices and programs to promote physical activity in the workplace, an infographic on the business case for promoting physical activity at work, and ideas for increasing movement when people are working at home.
The development of the toolkit was influenced by research from IWH led by Scientist, Dr. Avi Biswas. We decided at the outset that the toolkit must be evidence-based. We conducted a literature review, an environmental scan of relevant Canadian programs, as well as surveyed Nova Scotia workplaces on health initiatives,
says Fowles. A study led by Biswas that examined how employers can integrate health promotion activities with their occupational health and safety programs was influential in helping us to build the evidence base for MYMAW,
he notes. It also provided a framework for planning and implementing a program in workplaces that became a key part of the toolkit.
The MYMAW research team also found a study led by Biswas on the activity patterns of Canadians at work and outside of work and their association with the risk of cardiovascular disease helpful in reinforcing the potential value of the approach we were taking in the toolkit,
says Dr. Fowles. An infographic that illustrated how workers can see health improvements from moderate activity levels at work really got our attention,
he adds, referring to an infographic posted on the IWH website.
The Healthy Tomorrow Foundation (HTF), a non-profit established to encourage Nova Scotians to move more, joined the workplace committee to help develop MYMAW, which was launched in late 2022.
Instead of focusing on workplace exercise programs such as lunch-time boot camps, MYMAW prioritizes simple movements and breaking up the amount of time spent sitting or remaining still. We want to motivate people to think about movement differently, help them recognize moving more is easy and show that all the small bouts of movement throughout the day count toward overall activity,
reads the program description.
Participation in the program is free of charge for any workplace in Nova Scotia. The program team works directly with employers, whatever the size of their organization, to tailor the program to fit their needs.
The website for the MYMAW program includes quick tips, a video showing the program in action, a link to a primer that summarizes the toolkit, and a form to request the full toolkit. Organizations that request the toolkit are contacted by HTF staff, which may be followed by a meeting with the leadership team and a presentation to employees. Other program resources include a simplified action plan template to help employers get started, a template for a policy on active meetings (to promote movement during meetings) and communications materials to encourage the integration of movement into the work day. Communications materials include posters, table tent cards, daily messages and point-of-decision prompts, an example of which might be a poster displayed next to an elevator bank that encourages staff to take the stairs instead.
The MYMAW framework, based on the recommendations from Biswas’ study, involves a pre-planning step to check organizational readiness. It also sets out the steps for planning (including developing physical activity policies that become a foundation for action), doing (or implementing), checking (or evaluating progress) and adjusting the strategy. A summary of the IWH team’s recommended framework is available in an IWH Speaker Series presentation delivered by Biswas in February 2020.
Implementation of MYMAW has been led by the Healthy Tomorrow Foundation. We have found the framework developed by Dr. Biswas and his team very helpful as a guide to implementation of MYMAW in workplaces,
says Kerry Copeland, executive director of the Healthy Tomorrow Foundation. The pre-planning phase, which involves gaining leadership buy-in and developing organizational readiness for change, has been particularly valuable,
says Michelle Lincoln, health promotion advisor at the HTF who supports program implementation.
Employers who have implemented the program have been enthusiastic
says Lincoln. For example, the Municipality of Argyle and Lindsay Construction have used the active meetings policy template to transform their meetings into walking meetings or to provide opportunities to stand, stretch and move about with short movement breaks every hour. St. Francis Xavier University has been sharing resources and regular challenges through a weekly newsletter. Within the CCTH itself, the staff have been recruited across the department to champion movement through actions like communicating prompts to integrate movement into the day, holding walking meetings and themed walks, and distributing gotcha cards
that reward people caught in the act of moving. MYMAW plans to conduct a formal evaluation of the program in 2025, to get a full picture of program up-take across workplaces in the province.
The MYMAW case study illustrates how IWH research and resources can provide both an evidence base for action and tools that can be used or adapted to help workplaces improve the well-being of their employees.