Course start: October 2015
Director of Studies: Prof David Hewson
Second supervisor: Dr Daniel Bailey

Thesis title

The impact of workplace physical activity on cardiometabolic risk and work productivity

Abstract

Physical activity levels are decreasing worldwide, which has led to physical inactivity being rated the fourth biggest global healthcare concern by the WHO. Inactivity indirectly costs the National Health Service approximately £7.4 billion per year.

One form of inactivity, prolonged sitting, has been termed the new smoking, leading to increased risk of cardiometabolic disease. One possible location to address the physical inactivity epidemic is the workplace, which can be one of the major causes of prolonged sitting.

However, it remains unclear whether interventions to curtail prolonged sitting and increase PA are feasible, as employers might consider it a waste of employees’ productive time, while questions about the appropriateness of the approach for diverse ethnicity, gender, and age groups also need to be addressed.

Research Question

Does workplace physical activity intervention tailored to age, gender and ethnicity reduce cardiometabolic risk and improve productivity?

In answering this question, my thesis adopts a multiphase design. The first phase is a systematic review, which considers the effect of workplace PA interventions on work productivity. The second phase is a mixed-methods sequential design, which will identify potentially-acceptable workplace physical activity interventions tailored to age, gender, and ethnicity.

Finally, a quantitative-based intervention phase will assess the effect of the workplace PA intervention template developed from the outcome of the initial phases of this study, on employees’ physical activity, sitting time, cardiometabolic risk, and productivity. This template will be tested on employees to determine if their activity levels and cardiometabolic risk will improve without compromising productivity.

Publications under review

• The impact of active workstations on work productivity and cognition: a systematic review
• Quantifying office workers’ sitting time and physical activity: a rationale for an interrupted-sitting intervention

Experience

I worked as a Field/Research Assistant with the AIDS Prevention Initiative, Nigeria (APIN) from 2001-2002. I also worked as a Senior Laboratory Assistant with the University of Ibadan (Department of Virology) from 2002-2007. I co-founded the University of Bedfordshire MBA Global Networking Association in 2014, serving as Vice President.

In tandem with my PhD research, I have been actively involved in the Dementia Academic Action Group (DAAG), which is collaboration between four universities (University of Bedfordshire, Oxford Brookes University, University of Northampton, and University of West London), funded by Health Education Thames Valley (HETV) from 2015-2016. I currently work as a visiting lecturer, delivering lectures and seminars on Reading and Interpreting Research, and Planning and Conducting Research to the BSc Sports Therapy students.

Qualifications

• Diploma in Science Laboratory Technology, Polytechnic of Ibadan, Nigeria (2005)
• BSc (Hons) Bioscience (Microbiology), London South Bank University (2011)
• MSc Biomedical Science, University of East London (2014)
• MBA Hospital and Health Services Management, University of Bedfordshire (2015)

Contact info

E: samson.ojo@study.beds.ac.uk
Linkedin: Samson Ojo
Researchgate: Samson Ojo