With work-from-home arrangements becoming the norm for most, it is no surprise that higher frequencies of body aches have been reported. We Got Your Back, a student-led health campaign, is helping you say goodbye to body aches.
As good postural habits serve as alleviations for the aches, four final-year students from Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI) decided it was time to take on the issue by launching the first-ever health campaign on good postural habits for desk-bound working adults.
Since December last year, the digital campaign We Got Your Back has been educating the working crowd on social media. Using self-illustrated bite-sized content, it shares tips on how to improve their sitting postures while working at the desk. The campaign also stresses the importance of taking stretch breaks every hour to prevent sustained postures.
In fact, working for long hours at the desk without taking a break can cause neck, shoulder or back aches working adults tend to experience. These are also known to be common forms of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs).
“Optimally, we encourage people to get up and move around after every 45 minutes to 1 hour of working at the desk. This is to prevent the muscles from becoming too tense, which can result in body aches and pain” said Kellyn Lee, Senior Physiotherapist of Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and one of the expert advisors for We Got Your Back.
Understanding the need to advocate for frequent stretch breaks, We Got Your Back came up with its Stretch At The Desk series, where each episode showcased seated stretches that target a specific body area.
“We understand that with work demands, it might be difficult for working adults to leave their desks just to stretch. In such cases, they can easily follow the seated stretches in our series to target the different body areas they experience pain in,” said Katrina Chong, one of the members of We Got Your Back.
Additionally, the campaign produced another video series called The Wokestation, which illustrates important pointers for ergonomic workstation setup. In the first episode, you will learn how to improve on your current workstation set-up so that your muscles are properly supported.
Before investing in ergonomic products, you may try using everyday items to create temporary ergonomic solutions first with the ideas provided in the second episode.
We Got Your Back has also created the Posture Power-Up Challenge. Interested participants will have to complete a posture progress quiz first, before getting their personalised e-booklet depending on their results. In each booklet, you will find trivia, activities as well as the main challenge that supports the adoption of good postural habits.
Participants who complete the Posture Power-Up Challenge stand a chance to win a NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto Piccolo XS coffee machine upon completion of the challenge.
The digital campaign will continue to run till mid-March and conclude with a free distribution of Posture Packs, which you may learn more about from their Facebook or Instagram soon.
It is a physical reminder kit filled with items that can help reinforce the importance of good postural habits in the long run even after the campaign.