BT Work Fit
| Description | Encourage and enable BT staff to maintain a healthy weight and lose weight. |
|---|---|
| Setting | Workplace |
| Populationting | Workplace staff |
| Intervention summary | Distribute toolkits, set exercise targets and provide access to healthy lifestyle advisors. |
| Outcome Summary | Number of participants; weight loss; self-referral rates to GPs. |
| Startup Cost | Unknown |
| Running Cost | Unknown |
| Funding | Roche and BT |
| Started | September 2005 |
| Ended | May 2006 |
| Location | England; Wales |
| Contact |
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Background
BT Work Fit is the biggest workplace scheme of its kind in the UK. Every BT employee receives a toolkit comprising tape measure, pedometer and a free gym pass, as well as access to health information on the BT intranet. There is a team of lifestyle advisors available for BT employees to send queries to by email.
What is the problem you are trying to solve?
We want to improve the health of boys and men in England and Wales by encouraging and enabling BT staff to maintain a healthy weight and lose weight.
The national mortality and morbidity rates are high in middle aged men in the UK. BT employs over 100 000 people, a high proportion of which fits into the target demographic profile.
What local organisations are involved?
None
How many people are running this project and who are they?
Project managers, a team of lifestyle advisors (who received 400-500 queries over the 16 weeks) and key staff from BT (human resources and communications)
What local population are you targeting?
Initially, we targeted middle aged men, but we are now targeting all BT employees irrespective of age and gender.
How many people are you targeting?
16 000 BT employees
Interventions
What interventions are you using to address the problem?
Every week for 16 weeks, each BT employee is set a task, for example, cut down on alcohol, cut down on fatty foods or to take up more exercise. They are then expected to input their pedometer reading and waist measurements on a weekly basis. It is possible for a group of BT employees to sign up together as part of a team and help support fellow workmates, which can also help to reduce drop-out rates.
Is the project design based on evidence? If so, please state reference.
No.
Outcome
What outcomes or planned outcomes are you measuring?
We are measuring number of participants; significant weight loss (average of 4.4 kg over 16 weeks); self-referral rates to GP where needed; and encouragement of cross-business participation.
Do you have any outcomes or results yet? If so, what are they?
Over a period of four months, 4 400 BT employees lost ten tonnes of weight between them - an average weight loss of 2.3 kg.
Is your project relevant to a government target or guideline?
No.
Feedback
What obstacles did you have to overcome to set up this project?
None
What have you learned about the project so far?
We realise that the project will be useful for other large organisations with good IT infrastructure and a workforce that is IT literate, for example, the NHS and Royal Mail. Therefore, we would like to roll the project out to other private sector companies.
What would you do differently?
Nothing