How can we evaluate activity tracking initiatives in the workplace?
Article by TiP researchers on activity tracking in the workplace presented
at CSCW conference
Nanna Gorm and Irina Shklovski have co-authored an article presenting
findings from an observational study of a workplace participating in a
step-counting campaign. The paper was presented at the Computer-Supported
Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW) Conference in San Francisco
last week.
Abstract
Sedentary work is a contributing factor to growing obesity levels
worldwide. Research shows that step-counters can offer a way to motivate
greater physical mobility. We present an in-situ study of a nation-wide
workplace step-counting campaign. Our findings show that in the context of
the workplace steps are a socially negotiated quantity and that
participation in the campaign has an impact on those who volunteer to
participate and those who opt-out. We highlight that specific health
promotion initiatives do not operate in a vacuum, but are experienced as
one out of many efforts offered to the employees. Using a social ecology
lens we illustrate how conceptualizing a step-counting campaign as a
health promotion rather than a behavior change effort can have
implications for what is construed as success.
Find the full article here:
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2819944