Melbourne Health Staff Walking Challenge-

Melbourne Health staff 204 teams (1230 employees) have walked a total of 307,928,200 steps during their 28 day walking challenge.

Teams of six from across Melbourne Health services participated, including staff from The Royal Melbourne Hospital City and Royal Park campuses, North West Dialysis Service and NorthWestern Mental Health.

The Challenge aimed to increase physical activity levels of staff and encourage teams to work together to achieve the highest number of steps. The title Every Step Counts was chosen to reflect exactly this. Every step counted towards the team score and towards improving health and wellbeing.

Thanks to the Department of Transport's TravelSmart program and Kinect Australia, individuals were offered a free pedometer and use of the WalkSmart website to log their steps. Through this initiative came access to free telephone health coaching and the opportunity to set goals in relation to walking and physical activity.

Staff put in extra effort to compete within their team and their department. Some used their steps to fundraise while others were just trying to win the Challenge.

Feedback included comments such as:

"It was amazing to see how many people were using the stairs instead of the lifts, or delivering messages personally rather than by phone or email. The competitiveness and enthusiasm was great to see."

"The whole program certainly has been a very productive team building event for us and an unforgettable experience."

"The Challenge resulted in more exercise and money for me (not spending on petrol) and less pollution for the atmosphere."

Sponsorship was sought from local organisations for prizes with a health and wellbeing theme. Prizes were awarded for the top three performing teams, the best team name and the best team photo. Spot prizes were also given out along the way to maintain the momentum and engage interaction among staff members for the month long challenge. With such a great result, they hope to repeat a similar Walking Challenge in 2009.