Calgary Health Region Employees took to being physically active and eating well by participating in the “Step Challenge Plus”, an event held by the Alberta Children’s Hospital Physiotherapists in celebration of National Physiotherapy Month April 22- May 24, 2007.
The Step Challenge Plus is a 15 day healthy living challenge that has teams of 5 or more people participate in a relay style format. Team members take turns accumulating steps on a pedometer and eating the recommended servings of fruits/vegetables and calcium/vitamin D as recommended by Health Canada. Recommendations include a minimum of 10,000 steps, 7-10 fruit/vegetable servings, and 2-3 calcium/vitamin D servings per day.
The Challenge was presented to encourage health professionals to become aware of important aspects of a healthy lifestyle, to become aware of how their lifestyle compares to the recommendations for active living and healthy eating, and to discover how to reach their potential while participating with a team to achieve those goals. Individuals reported that participating on a team is “inspiring, motivating and fun, and the enthusiasm generated is contagious.”
Sixty-five teams from ten different sites in the Calgary Health Region, including acute care sites and Community Health Centres, participated in the first annual Step Challenge Plus. In total, three hundred and twenty-five health care workers, family and /or friends took part in the Challenge. Scores were calculated based on a combination of both physical activity (steps) and healthy eating (food servings,) both being considered equally.
First place was awarded to the “Bone Imagers” from RRDTC Diagnostic Imaging. Every member of the team met or exceeded the daily recommendations for steps and food servings. Second place went to “Kleek”, ACH PICU and third place to “Step Sisters” from South Calgary Dialysis Centre. One of the teams, Sole Sisters were very enthusiastic and had T-shirts printed with a team logo on it and were given the award for the Best Team Name/Spirit.
Staff found the Step Challenge to be enlightening, motivating, fun, and inspiring. “It was great to be doing this as part of a team effort and the enthusiasm of the group was certainly contagious. I was amazed at how motivating it can be to have that little step counter on your hip - even my family was routing for me to get over the 10,000 mark and then the 11,000 and…It was fun.”
The goal of the Step Challenge Plus was to inspire staff to understand and influence their own well being, and empower them to take action in making physical activity and healthy eating a part of their everyday life. For many staff, those goals were achieved through their participation, and it has had a positive and lasting impact on their lifestyle. Several participants have purchased their own pedometers with the commitment to continue to be active, and reported eating more fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
The energy, excitement and enthusiasm generated by the Step Challenge Plus, provides a foundation for making this an annual event. As Health Care Professionals, learning about and adopting a healthy lifestyle, allows us to provide better service and support to our clients in doing the same. It provides a good role model for the community.
