The master's thesis is based on the professional treatment of employees in financial institutions (Adriatic Slovenica, UniCredit Bank, Sberbank banka) who perform sedentary work. It includes a theoretical treatment of the negative effects of sedentary work and stress in financial institutions, as well as an analysis of the impact of active health promotion measures on the improvement of certain parameters of the employees’ health.
The European project, implemented by ZVD (Institute of Occupational Safety) under the auspices of ZZZS (Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia), included office workers of both sexes, aged between 25 and 60, who have been employed in a sedentary position from 1 to 35 years. Judging by the completed questionnaires, there were 299 participants. 67 of them were actively involved in physical activities, and the control group consisted of 28 people.
The project lasted one year. First, we conducted tests (on active program participants, as well as on the control group) to find out what problems employees face as a result of a sedentary job in addition to a job in a financial institution (e. g. posture problems, musculoskeletal disorders, body composition, stress). We continued the project by implementing four different physical activities (running, Nordic walking, fitness, group exercise) and with the education of employees (organized lectures, sharing professional articles with selected topics). Finally, we ran the tests again. A comparison of the results of both tests gave us the following findings:
Office workers have problems with posture and feel the consequences of musculoskeletal disorders; moreover, their work is mostly very stressful. 10 weeks of physical exercise had a positive effect on improving their physical fitness, increasing their physical activity and even changes in posture. Namely, the subjective symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders decreased in office workers, but we did not detect significant changes in body composition. We also found a positive impact of educating office workers, which increased awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and improved the general well-being of office workers. Finally, based on our findings, we issued recommendations to the involved financial institutions to improve the health of their employees.
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