Truckies: A participatory action research approach to explore workplace strategies to address nutrition and physical activity in Queensland truck drivers

Background/issues: Truck drivers are at-risk of chronic disease because of work-related factors such as sedentariness, work patterns and lack of nutritional food choices. Workplace health promotion for truck drivers is difficult because of performance based pay, legislative regulations, industry culture and the absence of a ‘workplace’. Additionally, most are males over 45 years. This projects aims to explore workplace strategies to address nutrition and physical activity in Queensland truck drivers. Methods: The methodology is Participatory Action Research (PAR) which enables meaningful change through engagement and reflection. Four trucking companies in southeast Queensland with a potential reach of 425 truck drivers, are involved in this project. Data collection includes a pre and post intervention manager survey, truck driver survey, key informant semi-structured interviews and truck driver focus groups and focused observation. The intervention period is 3 months with a 6 months follow-up. Results/Discussions: The first phase of the project involved establishing rapport and recruiting trucking companies and gathering pre-intervention data. The project is current in the intervention phase. This involves working with each workplace to implement a number of realistic and contextual strategies to address nutrition and physical activity in the workplace. Pre-intervention quantitative data indicates truck drivers are at-risk for chronic disease. For example, they have poor knowledge and intake of vegetables and do not met recommended daily physical activity levels. Pre-intervention qualitative data indicates truck drivers are constrained by the nature of the work which impact sleeping, eating and exercising patterns. For example, the convenience of eateries, food choice options and industry regulations such a log books and deadlines. Truck drivers feel nutrition and physical activity are the responsibility of the individual and not the workplace. These findings provide empirical evidence for the current health status of truck drivers in Queensland. Conclusions/implications: Preliminary findings suggest there are a number of barriers for workplaces to implement health promotion strategies for truck drivers. These include the nature of the job, a culture of individual responsibility and broader regulatory guidelines. At the conclusion of the project, the findings may provide insight into other hard to reach groups such as taxi and bus drivers.