ACS is working as a partner organisation alongside the University of Glasgow to conduct a research study that looks to improve mental health for ACS staff. In particular, this research is interested in how physical activity behaviours can be changed to improve mental health. There is strong evidence that higher levels of physical activity are associated with better mental health and workplaces can provide an ideal setting to improve physical activity behaviours. However, the best methods for increasing physical activity in a workplace setting are still unknown.

Lead researcher, Craig Tumblety, will be running this study at ACS. If you have any questions regarding this research project, you can contact Craig at craigtumblety@acsclothing.co.uk or c.tumblety.1@research.gla.ac.uk

The research conducted at ACS will be part of Craig’s PhD thesis and is funded by Medical Research Scotland, with the intention to publish some of the findings in academic journals. It is hoped that this project will lead to improved physical and mental health for those who work at ACS clothing, while also creating a roadmap for other similar organisations to do the same for many other people.

It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part – it is your chance to have your voice heard about what type of physical activity initiative you think you might like to see and would be helpful; and what you think you wouldn’t like or would not work in ACS.

You will be given a participant information sheet to keep and be asked to sign a consent form prior to taking part in the study. If you decide to take part, then please sign up through your workplace manager/supervisor or by contacting the lead researcher. We can only get in touch with you if you contact us first.

If you decide to take part now, you are free to withdraw at any time without giving a reason. You can do this by informing any of the researchers involved in this study. If you should choose to withdraw any health information and survey responses collected in phase 1 will be removed from the study. However, due to the way the data will be collected in phase 2, anonymous post-its and researcher notes, it is not possible to remove your data from that portion of the study as we won’t be able to tell the difference between your own and others responses. However, we will not collect any more data from the point that you withdraw.

ACS has committed to the physical and mental health of their employees, which means everyone who volunteers to take part in this project will be granted the time and facilities to do so.

In phase 1 of this study you will be provided with an Annual Wellbeing Evaluation by our research team. This Wellbeing Evaluation will include providing a cortisol sample (either by hair or saliva), physical health measurements, testing grip strength, wearing an accelerometer (physical activity measuring device) on your wrist and heart rate monitor on your chest for seven days, and then answering electronic survey questions on your physical and mental wellbeing.

Cortisol samples will be taken either by cutting a few strands of hair (approximately half the width of a pencil) from the back of your head, close to the scalp or by asking you to spit into a test tube at three separate time points throughout the testing days.

Physical health will be measured via your height, weight, blood pressure and resting heart rate (both via automated pressure cuff).

Grip strength will be measured via hand grip dynamometer, which is a handheld device you will asked to grip and then squeeze as hard as you can.

Physical activity will be measured via a wrist-worn accelerometer, which is a device similar in size to a light watch, and a heart rate monitor, which will be a fabric chest strap that carries a small sensor that will be positioned in the middle of your chest. These devices will need to be worn for seven days before being returned to the researchers. Accelerometers and chest straps should only be removed for showering, swimming or bathing.

Electronic surveys will ask questions relating to your demographic background, physical activity (at work and during leisure time), your mental health and wellbeing, and your job experience at ACS.

This first part of the Annual Wellbeing Evaluation, including wearable device fitting and instructions, should take no more than 30 minutes to complete. The second part will take place when you visit the research to team to return the measuring devices worn over the seven-day period. At this point you be asked to complete the 30-minute electronic survey.

In phase 2, you may be invited to participate in group discussions (development workshops) to inform the development of different initiatives. During these development workshops you will be shown a summary of our research so far and get the chance to discuss your own perspectives on physical activity and mental health, before conributing your own ideas forward for what you think would be a good physical activity initiative for your workplace. These workshops will last approximately two hours and will be held at ACS.

The research portion of this project will take place over the next three years, with the first phase intended to gather information on the mental health of staff and their current physical activity habits. The second phase will aim to gather ideas about the specific barriers and opportunities for physical activity at ACS, using this information to develop appropriate potential intervention strategies. Both phases will be repeated annually for the three span of the project and the research team will contact you each year to let you know when each phase will take place. It is intended that the developed initiative will be continued and improved upon indefinitely for the long-term benefit of everyone working at ACS.

In phase 1, you will be asked to take an hour off during work time to complete the Annual Wellbeing Evaluation. You will also be asked to wear a physical activity measuring device on your wrist and heart rate monitor (chest strap) 24 hours a day for seven days.

In phase 2, you will be asked to take two hours off during work time to take part in the workshops.

Your employer has approved all these activities as part of your job, so you do not need to make the time back.

By taking part in this study you will receive personalised feedback on your Wellbeing Evaluation. Also, by participating in the development workshops, you can express- to an independent party- your physical and mental health needs and concerns, which will help inform future workplace interventions tailored to ACS staff.

All information collected about each participant will be anonymised and kept confidential, in line with ethical guidelines. You will be identified only by an ID number. Only the lead researcher (Craig Tumblety) will have access to the link between ID numbers and names, and any information about you will have your name removed so you cannot be recognised. Only in the case of the lead researcher being unavailable for any reason, will one of two senior researchers within the University access a password-protected file containing the link between names and ID numbers. You have the right to access any of the information gathered about you in the process of this research project, should you wish to do so. The researchers have a duty of confidentiality to you as a research participant and we will always do our best to meet this duty. Your anonymised data will be held securely at the University of Glasgow. Personal and research data will be stored securely at the University of Glasgow. Anonymised research data will be held for 10 years and then destroyed, as stipulated in the guidelines of the University of Glasgow.

Please note that assurances on confidentiality will be strictly adhered to unless evidence of wrongdoing or potential harm is uncovered. In such cases the University may be obliged to contact relevant statutory bodies/agencies.

The main use of the data is to help inform a workplace-wide physical activity intervention. The research may be published in a research journal and presented at academic conferences at a later date. You will not be identifiable in any reports or publication. The University of Glasgow is committed to making the outputs of research publicly accessible and supports this commitment through our online open access repository, ENLIGHTEN. Unless publisher requirements prevent us, this research will be publicly disseminated through our open access repository and you will be provided with a copy on any published results.

The research team will analyse changes in your health data over time, with data being collected during the Wellbeing Evaluations taking place once every year for three years. You will receive personalised, password-protected, feedback via email. However, the research team do not have clinical backgrounds and will not be interpreting any clinical data. Your data is treated as confidential and it will be up to you act on any abnormal results from your feedback.

This study has been reviewed by the University of Glasgow, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences Ethics Committee. If you have concerns with how any aspect of the research is conducted, you should contact the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences Ethics Committee via mvls-ethics-admin@glasgow.ac.uk.