Have you heard of an adult PE class? It’s an ingenious idea by two advertising agency entrepreneurs to get people moving during working hours and restore the Finnish people’s physical activity. The entrepreneurs Elovaara and Lehtinen initially launched the experiment in their own company, where they exercised with their staff for an hour a week for three months. The results were great, and the experiment became a permanent part of their company’s personnel policy, although the duo became so enthusiastic about it that they now offer their employees the opportunity to exercise for an hour during the workday – every single day. The adult PE class caught public attention at the 2023 Finnish Sports Gala, where the former world elite skier Sami Jauhojärvi starred a video to promote the joys of physical exercise in the workplace.
Inactivity is expensive
In Finland, the working-age population is decreasing, leading to the fact that there is already a severe shortage of skilled workers in some fields of work. Part of the solution to this societal problem is to raise the retirement age and therefore people would need to be able to sustain their ability to work longer. The physical endurance of Finns has been deteriorating for decades and will pose challenges in the future if this trend is not halted. People will face increasing challenges especially in physically demanding jobs, leading to labour shortages and labour productivity problems. According to the prognosis for decline of physical condition of working-age Finns the number of people in a good physical condition will decrease in the future. The cost of physical inactivity and sickness absence in Finland is several billion euros annually. (Ahokas etc. 2023.) In 2022, according to the Healthy Physical Activity Recommendations, 56% of our population aged 20-64 were insufficiently physically active (Sotkanet sine anno).
How to get effectiveness?
Several studies show the positive effects of physical activity on work performance and recovery from work (Ervasti etc 2022). The effects on physical and mental health are positive. Regular physical activity prevents and treats many common diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and musculoskeletal disorders. (UKK-instituutti 2024.) Positive effects can be achieved by, for example, replacing an hour of sitting still with light physical activity during the day (Garthwaite etc 2022). There is also growing research evidence on the positive impact of physical activity in the treatment of depression and anxiety (Kukkonen-Harjula & Laukkala 2019).
There are signs of an awakening at the national level in Finland to physically activate the population. The government programme puts a strong emphasis on the efforts to promote physical activity. One of the objectives of the Suomi liikkeelle -programme is to integrate aspects of physical activity and health promotion into the strategies and plans of wellbeing services counties and municipalities. In addition, the Suomi liikkeelle -programme highlights the aspect of supporting people’s ability to cope at work and calls for the employer’s role in supporting coping at work. The aim is to find effective methods to increase physical activity among employees. (Valtioneuvosto 2023.) According to Rütten & Pfeifer, the most effective ways to promote physical activity at work were achieved by combining many different methods. Examples of effective ways include encouraging to walk or bike to and from work, providing exercise facilities, restructuring work processes to support physical activity for example by adding active breaks to workdays, as well as offering various exercise programs and utilizing the pedometer. (Rütten & Pfeifer 2016).
Raahe – a promoter of well-being at work
The message of the adult PE lesson is strongly targeted at employees in the private sector. However, businesses employ only a fraction of our working age population. We wanted to find out whether local public employers have recognized to the need to get working-aged people moving and found an interesting example in North Ostrobothnia on the shores of the Bothnian Sea. The city of Raahe started in 2022 to develop staff well-being at work based on the needs of the employees. The members of the staff expressed the need to have more breaks during the working day and wanted to find ways to prevent exhaustion. The city’s entire 1150 employees participated in a one-year trial period, which allowed them one hour of weekly physical activity during working hours. (Ojala & Sarlin 2024.)
According to Seppo Sarlin, Head of Human Resources of Raahe City, and Toni Ojala, Head of Sports Services, the feedback was generally excellent, and they wanted to make it a permanent policy. This required the will of the municipal decision-makers and a local agreement between the employer and the employees. In addition to the weekly physical exercise class the city of Raahe employees have access to an exercise voucher, a break exercise app, a cycling benefit, free use of the gym and free access to the city swimming hall once a week. Employees are also offered group exercise classes and opportunities to participate in a running school and various sporting events paid for by the employer. The city encourages employees to take care of their well-being in a variety of ways, offering extensive occupational health services, physical activity counselling, opportunities to get physical activity prescriptions and encouraging different types of rehabilitation. (Ojala & Sarlin 2024.)
– Sickness absence rates have dropped considerably, especially long periods of absence. The savings through sickness absences have been around 975 000 €, Sarlin says. This saving was obtained by comparing the sickness absence costs for 2022 with those for 2023.
The Raahe experience has also presented challenges for the implementation of the weekly physical exercise programme, and participation has varied between different occupational groups. Good staff management has helped to overcome these challenges. Feedback from the staff on the weekly physical exercise classes has been positive and the employees feel that the employer cares for and looks after them. In Raahe, the weekly exercise and investment in well-being at work are thought to be factors of attraction and retention. (Ojala & Sarlin 2024.)
Now it’s time to get down to work!
Interventions that motivate healthy lifestyles bring savings for both employers and society. In such difficult economic times as we now are facing, cost-effective measures should be invested in (Ervasti etc 2022). In Raahe, this has already been boldly implemented and the positive effects of physical activation speak for themselves. Physical activity benefits individuals, employers and society as a whole. It is well-stated in the government programme (Valtioneuvosto 2023): “A strong and caring Finland is built on concrete and honest solutions. Hope for the future is built through action.”
Let’s work together to bring physical activity into the workplace and build a better future – it’s an investment that pays off.
Writers:
Anna Helin, Heidi-Maria Kannas, Elina Lehikoinen & Johanna Leskelä, Master`s degree programme-students, Savonia UAS
The work has used AI as follows: DeepL Translate 2024. Used for language correction, April 2024. https://www.deepl.com/translator.
References:
Ahokas, Ira, Heikinheimo, Vuokko, Helminen, Ville, Hurmerinta, Leila, Kokko, Sami, Lyytimäki, Jari, Tapio, Petri & Vasankari, Tommi 2023. Kunnon rapistuminen haastaa hyvinvointi-Suomen 2023. Pdf-file. Published 2/2023. https://www.aka.fi/globalassets/3-stn/1-strateginen-tutkimus/tiedon-kayttajalle/politiikkasuositukset/politiikkasuositukset/23_06_kunnon-rapistuminen-haastaa-hyvinvointi-suomen.pdf. Accessed 7.3.2024.
Aikuisten liikuntatunti sine anno. Yritys menestyy kun ihmiset voivat hyvin. Internet publication. https://www.aikuistenliikuntatunti.fi/aikuisten-liikuntatunnin-tarina. Accessed 5.4.2024.
Ervasti, Jenni, Kausto, Johanna, Leino-Arjas, Päivi, Turunen, Jarno, Varje, Pekka & Väänänen, Ari 2022. Työkyvyn tuen vaikuttavuus. Tutkimuskatsaus työkyvyn tukitoimien työkyky- ja kustannusvaikutuksista. Valtioneuvoston selvitys- ja tutkimustoiminnan julkaisusarja 2022: 7. https://julkaisut.valtioneuvosto.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/163779/VNTEAS_2022_7.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. Accessed 28.3.2024.
Garthwaite, Taru, Heinonen, Ilkka, Knuuti, Juhani, Laine, Saara, Sjöros, Tanja & Vasankari, Tommi 2022. Effects of reduced sedentary time on cardiometabolic health in adults with metabolic syndrome: A three-month randomized controlled trial. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 25, 579–585. https://wwms.org/article/S1440-2440(22)00083-4/fulltext. Accessed 7.3.2024.
Kukkonen-Harjula, Katriina & Laukkala, Tanja 2019. Liikunta tukee mielen toipumista. Lääkärilehti 74, 2650–2654. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tanja-Laukkala/publication/337388170_Liikunta_tukee_mielen_toipumista/links/5dd4f20da6fdcc37897a6dbd/Liikunta-tukee-mielen-toipumista.pdf. Accessed 7.3.2024.
Ojala, Toni & Sarlin, Seppo 2024. Head of Sports Services and Head of Human Resources of Raahe City. Interview 2.2.2024.
Rütten, Alfred & Pfeifer Klaus 2016. National Recommendation for Physical Activity and Physical Activity Promotion. https://www.sport.fau.de/files/2015/05/National-Recommendations-for-Physical-Activity-and-Physical-Activity-Promotion.pdf. Accessed 7.3.2024.
Sotkanet sine anno. Tilasto- ja indikaattoripankki. Internet publication. https://sotkanet.fi/sotkanet/fi/taulukko/?indicator=szbMzQcA®ion=s07MBAA=&year=sy5zsTbS0zUEAA==&gender=t&abs=f&color=f&buildVersion=3.1.1&buildTimestamp=202309010633. Accessed 7.3.2024.
UKK Instituutti 2024. Liikkumisen vaikutukset. Internet publication. Updated 16.2.2024. https://ukkinstituutti.fi/liikkuminen/liikkumisen-vaikutukset/. Accessed 7.3.2024.
UKK Institute 2023. Weekly Physical Activity Recommendation for 18-64 -year-olds. Internet publication. https://ukkinstituutti.fi/en/products-services/physical-activity-recommendations/weekly-physical-activity-recommendation-for-18-64-year-olds/. Accessed 7.3.2024.
Valtioneuvosto 2023. Vahva ja Välittävä Suomi. Pääministeri Petteri Orpon hallituksen ohjelma 20.6.2023. Pdf-file. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-383-763-8. Accessed 7.3.2024.