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Physical Activity Program Improves Employee Mental Health in Less Than 2 Months
Employees who completed a 50-day workplace physical activity program reported feeling less anxious, stressed, and depressed, and said they felt more alert during the day and slept better at night. Researchers published their findings in Current Psychology.
“With increasing levels of psychological distress worldwide, particularly in light of the recent COVID-19 pandemic and impacts on the community, improving mental health and wellbeing in workplace settings may be an important focus,” researchers wrote.
The study spanned 2903 employees from Australia and New Zealand who participated in an online workplace-based wellness program. Participants were encouraged to aim for 10,000 steps a day and logged their individual and team progress. At the beginning and end of the 50-day program, participants answered questionnaires on demographic, mental health, and program engagement measures.
Related: American Adults Prioritize Mental Health in 2022
Among the 1320 employees who provided mental health data before and after the 50-day program, anxiety decreased 18.2%, stress decreased 13.0%, depressive symptoms decreased 9.8%, and sleep-related impairment fell 6.9%, researchers reported. Overall wellbeing, meanwhile, increased 6.7%.
The greater an employee’s participation in the physical activity program, the more effective it was in improving anxiety and overall wellbeing, explained study author Anna Peeters, PhD, director of the Institute for Health Transformation and a professor at Deakin University in Australia.
“Previous research has shown that physical activity is an important self-care tool for improving the physical and mental health of workers,” said Dr Peeters, “and this research shows that significant improvements can occur in a relatively short space of time.”
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