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Abstract

With the rise of sedentary behaviors across Canadian society, short wellbeing breaks are being implemented in work environments to help people recover cognitive capacity and reduce strain caused by continuous mental labour and uninterrupted sitting. In collaboration with the University of British Columbia’s Office of Physical Activity, this research study analyzed the experiences of the people implementing wellbeing breaks into meetings and lectures across three university departments. Observations and interviews were conducted to gather data on the implementer’s lived experience of the wellbeing break. Additionally, an autoethnographic exercise was conducted by the researchers to provide insight on the challenges of planning and running a break. Key themes were identified though several rounds of inductive and deductive coding of interview transcripts. Our findings inform potential refinement to UBCs Wellbeing Break Initiative Pilot that may aid further implementation across campus. In general, the pilot was well-received by the implementers, who had integrated the break systematically into meetings, classes or as a stand-alone activity. Two main benefits of organizing systematic wellbeing breaks were identified. Firstly, the wellbeing breaks helped form more tight-knit communities through letting people interact in an informal and light-hearted setting. Secondly, the breaks helped create a more trusting and empathetic work environment where people were becoming more cognizant about people’s wellbeing needs. The factors that influenced successful implementation were categorized across four dimensions. Some notable factors were support from deans, directors, faculty, and the implementers and participants themselves, tailoring the break to the audience and the context, streamlining implementation processes through e.g. expanding or refining supporting resources for both the implementers and participants, and having a supportive environment with strong wellbeing norms surrounding the scheme. Based on the implementer’s experiences, we distilled a list of resource-specific and general implementation recommendations: Resource Specific Recommendations: ● Create a shared database where implementers can share resources and discuss or share their experiences with certain wellbeing break exercises ● Provide implementers with an expanded list of possible break options, including suggestions on the contexts in which these breaks are most useful or effective. ● Consider providing implementers with instructional videos that outline how a particular break looks like in a classroom or meeting setting. This has already been done for physical activity breaks but could also be expanded to other forms of breaks too. ● Create a set of accessible resources for participants that outlines the benefits of wellbeing breaks, and which also includes instructions so that participants can continue to benefit from the breaks in their own time. General Implementation Recommendations: ● Clearly define the intention of the break (intended outcomes) before starting out. ● Carefully choose the specific wellbeing break based on the group size and the familiarity of the audience. ● Consider focusing on breaks with a more social/learning-based focus as implementers regarded these as most enjoyable and beneficial for the participants. ● Make sure that future pilots are well-timed and aligned with lower-stress periods of the semester where students and staff have spare mental capacity. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”