Author: Inaaya Kaul

Midweek movement: adding movement into your working week

It can be challenging to fit movement into your work week, with deadlines, meetings, and long to-do lists constantly demanding your attention. Hear from IGHI staff about how they integrate movement into their busy schedules and their top tips on how you can do the same!

Meet Anna: The netball enthusiast and fair weather cyclist

Anna with her netball team, just after they had won the league
Anna (in the middle) with her netball team, just after they had won the league

Anna Lawrence-Jones, a dedicated mother and Public Involvement Lead, admits that juggling work, family, and household chores often leaves little room for personal fitness. However, she has been making the most of the good weather and buying a Lime bike pass to cycle 20 minutes to Liverpool Street to get her train a few times a week. She sometimes even combines movement with quality time with her husband, by going for a coffee and a cycle to get some extra time together. 

Anna also loves playing netball, and plays in a social league every Tuesday evening (and has been playing with some of the girls for over a decade!). In fact this season they won the league, with the winning goal scored in the final second! She makes sure to block out this time in her husband’s diary, so even his colleagues are well-aware of the non-negotiable “POD (parent on duty)” time. 

For Anna, movement isn’t just physical – it’s therapeutic. The simple act of being outdoors, soaking in nature without digital distractions, offers her a serene space to destress and reflect. Her top tip is to integrate movement into your work environment by switching one-on-one meetings to a walk down the canal.

Meet Clare: The morning runner and strength trainer

Clare McCrudden, Policy Fellow at IGHI, is a self-proclaimed morning person who loves to start her day with a burst of energy and time to clear her head. Her passion for movement shines through in her commitment to strength training and running.

Clare at run club Friday Night Lights
Clare at run club Friday Night Lights

This year, she’s taken on the ambitious goal of running one half marathon each month – a challenge that keeps her motivated and accountable, even if it comes with a few second thoughts! Clare is running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October for charity and enjoys mixing up her running routes, including going to running clubs such as Friday Night Lights, which is a fun way to catch up with friends too. 

But for Clare, staying active isn’t just about the workout session. She believes that the small things we do throughout the day are just as important. Whether it’s taking the stairs instead of the lift at work or getting off the bus at a stop early, Clare is always finding ways to add extra steps to her day. She’s a firm believer in the importance of regular breaks from the desk and screens to keep both the body and mind refreshed.

Clare believes, “Little by little goes a long way.” She encourages everyone to go easy on themselves and do what they can, anything is better than nothing. Making movement social, like getting a group together for a quick walk, can be especially helpful when motivation dips – particularly in the darker months. These small bursts of activity not only lift spirits but also can help everyone return to work feeling lighter and more energised.

Meet Inês: The early bird and cycling enthusiast

For Inês Baptista, Research Manager to Professor Darzi, IGHI Co-Director, the key to staying consistent with her fitness routine is starting her day early. She makes sure to get her workout done first thing in the morning, setting a strong foundation for the rest of the day. Commuting by bike is another clever way Inês integrates movement into her daily life – ensuring she stays active even during her commute. At work, Inês uses a standing desk, which naturally encourages more movement throughout her day.

Inês cycling from the Portuguese mountains to the ocean
Inês cycling from the Portuguese mountains to the ocean

Exercise is more than just a physical activity for Inês; it’s a way to stay healthy, active, and in a good mood. The endorphins she gets from her workouts keep her feeling energised and positive, making it a vital part of her daily routine. Exercise is also a therapeutic escape – a way to maintain her mental well-being and stay grounded.

When cycling,  Inês finds motivation in the fresh air and the chance to be outdoors, often accompanied by her favourite music or podcasts. Whether she’s riding to work or tackling a HIIT session, the knowledge that exercise is good for her health keeps her motivated to push through. Inês’ advice is straightforward and powerful: “You’ll never regret it, so do it!” This is a reminder that while it can be challenging to get started, the benefits of movement always make it worthwhile.

Incorporating movement into a busy work week may seem challenging, but as our colleagues have shown, it can also become a rewarding part of your routine. Whether it’s cycling to the train station, joining a social sports team, or taking a brisk walk during lunch breaks, movement is more than just exercise – it’s a chance to connect with others, enjoy the outdoors, and take a mental break from the demands of the day. By starting small and finding creative ways to blend activity into your schedule, you can make movement a natural and enjoyable part of your life.

Involving community members to help people attend their hospital appointments

Attending hospital appointments is essential for patients to access the medical care they need to maintain and improve their health. Across North West London, individuals living in the most deprived areas and from ethnic minority groups face a variety of barriers to attending outpatient appointments at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. The focus of this collaborative project between IGHI’s Helix Centre and the Trust was to understand why people miss their appointments and to co-design solutions with community members that help them to attend.

Going to the first outpatient appointment can help prevent a chain reaction of health inequity. By attending diagnostic appointments (such as scans), individuals help to ensure timely diagnoses and interventions, which can lead to better health outcomes and more effective treatment and management of their conditions. Trust data showed that people living in the most deprived areas of North West London or people part of a Black, Mixed or Other ethnic groups are more likely to miss their outpatient appointment. In this project, we worked with local community members throughout the project, who were linked to these groups, to ensure the project and any intervention were designed appropriately.

Meet one of the Public Steering Group members

“My name is Phayza and I am a community member involved with Imperial College and as part of the Strategic Lay Forum at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. I was one of the eight people recruited to the Public Steering Group, bringing together diverse voices to shape the project.

“As someone deeply involved in community development and public health promotion, I was eager to contribute my insights to this initiative. My background gave me a unique perspective on the systemic issues faced by minority and disadvantaged populations in accessing healthcare. This opportunity was not just a professional duty but a personal mission to amplify the voices of those often unheard.” – Phayza, Public Steering Group member

Phayza and other community members at one of the co-design workshops
Phayza (left-hand side) and other community members at one of the co-design workshops

Gathering insights from people who had missed appointments

The Helix Centre team interviewed over 25 patients who had missed appointments in several clinical specialties and staff to understand why people could not attend. Through these interviews, we learned that various factors contribute to why someone might miss an appointment, including caring responsibilities, work responsibilities, travel difficulties, distrust with the NHS and communication issues (such as not receiving appointment details via text or letter). We are sharing these findings as widely as possible with relevant groups. The Helix team shared the barriers back to Trust staff to ensure that they were aware of the issues faced by their patients. We recently published an academic paper outlining the barriers, co-author by a Public Steering Group member, Chris. We also worked with the Public Steering Group to design a poster (below) that visually communicates the attendance barriers, which we are sharing with public members involved in the project and a wider audience. 

Moving from barriers to solutions

Poster titled: What makes it harder for patients to attend hospital appointments? It visually depicts the seven barriers that public members highlighted and describes what Imperial has done with these learnings.
Poster titled ”What makes it harder for patients to attend hospital appointments?”. It visually depicts the seven barriers that public members highlighted and describes what Imperial College London has done with these learnings. Credits: Pip Batey

We ran three co-design workshops with local community members from groups facing inequity, to come up with ideas that address the barriers people face attending hospital appointments. We worked with the Public Steering Group to decide which barriers should be prioritised and brought to the workshops, along with reviewing the workshop materials to ensure they were engaging. The workshops were held in local community spaces that people were familiar with, for example the White City Community Centre. The Public Steering Group helped with recruitment for the workshops, by promoting it in local networks, such as the Black and Minority Ethnic Forum newsletter (which Phayza is linked to). A diverse range of people with different knowledge and experience participated alongside NHS staff, with everyone learning from each other. Of the 23 workshop attendees, 16 were from ethnic minority groups and 9 lived in the most deprived areas of North West London.

“What I liked most about the workshops was working together and being very listened to. I appreciated all the effort which had been put into them” – Workshop attendee

The workshops were a melting pot of ideas and experiences. Building on the barriers we heard from initial interviews, people shared and discussed the issues they and their family members had faced attending hospital appointments and proposed solutions. At the next workshop, we developed the ideas further and had to think about whether the idea was feasible. For the prioritised ideas, we further developed what they could look like and shared this back to the workshop attendees for their feedback. 

Testing the final ideas in a research study

The ideas taken forward from the workshops address barriers around paying for transport, travelling to appointments and fear of attending appointments. The solutions we developed include extra message reminders sent to patients before their appointments, which connect them to clearly designed web pages with information about how to get to their appointment, whether they’re eligible for travel cost reimbursement or what to expect at their appointment. We are testing these additional tailored reminders in a research study to see if they help people to attend their appointments and plan to roll out any successful changes across Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. 

Highlighting the impact of public involvement 

The Public Steering Group influenced the project throughout, from reviewing interview questions to co-designing the language used in the texts and websites sent to patients in the study. When we were planning the interviews, Mohamed (a member of the Public Steering Group) reviewed the interview guide and suggested that we might have more success with recruitment if we talk about the impact the study could have at the start of the conversation with the patient instead of at the end.

“By beginning with the wonderful impact the study could have that you have given in the end it may in my opinion give the researcher a soft landing and a willing-to-participate interviewee/patient.” – Mohamed, Public Steering Group member

When we were prioritising themes to take the workshop, the Public Steering Group raised transport as a critical barrier to attending hospital appointments, initially not prioritised by the team. This suggestion significantly shaped the project’s direction, resulting in several final interventions aimed at improving support around transport.

Another example of a key recommendation from the group, was to ensure that appointment reminders that are being sent as part of the research study include a phone number for patients to call if they have questions or need to reschedule their appointment. This simple addition ensures that people without access to digital tools can still manage their appointments effectively. Another suggestion was to soften the language in the study’s appointment reminders to adopt a more supportive tone that encourages patients to attend.

“We suggested to change the text message language to ‘Let’s make it easy for you to plan your journey’ to make it warm and supportive” – Phayza, Public Steering Group member

Unfortunately not all of the ideas generated from the workshops could be taken forward, such as having ‘community health navigators’ supporting people with rescheduling or attending their appointments. However, we shared all the ideas back to Imperial NHS Trust to see if they could be adopted in other projects, and the Trust are continuing to use the insights from the project as part of their work to improve outpatient experience for patients. 

Learning from this approach

We came up with several ideas about how the approach could have been improved, and have applied these changes in more recent projects with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. The team had organised paid childcare for one of the workshops which was during the half term school break, to allow parents to bring their children to the workshop. However, we could have also made this even clearer when advertising the workshops along with other supports that would help people to attend, such as carers or interpreters. 

The Public Steering Group suggested that we recruit patients to interview by ringing them beforehand to schedule a call in advance, as opposed to asking to speak with them then and there. This new approach would have led to more in-depth conversations, as people could speak to us at a time that was convenient for them. We have used this method in another Trust project called Waiting Well, as well as offering the interviewee a choice of whether the interview is in-person (in a location chosen by the patient) or on the phone or on a video call.

“For the interviews and workshops, the team also could have utilised the Trust’s interpreting services so that we could hear from people who would prefer to speak other languages. I am pleased to hear that the team has taken forward all these ideas in other projects.” – Phayza, Public Steering Group member

Empowering community members to shape future initiatives

By involving community members from under-represented and under-served groups throughout the project, we helped to ensure the messages we are testing in our research study were appropriate and accessible.

We are still waiting on the results of the trial, which will be out later this year. We hope to see improvements in hospital appointment attendance, and if so, these interventions can be rolled out more widely at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and beyond.

For more information contact Anna Lawrence-Jones.