BeUpstanding: Supporting workers to sit less and move more for their health and wellbeing

Excessive sitting is now an acknowledged contributor to risk of major chronic diseases (type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in particular), with desk-based workers identified as a large and growing at risk population sub-group.

Building on the evidence base from epidemiological, experimental, and field-based interventions, the critical next stage in knowledge generation is to evaluate the wide-scale implementation of effective interventions in the workplace setting.

The BeUpstanding™ program is a web-based program, developed with workplace policy and practice stakeholders, that supports desk-based work teams to sit less and move more to improve their health and wellbeing.

The program is currently being evaluated through an NHMRC-funded national implementation trial being led by researchers at the University of Queensland, in partnership with Deakin University and Baker Institute researchers.

Findings from the implementation trial will inform future wide-scale dissemination efforts, as well as national and international policy and practice.