JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Hybrid work has become the new modus operandi for many office workers causing higher levels of sedentary behaviour than working only in the office. Given the potential of digital interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour and the current lack of studies evaluating such interventions for home-office settings, it is crucial to develop digital interventions in such context involving all stakeholders.

Objective:

The aim of the current study was to reach experts’ consensus on the most feasible work strategies and the most usable digital elements as a delivery method to reduce sedentary behaviour in home-office context.

Methods:

A modified Delphi study, including 3-survey rounds and focus groups were held to achieve consensus. The first Delphi round consisted of two 9-point Likert scales for assessing the feasibility of work strategies and the potential usability of digital elements to deliver the strategies. The median and mean absolute deviation from the median (MAD-M) for each item were reported. The second round involved two ranking lists with the highly feasible strategies and highly useful digital elements based on round 1 responses to order the list according to experts’ preferences. The weighted average ranking for each item were calculated to determine the most highly ranked work strategy and digital element. The third round encompassed work strategies with a weight above the median from round 2 to be matched with the most useful digital elements to implement each strategy. Four focus groups were additionally conducted to gain a greater understanding of the findings from the Delphi phase. Focus groups were analysed using the principles of Thematic Analysis.

Results:

Twenty-seven international experts in the field of occupational health participated in the first round, with response rates of 86.2% (n= 25) and 65.5% (n= 19) in round 2 and 3, and 51.7% (n= 15) in the focus groups. Eighteen work strategies and 16 digital elements achieved consensus. Feedback on activity progress and goal achievement, create an action plan and standing while reading, answering phone calls, or performing videoconferences were the most feasible work strategies, while wrist-based activity trackers, combination of media, and application interface in smartphones were the most useful digital elements. Moreover, experts highlighted the requirement of combining multiple levels of strategies such as social support, physical environment, and individual strategies, to enhance their implementation and effectiveness in reducing sedentary behaviour when working from home.

Conclusions:

This expert consensus provide the foundation for digital interventions development to address sedentary behaviour in desk-based home-office workers. Ongoing interventions should enable evaluation of the feasible strategies delivered by useful digital elements in home-office or hybrid contexts.