The Art of Stair Climbing: A Creative Approach to Healthy Living

       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 1/10^th 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.