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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05834959

Implementation of a Fitness Education and Training Program to Support Safe Patient Handling and Safe Lifting

This project involves the delivery of education and training sessions to Seven Oaks General Hospital (SOGH) staff, with the goal of workplace injury prevention. Education will include review of provincial safe patient handling and back injury prevention guidelines and review of core fitness competencies required to comply with injury prevention standards. Training sessions will include exercises to improve core, gluteal and quadricep strength, hip/knee mobility and hamstring flexibility. Training will also be an opportunity to provide feedback on functional movement performance. Outcomes will include questionnaires on: low back pain/dysfunction; movement confidence; work injury rates and participant satisfaction with program. The project will advise stakeholders of the benefits and challenges associated with implementation of a fitness program to support safe patient handling techniques, as outlined in the provincial guidelines for healthcare workers.

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Key information

Conditions

Lower Back Injury

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

The Wellness Institute

Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2P 2W7., Canada

About this study

The Fit for Work Project is an educational and training program outcome evaluation. It is a two-part education and practical program designed to evaluate the effects of training on movement confidence, low back dysfunction and changes in rates of lower back injury. In the first part, participants will attend the education session developed by physiotherapists who specialize in return to work programs. In the second part participants will participate in a 4-week practical program, where they will stretch, lengthen and strengthen key muscles used in squatting, weight shifting and the hip hinge movement. Feedback and movement coaching are an important element in performing and mastering these movements correctly and this workplace wellness training program will provide staff the support needed.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Male or female, age 18 years or older
  • Staff of Seven Oaks General Hospital during the time of the program
  • Able to communicate in English and provide written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

  • An acute injury, a medical condition, or other personal reason inhibiting participation in all 4 weeks of exercise training sessions

Treatment and study plan

An Educational and Training Program

Other

Education and practical training program designed to evaluate the effects of training on movement confidence, low back dysfunction and changes in rates of lower back injury

Primary outcomes

  1. Change from baseline in staff confidence in performing the core fitness competencies required to abide by safe patient handling, safe lifting and back injury prevention guidelines

    Time frame: At the beginning of the program (baseline), at week 4 (the end of the 4-week training program), and one year after completion of the training program

    A Movement Confidence Questionnaire will be used, asking participants to rate their confidence as either 1-Very Low, 2-Low, 3-Moderate, 4-High, 5-Very High in completing 10 different movements without difficulty:

    • Get down to and back up from the floor without using support
    • Walk continuously for 1 hour
    • Balance on 1 foot for 30 seconds
    • Bend over to clean the bath tub
    • Move the fridge to clean behind it
    • Lift a 24 pack of water bottles off the floor
    • Place carry-on luggage in overhead bin on airplane
    • Lift a heavy suitcase in and out of the trunk of a car.
    • Carry 2 heavy bags of groceries 100 ft or 30 m
    • Shovel snow from a 1 car driveway.

  2. Change from baseline in severity of low back pain and/or dysfunction

    Time frame: At the beginning of the program (baseline), at week 4 (the end of the 4-week training program), and one year after completion of the training program

    Measured as change from baseline in the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (Designed to evaluate functional limitations related to pain, to monitor the progress of individual patients and to compare the evolution of lower back pain (LBP) subjects incorporated in rehabilitation programs)

  3. Change from baseline in severity of low back pain and/or dysfunction

    Time frame: At the beginning of the program (baseline), at week 4 (the end of the 4-week training program), and one year after completion of the training program

    Measured as change from baseline in the Oswestry Disability Index, also known as the Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire. (A self-reported measurement tool that measures both pain and functional status. It is used for evaluating disability caused by lower backache).

  4. Change from baseline in incidence of back injuries

    Time frame: At the beginning of the program (baseline), and 1 year after completion of the 4-week training program

    Measured as change in the number of new low back injuries or flare-ups of existing back conditions sustained in the past year.

  5. Change from baseline in frequency of back injuries

    Time frame: At the beginning of the program (baseline), and 1 year after completion of the 4-week training program

    Measured as the number of new low back injuries or flare-ups of existing back conditions sustained at work in the past year.

  6. Change from baseline in time loss cost of back injuries

    Time frame: At the beginning of the program (baseline), and 1 year after completion of the 4-week training program

    Measured as the duration of time away from work due to low back pain/injury.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Benefits and challenges associated with implementation of a fitness program to support safe patient handling and safe lifting techniques, as outlined in the provincial and regional guidelines for healthcare workers

    Time frame: Collected at week 4 (at the end of the 4-week training program)

    A "Program Exit Questionnaire" will be administered to collect participant experiences and views on the benefits and challenges associated with the program.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Manitoba

Other

Collaborators

  • Seven Oaks General Hospital
  • The Wellness Institute Powered by Seven Oaks General Hospital
  • Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba

Registry information

Official study title

Implementation of a Fitness Education and Training Program to Support Safe Patient Handling and Safe Lifting in a Community Based Hospital (The Fit for Work Project)

Important dates

Study start
2023
Primary completion
2023
Study completion
2023
First posted
Apr 28, 2023
Registry last updated
Nov 18, 2023

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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