Authors (including presenting author) :
Leung KH(1), Li WW(1), Chan HY(1), So CT(1), Wong YC(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Occupational Therapy Department, PMH
Introduction :
A total of 3 incidents of Injury on Duty(IOD) in Occupational Therapy Department related to sprain injuries was reported in early 2019 as a result of growing demand for patient transfer in the clinical area. Evidence from different studies indicated that Health Qigong is beneficial to both physical and psychological health. Regular Health Qigong practice was therefore introduced for promoting workers’ health and well-being. A study is conducted to understand the effectiveness of Health Qigong on reducing the incidence rate of sprain-related IOD at 12-month intervals and also enhancing physical and psychological health among staff.
Objectives :
To investigate (1) the reduction in sprain-related IOD incidence rate and (2) the long-term effect of Health Qigong on physical and psychological health.
Methodology :
All staff in the Occupational Therapy Department in the Convalescent unit were invited. During the period from mid-April 2019 to mid-March 2020, the recruited staff participated in a 15-minute session of Health Qigong - Ba Duan Jin and Yi Jin Jing alternatively on weekdays before work. An electronic questionnaire, which was designed to evaluate both the physical and psychological aspects including level of muscle tightness, soreness, relaxation, awareness of posture, emotion, sleep quality and immunity, was completed by each participant before the commencement (Time 1), after 3 months (Time 2) and upon completion of the program at 12 months (Time 3). Qualitative data including self-perceived short-term and long-term effects of Health Qigong practice were also collected during the same intervals.
Result & Outcome :
A total of 19 participants were recruited, with 3 participants dropped out due to job rotation. Linear Mixed Model analysis was used for repeated measures. The result found an overall significant improvement in postural awareness(p=0.001), immunity(p=0.011), breathing(p=0.023) and relaxation(p=0.029) There was no IOD incidents reported in the following 12 months since Health Qigong practice started. Health Qigong practice was likely associated with the reduction of sprain-related IOD incidents in the department. This can be explained by the relation of sprain injuries to postural unawareness and muscle tightness, and so minimizing these risk factors contributed to reducing IOD incidents. Management staff shall consider to engage staff to participate in regular Health Qigong practice in the workplace in order to prevent possible injuries in clinical area. Please refer to the attachment file for details.
