Project PAUSE (Physical Activity Using Short-burst Exercise) is a research project that involves a collaborative scientific study undertaken by Drs. Dean Cooley and Scott Pedersen of the Faculty of Education and Tasmania Department of Police and Emergency Management.The study has been funded through the Tasmanian Government Healthy@Work Project and the Department of Police and Emergency Management.
Workplaces are increasingly acknowledged as having a crucial role to play in relation to health and wellbeing. Studies show that there is a detrimental association between occupational sitting time and employees’ health. Thus one way of improving health and wellbeing for employees’ who spend large amounts of time sitting because of their occupations, is to promote an increase in standing time during a workday.
Project PAUSE was developed to add incidental physical activity to the work habits of people engaged in desk-based work. This unique physical activity intervention uses custom-made technology, called Exertime, to prompt employees to engage in short-bursts of activity throughout the workday.
The research will examine health and wellbeing indicators and outcomes relevant to both individual and organisational perspectives. The aim of Project PAUSE is to make a detailed scientific field study of the efficacy of Exertime to improve the health status of Tasmania Police employees by analysing variables such as standing vs. sitting time, caloric expenditure, and work productivity.
If you are interested in learning more about this research project, having your company/organization learn more about using the Exertime software, or pursuing a Ph.D. scholarship in this area please contact:
Telephone: +61 3 6324 3096
E-mail: Dean.Cooley@utas.edu.auDr Scott Pedersen
Telephone: +61 3 6324 3554
E-mail: Scott.Pedersen@utas.edu.au