Promotion of physical activity and wellness to employees by Exercise is Medicine®-On Campus and non-participating universities

Abstract

Background

Workplaces, including universities, are increasingly sedentary. While Exercise is Medicine®-On Campus (EIM-OC) programs promote campus-wide physical activity, employees are seldom targeted. Additionally, little information exists on their available health and wellness resources.

Objectives

1) To describe the extent to which universities digitally promote physical activity, health, and wellness to their employees, and 2) to compare differences in human resources (HR)-supported wellness programs and frequency of wellness and physical activity offerings between EIM-OC and non-EIM-OC universities, and between EIM-OC recognition statuses.

Methods

A cross-sectional series of standardized website audits was conducted on all US-based public EIM-OC universities (n = 79) and matched universities without an EIM-OC program (n = 79) as of July 2024. Each university's HR, wellness, recreation, and EIM-OC (if applicable) websites were audited.

Results

The presence of HR-supported wellness programs did not differ based on the presence of an EIM-OC program (p = 0.806) or by recognition status (p = 0.878). One HR website promoted its university's EIM-OC program. Most universities (79.1%) had a wellness initiative website. Social wellness was significantly promoted more (p = 0.004) at EIM-OC universities than at non-EIM-OC universities. Seven EIM-OC programs were promoted on these websites. Almost all universities (97.5%) offered employee recreational memberships, but only 47 offered employees reduced prices. Only 33 EIM-OC universities (41.8%) had websites for their program. Five (15.2%) mentioned targeted resources for employees.

Conclusion

Employees receive fewer health and wellness resources compared to students, regardless of EIM-OC presence. Future studies should investigate how organizational factors affect the dissemination and coordination of university wellness resources, including EIM-OC programs.

Keywords

workplace wellness university employees EIM-OC health promotion preventive health employee health

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Winters

Sallis

. Five steps to launching exercise is medicine® in your campus. ACSMS Health Fit J 2015; 19: 28–33.

Bauer

Newsome

McAvoy

, et al. EIM-OC: beyond the launch, creating an impactful, sustainable and supported program. Int J Kinesiol High Educ 2025; 9: 75–88.

American College of Sports Medicine. EIM on campus: Action guide, https://www.exerciseismedicine.org/eim-in-action/eim-on-campus/ (2025, accessed July 2024).

Howie

Harden

Jett

, et al. Organizational implementation of Exercise is Medicine® On Campus programs. Transl J Am Coll Sports Med 2024; 9: e000268.

Peterson

Zera

Tompkins

, et al. Exercise is medicine on campus: a scoping review of evidence 2009 to 2021 and call to action. Curr Sports Med Rep 2022; 21: 289–302.

Mayfield

. Health, wellness, and employee assistance: a holistic approach to employee benefits. Mon Labor Rev 2011; 134: 1–12.

Sweeting

Thomson

Wells

, et al. Evolution of ‘whole institution’ approaches to improving health in tertiary education settings: a critical scoping review. Res Pap Educ 2023; 38: 661–689.

Yuen

Becker

Ellis

, et al. Prevalence and characteristics of campus-based employee wellness programs among United States accredited colleges and universities. Work 2021; 68: 1049–1057.

Headley

Hutchinson

Wooley

, et al. Subjective and objective assessment of sedentary behavior among college employees. BMC Public Health 2018; 18: 1–7.

10.

Fountaine

Piacentini

Liguori

. Occupational sitting and physical activity among university employees. Int J Exerc Sci 2014; 7: 295–301.

11.

Bird

Shing

Mainsbridge

, et al. Activity behaviors of university staff in the workplace: a pilot study. J Phys Act Health 2015; 12: 1128–1132.

12.

Leininger

Morrissey

DeBeliso

, et al. Exercise is Medicine® On Campus: effectiveness of an employee circuit training class. J Phys Act Res 2020; 5: 45–48.

13.

Gastelum-Morales

Leininger

Morrissey

, et al. Evaluation of physical activity participation, self-efficacy and outcome expectancy for employees participating in Exercise is Medicine® On Campus program. Am J Undergrad Res 2021; 17: 41–48.

14.

Keeling

Underhile

Wall

. Horizontal and vertical structures: the dynamics of organization in higher education. Liber Educ 2007; 93: 22–31.

15.

Pronk

Whitsel

Ablah

, et al. Building a culture of healthy living in the workplace. Prog Cardiovas Dis 2025; 90: 38–44.

16.

Rosenbaum

Grossmeier

Imboden

, et al. The HERO health and well-being best practices scorecard in collaboration with Mercer (HERO scorecard). Am J Health Promot 2020; 34: 321–323.

17.

American College of Sports Medicine. 2024 Recognition Recipients. https://www.exerciseismedicine.org/eim-in-action/eim-on-campus/recognition-program/ (2024, accessed July 2024).

18.

National Center for Education Statistics. Integrated Postsecondary Data System. https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/ (2024, accessed July 2024).

19.

Gisev

Bell

Chen

. Interrater agreement and interrater reliability: key concepts, approaches, and applications. Res Soc Adm Pharm 2013; 9: 330–338.

20.

Lang

Mummert

Roemer

, et al. The CDC worksite health scorecard: an assessment tool to promote employee health and well-being. Am J Health Promot 2020; 34: 319–321.

21.

Oliver

Baldwin

Datta

. Health to wellness: a review of wellness models and transitioning back to health. Int J Health Wellness Soc 2018; 9: 41–56.

22.

United States Census Bureau. Geographic Levels. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/guidance-geographies/levels.html (2021, accessed July 2024).

23.

Lagally

Sherman

Amorose

, et al. Exercise is medicine on campus programs: a descriptive study. Recreat Sports J 2019; 43: 106–116.

24.

Roemer

Kent

, et al. Organizational best practices supporting mental health in the workplace. J Occup Environ Med 2021; 63: e925–ee31.

25.

Brewster

Jones

Priestley

, et al. ‘Look after the staff and they would look after the students’ cultures of wellbeing and mental health in the university setting. J Further High Educ 2022; 46: 548–560.

26.

Amaya

Donegan

Conner

, et al. Creating a culture of wellness: a call to action for higher education, igniting change in academic institutions. Build Healthy Acad Communities J 2019; 3: 27–40.

27.

McEachern

Jackson

Yungblut

, et al. Barriers and facilitators to implementing exercise is medicine Canada on campus groups. Health Promot Pract 2019; 20: 751–759.

28.

Hoover

Harder

. What lies beneath the surface? The hidden complexities of organizational change for sustainability in higher education. J Cleaner Prod 2015; 106: 175–188.

29.

Garton

. Types of anchor institution initiatives: an overview of university urban development literature. Metrop Univ 2021; 32: 85–105.

30.

Verčič

Vokić

. Engaging employees through internal communication. Public Relat Rev 2017; 43: 885–893.

31.

Soeling

Arsanti

SDA

Indriati

. Organizational reputation: does it mediate the effect of employer brand attractiveness on intention to apply in Indonesia? Heliyon 2022; 8: e09208.

32.

Cober

Brown

. Form, content, and function: an evaluative methodology for corporate employment web sites. Hum Resour Manage 2004; 43: 201–218.

33.

Muthuperumal

Chakkaraiappan

Sowmiya

, et al. Barriers and facilitators for implementing NCD-related health promotion activities in the workplace: a scoping review. Discov Soc Sci Health 2025; 5: 30.

34.

Wilson

Bhuiyan

Papalia

, et al. The implementation and outcomes of exercise is medicine on campus. Trans J Am Coll Sports Med 2018; 3: 158–168.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.02 MB