Kathrin Hofer-Fischanger

Background: Active transport to school (ATS) is an effective health-promoting intervention to integrate physical activity into children’s everyday lives. While previous studies have examined environmental and behavioural determinants on ATS in urban areas, evidence on rural areas is rare. Method: This study examined whether environmental and psychosocial characteristics are associated with ATS in two rural communities in Austria. Participants from four schools (two primary / two secondary schools) returned a self-reported questionnaire on individual and environmental determinants of ATS consisting of one section for parents and one for children, with 382 of the 467 total responses being included in the analysis. Results: Bivariate analyses showed a significant association of psychosocial characteristics of parents and children (intention, attitude, social norm, perceived behavioural control: p < 0.001), one environmental item (walking and cycling network: p ≤ 0.001) as well as distance and duration for walking to/from school between ATS. In a multiple regression model, the chances of participating in ATS were higher among children who have higher perceived behavioural control, walk between 5 to 10 minutes to school, and whose parents have a higher commitment to ATS. Conclusions: Future initiatives to enhance ATS in rural areas should focus on the control beliefs of parents and children, and should involve parents in order to increase parents’ commitment to ATS. Additionally, measures should explore the effects of active transport promotion in the context of public transport and school buses. Above all, further opportunities for ATS should be considered in spatial and community planning.

Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Unternehmen mussten wegen der Pandemie im Frühjahr 2020 schnelle Lösungen für die Weiterarbeit – von zu Hause aus – finden. Die Arbeitsbedingungen zu Hause (Telearbeit) entsprechen nicht immer den Grundprinzipien und Qualitätskriterien der betrieblichen Gesundheitsförderung (BGF). Fragestellung: Wie stark ist der Ansatz gesundheitsförderlicher Telearbeit (Arbeit im Homeoffice) in Betrieben verankert und was beeinflusst die strategische Etablierung und Nutzung unterstützender Materialien? Material und Methoden: Theoretisch abgeleitete Hypothesen wurden operationalisiert und 1858 österreichische Betriebe zur Teilnahme an einer Online-Befragung eingeladen. Die Stichprobe (n = 192) repräsentiert einen breiten Mix aus Unternehmensgrößen, Sektoren und Regionen. Ergebnisse: Betriebe variieren stark in der Absicht zukünftig gesundheitsförderliche Telearbeit umzusetzen. Ein Teil der Variation kann durch multivariate Pfadmodelle aufgeklärt werden, wobei die Verhaltenskontrolle und die sozialen Normen eine zentrale Rolle einnehmen. Erstere wird vom Grad der Vorbereitung auf Telearbeit und ihre Umsetzung im Unternehmen bestimmt. Insbesondere zeigt sich, dass die Telearbeitskultur und die ‑bereitschaft für die Stärke von sozialen Normen gegenüber der Umsetzung von Telearbeit verantwortlich sind. Schlussfolgerung: Telearbeit wurde bisher zu wenig im Sinne einer ganzheitlichen BGF betrachtet. Eine derartige Umsetzung hängt stark von Unternehmensstrukturen und -prozessen, der Kultur und den Handlungsspielräumen der Entscheidungsträger ab. Betrieben wird empfohlen, Kompetenzen aufzubauen und sich am Konzept der Kapazitätsbildung zu orientieren.

Aim: Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies shifted to telework, with few insights into its implementation, organisational conditions or the role of workplace health promotion and management. This study focused on a multifactorial investigation of conditions in companies which implemented and evaluated telework during the first lockdown in 2020 as well as on their future intentions to facilitate teleworking under health-promoting working conditions. Subject and methods: The research hypotheses relate to an extended technology acceptance model. In a mixed-methods design, expert interviews were fed into the development of an online questionnaire. Out of 1858 contacted companies representing a broad range of Austrian businesses, 192 responses (general management, workplace health managers, etc.) were analysed using descriptive and multivariate statistics. Results: The degree of implementation and claim to teleworking increased significantly during the first lockdown and did not return to pre-pandemic levels afterwards. Changes depended on preparation and experience: evaluation of teleworking and willingness to continue offering teleworking were conditional on preparation and the degree of implementation. Prerequisites for future intentions to implement health-promoting teleworking included readiness, general willingness and existing workplace health promotion/management structures. Conclusion: This paper demonstrates the potential of health-promoting organisational cultures for development processes – particularly in times of crisis. Anchoring health-focused structures in companies helps to create health-promoting frameworks. Health-promoting teleworking can be developed from workplace health promotion/management using established approaches. It is essential to build on in-house capacities and competencies to develop awareness for a holistic culture for health-promoting (tele)work and to encourage deliberations about potential measures.

Summary: The design of the built environment in communities influences active transport and physical activity levels of citizens. Existing instruments for quantitatively assessing built environments were developed for use in urban areas and mainly by experts. Participative assessment of built environment modifications (PABEM) is a needs assessment tool that involves citizens and community decision-makers within a structured process for identifying needed changes to promote walking and cycling in rural areas. This article describes the development of the PABEM process and evaluates its initial use in three rural towns in Austria. PABEM consists of the following seven steps: (i) qualitative interviews; (ii) expert assessment of the built environment; (iii) citizen assessment of the built environment; (iv) social media interaction; (v) household questionnaire; (vi) participatory workshop; and (vii) evaluation and scoring workshop. The main modifications identified as necessary in rural towns were the revitalization of existing walking and cycling facilities and the construction of new barrier-free and safe sidewalks. In addition cycling routes to schools, to public transport facilities and to central public places as well as cleaner and inviting seating, a car-free school environment, speed reduction in town centres, more crosswalks and improved cleanliness in public places were also deemed necessary modifications. PABEM’s provisions to ensure collaborative participation of citizens and local decision-makers fostered a continuous dialogue about the requirements of the built environment, user needs and opportunities for realization throughout the whole process.

Health literacy (HL) has been determined for the general population and for subgroups, though the relationship between HL and active transport in rural areas was not explored. The aim of our study is to investigate HL among citizens in an Austrian rural region and to explore the associations between HL and active transport. This cross-sectional telephone survey included 288 adults (171 women) with a mean age of 57.8 (SD 0.9). HL was assessed using the HLS-EU-Q16 questionnaire. Active transport was measured as the minutes per week spent on walking or cycling from A to B. After descriptive analysis, the association between HL and active transport was assessed using linear regression models. The mean HL score for all participants was 37.1 (SD 7.7). Among all subjects, 6.9% showed inadequate HL, 25.7% problematic HL, 38.9% sufficient HL, and 28.5% excellent HL. HL was significantly higher among citizens with high education (p = 0.04) and training/employment in healthcare (p = 0.001). Active transport was not associated with HL (p = 0.281). Active transport in rural areas might be influenced by other predictors like distance to work, street connectivity, and accessible facilities for walking and biking. This needs to be explored further for rural areas.

Physical literacy (PL), given as a multidimensional construct, is considered a person’s capacity and commitment to a physically active lifestyle. We investigated the effect of a holistic physical exercise training on PL among physically inactive adults. A non-randomised controlled study was conducted. Thirty-one physically inactive adults in the intervention group (IG; 81% females, 44 ± 16 years) participated in a holistic physical exercise training intervention once weekly for 15 weeks. A matched, non-exercising control group (CG) consisted of 30 physically inactive adults (80% female, 45 ± 11 years). PL, compliance and sociodemographic parameters were measured. PL was evaluated by a questionnaire, covering five domains: physical activity behaviour, attitude towards a physically active lifestyle, exercise motivation, knowledge and self-confidence/self-efficacy. Data were analysed using ANCOVA models, adjusted for age, gender and BMI at baseline. At post-training intervention, the IG showed significant improvements in PL (p = 0.001) and in the domains physical activity behaviour (p = 0.02) and exercise self-confidence/self-efficacy (p = 0.001), with no changes overserved for the CG regarding PL and those domains. No intervention effect were found for the other three domains, i.e. attitude, knowledge and motivation. Additionally, for the IG baseline BMI was identified to be positively correlated with physical exercise-induced improvements in PL (β = 0.51, p = 0.01). The results from this study are very useful for further public health activities, which aim at helping physically inactive adults to adopt a physically active lifestyle as well as for the development of further PL intervention strategies. This pilot-study was a first attempt to measure PL in inactive adults. Yet, a validated measurement tool is still not available. Further research is necessary to determine the psychometric properties for this PL questionnaire. German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), DRKS00013991 , date of registration: 09.02.2018, retrospectively registered.