In
the 1960 Marshmallow Test conducted at Stanford University, children were left
unattended in a room with a marshmallow for fifteen minutes. They were told
that if they ate it during the time, that is all they could have. If they
waited, they would get an extra marshmallow to enjoy. The soft sugary substance
tempted most of the children. Some couldn’t wait the extra time to indulge in
its gooey goodness, meaning they only got the satisfaction of one marshmallow.
Some children, however, knew that they would get twice the benefit if they
waited a little longer. At the end of the fifteen minutes, these children were
presented with an extra treat. While both groups got to taste the marshmallow,
the ones who challenged their temptations benefited the most (Lehrer).
Everyday we are presented with
marshmallows, and I don’t mean the sweet and sugary kind. These marshmallows
could be the temptation to watch a TV show before doing more important things,
the temptation to wear pajamas to work, or the temptation of taking the
elevator over the stairs. Those who take the elevator are like the children who
chose to eat the marshmallow before the time was up. Those who take the stairs
are like the patient children who waited to eat the marshmallow. While both the
stairs and the elevator get you to where you need to be, in the end, you will
get the most benefit out of taking the stairs.
Ground
Level
Kennesaw Step Up is an initiative at
Kennesaw State University to encourage students, faculty, and staff to take the
stairs instead of the elevator. On Friday, November 22 and Saturday, November
23, 2013, forty Kennesaw Step Up volunteers painted murals on the walls of
seven flights of stairs in the Central Parking Deck in order to make stair
climbing—a not so fun daily routine—more enjoyable.
The murals consist of a painted flowing
ribbon from the eighth floor of the Central Parking Deck to ground level. Each
level is color-coded and has a specific, health related theme. The second level, which is ground level, is yellow and introduces
the murals with an anonymous quote stating, "There is no elevator to
success, you have to take the stairs." This provides context for the
Kennesaw Step Up's mission.
The third level is green and carries a nature theme. Level
four is red and supports cardiovascular health and the Children’s Heart
Foundation. The fifth level is blue and represents positive mental health
through ocean themed murals. The sixth level is orange, showing encouragement,
sending happy vibes and positive thoughts to stair climbers to help motivate
them to keep climbing. The murals on the orange level include a vibrant sunset
and the Kennesaw Step Up logo. Level seven is purple and supports the American
Cancer Society, gracing climbers with the message “Follow your dreams” as they
summit the final level. On the top level, KSU’s mascot, Scrappy the Owl is
holding the ribbon, essentially pulling stair climbers up the steps.
After Kennesaw Step Up’s mural
intervention, I asked students why they thought the walls in the stairwell were
painted. Not many knew the real reason for artwork. In addition to Kennesaw
State University’s stairwell enhancement murals, informative signage regarding
stair climbing health benefits should be placed at the decision-point between
the stairs and the elevator in order to educate the mass population; in turn
maximizing the aggregate number of persons taking the stairs instead of the
elevator.
On Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 3:00
PM in the Central Parking Deck stairwell, I asked twenty random KSU students a
question and recorded their anonymous responses in my field notes. From
gathering this information only 1/10th of the students knew what the
reasoning was behind the murals. While this is not representative of the entire
Kennesaw State University population, it did help me understand the general
thought processes of students as they are taking the stairs. I met with KSU
student, Sam Gunn, on Friday, February 15, 2014 at 2:00 in the afternoon in the
Central Parking Deck stairwell. The interview lasted approximately twenty
minutes. From this interview, I gained insight into her opinion on stair usage
and what her thoughts were on the intervention. In a documentary video compiled
in the Fall of 2013, several anonymous students revealed their reasoning for
taking the stairs prior to the intervention. I took notes on their responses as
I found several similarities.
The Climb
When twenty KSU students who park in the
Central Parking deck were asked, “What do you think the purpose is for the
murals in the stairwell?” only two of the twenty knew the answer—to encourage
stair usage. I received several responses that said “To make it look prettier”
or “To help students remember what level they parked on.” While both of these
statements are true, very few knew that the main reason was to promote stair
usage. This response brought to my attention the need for public information. There
are several ways to go about sending information to students. One way we can
inform is to post signs at the decision point between the stairs and the
elevator. If signs are posted at the decision point, we have the power to
persuade an action, hopefully one that involves taking the stairs.
In
fall of 2013, prior to the mural intervention, I asked several students why
they chose the stairs over the elevator. I also got responses from elevator
riders as to why they chose the elevator instead of the stairs. In every
response I received from the stair climbers, they claimed that they took the
stairs as a means of exercise. One woman in her mid twenties reported that she
was trying to lose weight and because of that she was “trying to take the
stairs as much as possible.” I waited in the elevator with my camera ready.
When people boarded the lift and the door closed, I asked them a few questions.
I was curious as to why they chose the elevator instead of the perfectly
accessible stairs. I asked approximately four elevator riders this question and
the word used most frequently to describe their behavior was “lazy.” They all
claimed that they were lazy and one man claimed, he “just didn’t feel like
walking the steps.” There are two extremes here: the go-getters who take the
stairs for exercise and the elevator riders who claim to be lazy. Some
direction must be enforced to alter the attitudes of the elevator riders. What
they didn’t know is that murals were on their way. Perhaps they still need a
sign to provide that extra motivation at the decision point. Can the word
“lazy” be eliminated from students’ vocabulary?
In a post-intervention interview, Sam
Gunn, a nineteen-year-old female student at KSU, brought up an interesting
point. She claimed she could see the murals from outside of the parking deck. They
caught her eye one day, so she decided to check them out. She believes that the
murals are effective because people can see them through the window and they
will want to investigate it. Gunn is an avid stair climber. She claims that she
doesn’t take the elevator “unless [she] can’t get to where she needs to go
without it.” Because she takes the stairs religiously, regardless of the
situation, she claimed that the murals don’t affect her stair climbing
interest. She said, however, that, “they are so cute and they make me smile.”
At least the murals help make her day brighter. When I asked what she thought
about adding signage with information, she exclaimed, “Yes!” Gunn believes that
signs will help direct “the lazy” people to the “beautiful murals”. She hopes
that more people will use the stairs so they can appreciate the hard work
Kennesaw Step Up put in to them (Gunn). While it is reassuring to hear positive
feedback from a stair climber, it is the elevator riders’ feedback that we are
concerned with.
Past
Prompting
Similar initiatives such as the Take the
Stairs Campaign, led by the Boston Public Health Commission, also encouraged
stairwell environment enhancements to increase stair usage. Several office
buildings and universities in Boston adopted this campaign and made an effort
to promote stair usage by hanging up informative signs, adding artwork and by
playing music in the stairwells. Many businesses participate in stair climbing
campaigns in order to maintain good health among their employees. Healthier
people often work harder and are much more effective in the workplace.
Likewise, universities tend to promote health and wellness because healthier
students are often happier and perform better on assignments. Many hardworking
students are consumed with schoolwork and extra curricular activities; which
puts exercise at the bottom of their never-ending to-do lists (BPHC). Stair
climbing is an easy way to sneak exercise into daily routines.
Several studies have been conducted that
observe stair usage when there is an environmental intervention. The most
common approach is the point-of-decision prompts between the stairs and the
elevator that promote stair usage through motivational words or statistics
(Olander). Posting signage is the most cost effective means of intervention. For
example, Step Jockey is a company based in the United Kingdom that manufactures
point-of-decision prompts that can be customized to a specific stairwell. These motivational messages may include
health facts or encouraging phrases such as in Figure 1. Also, what makes this
company unique is that the signs include the amount of calories burned by
taking the steps (StepJockey). With this type of intervention alone, however, there is often
not a significant increase in stair usage. Often times, further change is necessary
to make a notable difference (Olander). Additional enhancements may include
improved aesthetics of the stairs through creative means.
In a compilation study cited by Theadora
Swenson, BA, and Michael Siegel, MD, MPH with the Boston University Department
of Community Health Services, Solar, Leeks, and Buchannan et al reviewed eleven
point-of-decision prompt studies and found that there was only a 2.4% average
increase in stair usage when only signs were posted. The signs may have caught
some people’s attention, but overall they either were unnoticed or ignored by
most people. From analyzing this data, I believe that a major environmental
change must occur in order to grab the attention of the majority.
In other studies such as Boutelle et al. and Kerr et al., a
stairwell intervention that included both point-of-decision prompts and
improved aesthetics of the stairwell including the addition of framed artwork
and background music, showed a significant increase in stair usage. The
incorporation of both elements called for a more prominent change than what
resulted from posting only the signs. Kennesaw Step Up has already improved the
aesthetics of the Central Parking Deck stairwell; therefore the addition of
signage has the potential to further increase stair usage.
Similar to the studies by Boutelle et al.
and Kerr et al., Swenson and Siegel conducted a study in which three
environmental interventions were incorporated: point-of-decision prompts,
improved aesthetics and interactive components. The interactive components
include modules such as chalkboards, “you are here” maps and jokes followed by
a punch-line on every other level. Over the course of six weeks, stair usage
was observed. Within the six weeks, there was a 35% increase in stair usage.
There were 2.6 times more stair climbers in the workplace than before. What is
unique about this study is that the point-of-decision signs simply read “Fun
Stairs,” essentially leaving it up to the individual to make the decision to
take the stairs or not. Positive health facts were not forced upon them. The
issue that this study revealed was that the initial excitement of the
intervention wore off and showed a decline in stair usage after the first week.
This phenomenon may be a contributor to the lack of knowledge regarding the KSU
stairwell. The murals may have initially caught Central Parking Deck users
attention, causing them to talk about it and take the stairs. However, after
the first week when the surprise factor wore off, behavior may have returned to
normal—stair climbers continued to climb and elevator riders continued to ride.
This study, overall, did show a prolonged increase in stair usage, even though
over time, the number of stair users decreased, the amount was still greater
than it was prior to the intervention. Perhaps with the introduction of
signage, there will be a more stable and prolonged increase in stair usage at
KSU. Upon the introduction of point of decision prompts, a study should be
performed at KSU to measure the effects of the intervention.
#TakeTheStairs
Kennesaw Step Up used a call-to-action
approach by painting the stairs. Prior to the mural project, students who park
in the Central Deck would hike up the plain, concrete stairs and retreat to
their cars per usual. When they returned to their routine on Monday morning,
after the mural project, many noticed and began talking about the freshly
painted artwork. This sparked conversation among the relevant social media
pertaining to Kennesaw State University students. There was a tweet reading,
“Why does the central deck staircase look like it should belong to a children’s
hospital?!? @ShitISeeAtKSU” (Hunt) and an anonymous post on the KSU Confessions
Facebook page stating, “#5461 Whoever painted the stairway walls in Central,
thank you for making finals week a little more bearable.” With social media
playing a large role in many students’ daily lives, I believe that outlets such
as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram could be an important contributor in the
promotion of Kennesaw Step Up’s initiatives. Currently, Kennesaw Step Up has a
Twitter and a Facebook account. While these resources are available, they do
not reach out to a large number of KSU students. In addition to informational,
point of decision signage being posted among the stairwells on campus, the
university should share information regarding the Kennesaw Step Up initiative
on its social media profiles and through its email system. This will help
inform a larger amount of students about the latest health campaign on
campus.
Although hundreds of students utilize the
Central Parking Deck and pass through the stairs everyday, the problem still
remains. The majority of people do not know why there is paint on the walls.
Kennesaw Step Up’s intention was to evoke a change that would lead to healthier
lifestyles among students, faculty and staff. However, because of the lack of
public information, there are still people who succumb to the enclosed metal
portal. This may be due to the fact that those take the elevator always take
the elevator and have not even seen the murals. Same principle goes for the
stair climbers. Those who previously took the stairs will continue to take the
stairs, regardless of the artwork. This means that we need to target,
specifically, the elevator riders, as they are the ones who need to make a
lifestyle change, not the stair climbers. By posting signage at decision points
and sending out mass information regarding the prolonged health benefits that
result from taking the stairs, Kennesaw Step Up has the potential to change the
behavior of a large number of people on KSU’s campus.
Works
Cited
Boston Public Health Commission. Take the Stairs. BPHC, 2013. Web. 7 Apr.
2014.
Boutelle,
Kerri, and Robert Jeffery et al. “Using Signs, Artwork, And Music To Promote
Stair Use In A Public Building.” American
Journal of Public Health 91.12 (2001): 2004-2006. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
Gunn,
Sam. Personal interview. 15 Feb. 2014.
Hunt,
Taylor (taylorlauran). “Why does the central deck staircase look like it should
belong to a children’s hospital?!?! @ShitISeeAtKSU.” 25 Nov. 2013. 12:50 p.m.
Tweet.
Johnson,
Maggie. “Kennesaw Step Up.” Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 3 Dec. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
KSU
Confessions. “#5461 Whoever painted
the stairway walls in Central, thank you for making finals week a little more
bearable.” 25 Nov. 2013, 4:33 p.m. Facebook comment.
Lehrer,
Jonah. “Don’t! The Secret Of Self Control.” Thenewyorker.com.
N.p. 18 May. 2009. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Olander,
Ellinor, and Frank Eves. “Effectiveness And Cost Of Two Stair-Climbing
Interventions—Less Is More.” The Science
of Health Promotion 25.4 (2011): 231-236. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
StepJockey.
Getting Started With StepJockey.
United Kingdom: StepJockey, 2013. PDF file.
Swenson,
Theadora, and Michael Siegel. “Increasing Stair Use In An Office Worksite
Through An Interactive Environmental Intervention.” American Journal of Health Promotion 27.5 (2013): 323-329. Web. 13
Mar. 2014.
