Stair WELL Toolkit for Employers

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Contact Information

Organization Information

Project Summary

The StairWELL Toolkit for Employers was specially designed to help assist Philadelphia's employers in the process of evaluation and promotion of stairwell accessibility, use, safety, and appearance in the workplace. The toolkit provides tools, communication strategies, and even a case study on how stairwell promotion has worked right here in Philadelphia, recognizing that this process will be different for each unique worksite. The electronic toolkit is available on our website and printed versions are distributed to interested employers. We have begun to promote the StairWELL toolkit with existing partners in our hospital work, our Food Fit Philly Coalition, with the America Walks region 3 community, and have plans to present it to several business coalitions in the area.

Project Goal

One of the ways that we hope to support healthier communities is by supporting opportunities for physical activity wherever it fits in. For many adult Philadelphians- that place is at work. Employers in Philadelphia have a unique opportunity to make the healthy choice the easy choice by encouraging and supporting physical activity during the work day. By unlocking stairwells, promoting their use, and supporting other opportunities for movement during the work day, employers can have a huge impact on the overall health of our city.

Promotional Methods

We shared the news of the toolkit as it was being developed with existing partners in our Good Food, Healthy Hospital Work, existing academic partners, business coalitions, and other healthy worksite listservs (i.e. AHA Fit Friendly Companies) and PSHRM. Once we reached out to partners, we received immediate responses and have been walking through the process with those 7-10 employers.

Project Challenges

We are just beginning with this work, and the issues of stairwell access in high rise buildings and in multi-unit workplaces are many. Early lessons learned is to allow ample time for the project to develop, to be sure to involve the right people to the conversation early, and to pay close attention to the flow of traffic and how people travel about your building. One of our biggest lessons learned to date is that because many buildings that we are working with are high rises, our best option may be to encourage stairwell use when traveling between floors, necessarily to and from the lobby.

Project Results

We are just launching this project and have only baseline data and no results yet on the effects of stairwell use on physical activity levels. The one trend that we see now is that the process takes much longer than we anticipated, and requires careful consideration for each building and population that is targeted by the intervention.

Organization Type

Other

Types of Practices

  • Workplace

Target Age Ranges

  • 18-24
  • 25-34
  • 35-44
  • 45-54
  • 55-64

Gender(s)

  • All

Race/Ethnicity

  • All

Project Service Type

  • Awareness
  • Communications / Media
  • Community Outreach / Community Engagement

Project Content Area

  • Behavioral Health
  • Cardiovascular Disease (general)
  • Chronic Disease (general)
  • Diabetes
  • Gestational
  • Health (general)
  • Heart Disease
  • Hypertension
  • Other
  • Physical Activity
  • Prediabetes
  • Safety
  • Type 1 Diabetes
  • Type 2 Diabetes

Project/Program Care Team Target Population

  • All Practitioners

Counties Served

  • Philadelphia

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