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Doctors Will See You Standing To Inspire Wellbeing
500 GP's will adopt standing desks in their practise in a new trial designed to "set an example" of healthy living by delivering standing consultations.
The primary aim of the study is to determine if swapping to standing desks can improve GP's own health however a secondary aim is to inspire their patients to become more physically active.
Loughborough University are leading the trial the first phase of which will ask GPs to fill out a survey on their views of the issue before Doctors in the East and West Midlands adopt ActivPal devices.
The device will monitor the GPs standing/sitting ratio without a standing desk and then again once they adopt a standing desk into their offices.
GPs will then be invited to advise of their experience with a view to further expansion.
The move is likely to inspire conversations with patients about the standing desk culture and the innumerate benefits of standing over sitting at work. Professor Amanda Daley, of Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences believes the trial will encourage people to make their own positive changes.
"There’s a changing nature to general practice, with group consultations for diabetes, for example, and increased emphasis on physical activity. We want the standing desks to ultimately become part of the Active Practices charter." said Professor Daley who leads the study.
The RCGP is the professional membership body for family doctors in the UK and overseas. Professor Stokes-Lampard chair of the RCGP said;
"Standing consultations could be an effective way of having productive and beneficial conversations with some of our patients, particularly around ‘lifestyle’ issues and highlighting the need for us all to reduce our sitting time and move more."
She did also note that the interpersonal nature of conversations which are required of doctors would likely suffer if the Dr was stood and the patient wasn't. Certain GPs with patients who would be unable to stand might see fit not to adopt standing desks as it is well within the ethos of clinics not to make the patient uncomfortable in any way during the process. Obviously patients who are elderly, frail, pregnant, disabled or about to receive bad news, may prefer to be seated.
The trial comes off the back of the Colleges Active Practises campaign which is designed to boost the well-being of healthcare staff. The college is about to launch its own scheme to encourage standing desk adoption after seeing the NHS introduce standing desks to "tackle sedentary behaviour in the workplace" and compliment "NICE's new quality standard."
One Nottingham GP praised the study’s natural 'ripple effect' after seeing other practise staff adopting standing desks and patients respond positively.
Some GPs have raised questions about the cost of the standing desks used in the trial which have a hefty price tag of £2000. The Study also aims to determine if it will shorten the average length of consultations.
Our standing desks are available to purchase at a more reasonable price tag right here.
Further reading :NHS Adopt Standing Desks
Sources:
The Daily Mail
Pulse Today A site for GPs reports on the adoption of standing desks.
The Telegraph puts a rather negative spin on the trial.
VIDEO: Med School Insiders Offer A Balanced View on Standing Desk Research
A video released three days ago by YouTube channel 'Med School Insiders' titled - "Standing Desks More Harm Than Good?" Asks the question does the research on standing desks stack up.
The video author reviews over two dozen research papers in his research and offers a balanced an objective opinion weighing up the pro's and cons of using a standing desk versus sitting. He has used a standing desk for 5 years and speaks excellently on the subject.
The reality is that research is wildly under nourished on the subject, most research studies are retrospective and it's hard to determine exact physiological benefits to just using a standing desk alone. However as the video producer finds there are very real, demonstrable benefits to including a standing desk in your overall health plan and suggests integrating movement into your day to offset the negative side-effects of prolonged standing or sitting. Watch the video. it's fair, easy to watch and could help you decide if standing desks are for you.
NHS To Embrace Preventative Innovations To Prevent Illness
Matt Hancock, UK Health Secretary Will today speak at the Annual Meeting of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes to outline his strategy to include prevention as a priority in future NHS budgets and methods.
Integrating technology such as apps that consider lifestyle and location and other prevention methods such as standing desks, free fruit and lend a bike schemes in the workplace are all part of Mr Hancock’s new plan to reduce the burden on the NHS by investing in prevention rather than cure.
Ministers currently spend £97 billion on treating disease and only £8bn on preventing it.
The Sun reports that in his statement Matt Hancock will say “It can’t be right that today, in England, a boy born in the poorest parts of our country will die nine years earlier, and live 19 more years in poor health, than a boy born in the richest areas.
“That’s why prevention matters. That’s why we need a new 21st century focus on prevention.”
The Sun goes on to report that a green paper, titled “Prevention is better than cure”, will outline the vision for a “new 21st century focus on prevention”.
Standing Desks are an excellent measure for maintaining good health and amongst other preventative innovations are encouraged under the governments new plans to improve general health in the workplace.