None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Workplaces are a fruitful environment to support workers' eating habits, since adults spend almost half of their waking hours at work. Regular eating and nutritious meals help to promote well-being at work and beyond. Supporting employee health and well-being with workplace health promotion programs focusing on dietary changes and healthy eating including personal and educational components, environmental components and multi-component strategies have been proven to be effective. Recruiting new workforce in the more rural areas of Finland, such as Satakunta, has been found to be problematic. Coincidently there is not enough graduating young workforce, elder workers are retiring, and increasing numbers of health problems are affecting the share of Finnish working age population. To optimize the use of the existing workforce health promotion interventions focusing on nutrition have been suggested to better the health and well-being of the current working age Finns in Satakunta and beyond. The RAVI trial is a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) exploring the effectiveness of personal nutritional guidance on work ability, work productivity, sickness absence, work well-being, health-related quality of life and nutrition. Participants are working-aged (= 18 years) employees (n=170) in six different companies located in Satakunta. The twelve-month intervention in the intervention group (IG) includes 3-4 times tailored nutritional guidance, personal nutritional plan, “Work well-being with nutrition” - online training, and smart watches to follow their own physical activity and sleep. Participants in the control group do not receive any nutritional guidance in the twelve-month study period, but after the final measurements they get one nutritional guidance session and access to online training. The trial has comprehensive baseline and final measurements, that include an electronic questionnaire assessing work-related outcomes, background and lifestyle information, blood tests at the laboratory and a nurse’s appointment with blood pressure measuring. Measurements for work-related outcomes: Work ability and sickness absence is measured with the Work Ability Index (WAI), work well-being with WAI and the Suction of work-test, and Work productivity is measured with Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI:GH). In addition health-related quality of life is measured with EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, Dietary assessment is done using a Food Frequency Questionnaire and a 3-day food record. Food records are kept with Eat@Work mobile application. Only amongst the intervention group protein intake is tested with protein intake screener and sleep and activity are measured with smartwatch. This study will provide nationally important data on how workplace nutrition guidance affects quality of life, work performance, sickness absence, eating behavior and dietary intake among working age Finns.
Interventions
Participants in the intervention group receive multifactorial and tailored nutritional guidance for 12 months including
1) tailored nutritional guidance 3-4 times
2) personal nutritional plan
3) opportunity to participate “Work well-being with nutrition” - online training
4) Eat@Work- mobile application to follow their own eating
5) use of smart watch to follow own physical activity and sleep
6) a comprehensive information package about own health
Tailored nutritional guidance is given
Participants in the intervention group receive multifactorial and tailored nutritional guidance for 12 months including 1) tailored nutritional guidance 3-4 times 2) personal nutritional plan 3) opportunity to participate “Work well-being with nutrition” - online training 4) Eat@Work- mobile application to follow their own eating 5) use of smart watch to follow own physical activity and sleep 6) a comprehensive information package about own health Tailored nutritional guidance is given during the 12-month intervention period 3-4 times face to face individually by the study nutritionist. One guidance session lasts for 1-2 hours, and it is given at the participant’s workplace if possible, or at the premises of Satakunta University of Applied Sciences. All nutritional guidance sessions are given by the same study nutritionist. Nutritional guidance is based on the results of participant’s nutritional status, nutrient intake and eating behaviour, background information, and the discussions with the participant and the nutritionist. Different booklets (from the The Association of Clinical and Public Health Nutritionists in Finland and from the Eat@Work project) about healthy nutrition are handed during the sessions. The motivational guidance method is used in the nutritional guidance. All intervention group participants are provided a personal nutritional plan during the first nutritional guidance session, when the nutritionist and the participant discuss appropriate nutritional aims to improve eating habits. The nutritional guidance is based on the Finnish Nutrition and food recommendations (2014) and based on the new The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (2022). The personal nutritional plan is reviewed and adjusted during the latter guidance sessions if needed. The adherence of the nutritional guidance and personal nutritional plan is measured with the GAS method, that allows the participant and the nutritionist to jointly define the achievement of goals of the nutritional guidance and plan on a five-step scale. Also, participants fill out a short feedback questionnaire in the last nutritional guidance session The participants will take part in “Work well-being with nutrition” -online training” that has eight different modules which include different nutritional information about healthy eating and tasks for the participants. Each module opens every two weeks, so the overall duration of the online training is four months, and it is completed within the 12-month study period. Completing each module will take minimum of half an hour, but each module will include additional information for those interested. The training is created by nutritionists specifically to cover topics related to nutrition and well-being of working age participants. The online training is built in a Moodle learning platform provided by SAMK, where the participation and adherence is assessed by the percentage of assignments completed and feedback. The Eat@Work- mobile application is instructed and encouraged to use (monthly, 15 minutes) during the intervention to strengthen the effects of the nutritional guidance. The Eat@Work mobile application includes nutritional information, tests, and videos to support changes in eating habits. Participants use the application to collect food records. At baseline and at final measurements participants take pictures of their foods and drinks for three days via the application. Participants send the food records (via application) to the study nutritionist, who analyzes the food records. The results are discussed in the nutritional guidance. Participants in the intervention group use Polar® Ignite 2 fitness smart watches to follow their own physical activity, recovery, work vitality and sleep. The watch provides personalized guidance for workouts and sleep based on the collected data. The aim of the smart watch use is to support nutritional changes and to gather data to investigate the relationship between nutrition, activity/sleep and work-related outcomes. Based on the information gathered at the baseline measurements, the intervention group volunteers will get a comprehensive package about their health and well-being, which is given in the first nutritional guidance (orally) sessions during the intervention study period. For example, if participant has a high risk for cardiovascular diseases, the nutritionist will give lifestyle advise to minimize the risk.
Sponsors
Satakunta University of Applied Sciences
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
- has at least 12-month contract of employment in the recruited company - ready to commit to either research group for a period of 12 months - being able to read and understand Finnish well enough to give informed consent, to receive nutritional guidance and to use mobile app - no clinically unstable diseases or conditions which could potentially be aggravated by the intervention - having access to and being able to use a smartphone - giving informed consent to participate in the study
Exclusion criteria
- do not have contracts to work during the study period - medical illness that is clinically unstable or in terminal stage, and which could potentially be aggravated by the intervention - severe eating disorder (e.g. anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorder) - harmful use of alcohol (AUDIT-C) - women who are pregnant - is participating or has recently participated (approx. 5 years) in another nutrition intervention
Outcome results
None listed