Pj Tranent

Effect of Standing or Walking at a Workstation on Cognitive Function A Randomized Counterbalanced Trial

Objective: In the present study, we examined the effect of working while seated, while standing, or while walking on measures of short-term memory, working memory, selective and sustained attention, and information-processing speed. Background: The advent of computer-based technology has revolutionized the adult workplace, such that average adult full-time employees spend the majority of their working day seated. Prolonged sitting is associated with increasing obesity and chronic health conditions in children and adults. One possible intervention to reduce the negative health impacts of the modern office environment involves modifying the workplace to increase incidental activity and exercise during the workday. Although modifications, such as sit-stand desks, have been shown to improve physiological function, there is mixed information regarding the impact of such office modification on individual cognitive performance and thereby the efficiency of the work environment. Method: In a fully counterbalanced randomized control trial, we assessed the cognitive performance of 45 undergraduate students for up to a 1-hr period in each condition. Results: The results indicate that there is no significant change in the measures used to assess cognitive performance associated with working while seated, while standing, or while walking at low intensity. Conclusion: These results indicate that cognitive performance is not degraded with short-term use of alternate workstations.

A randomised control trial of the cognitive effects of working in a seated as opposed to a standing position in office workers

Abstract Sedentary behaviour is increasing and has been identified as a potential significant health risk, particularly for desk-based employees. The development of sit-stand workstations in the workplace is one approach to reduce sedentary behaviour. However, there is uncertainty about the effects of sit-stand workstations on cognitive functioning. A sample of 36 university staff participated in a within-subjects randomised control trial examining the effect of sitting vs. standing for one hour per day for five consecutive days on attention, information processing speed, short-term memory, working memory and task efficiency. The results of the study showed no statistically significant difference in cognitive performance or work efficiency between the sitting and standing conditions, with all effect sizes being small to very small (all ds < .2). This result suggests that the use of sit-stand workstations is not associated with a reduction in cognitive performance. Practitioner Summary: Although it has been reported that the use of sit-stand desks may help offset adverse health effects of prolonged sitting, there is scant evidence about changes in productivity. This randomised control study showed that there was no difference between sitting and standing for one hour on cognitive function or task efficiency in university staff.

With Due Consideration: Australian Human Service Practitioners' Understandings of Confidentiality and Disclosure Obligations in Regard to Cases Concerning Gambling-Related Theft.

Preserving confidentiality is problematic for human service practitioners if they know that a client is seriously harming a third party or could do so in the future. The present study concerned financial harm, as generated by gambling-related theft. Clients who disclose gambling-related theft potentially create a dilemma for practitioners, who may need to consider whether they have a professional duty to warn or in other ways protect third parties who are identifiable but uninvolved in treatment. Study participants included specialist gambling counsellors, practitioners working in agencies likely to attract clients with gambling problems and students in training. Data was collected by means of an online survey. Findings reveal how practitioners construe their profession’s legal and ethical obligations when clients admit to gambling-related theft and when they personally believe that disclosure is warranted. Areas of uncertainty and disagreement have import for employing agencies, professional associations and tertiary training institutions.

Young Adults’ Stories of Gambling in a Research Situation: A Narrative Inquiry

Narrative research is rarely undertaken in the field of gambling research. For this reason, the present study used narrative methods to explore young adults’ personal accounts of gambling in a research situation. It had three interrelated aims: namely (i) to delineate the gambling-related identities of young adults; (ii) to examine how these gambling-related identities were constructed; and (iii) to identify the use of narrative techniques that contributed to narrative credibility. Study participants were young adults aged 18–24 and living in Tasmania. Data were collected through telephone interviews and written stories. A reduced data set comprising one interview transcript and two written stories was selected for the purposes of intensive analysis and publication. The analysis shows how participants who supplied this data set explained and justified their involvement in gambling, managed their identities and endeavoured to construct a shared reality. Some methodological issues arising from the study are discussed.