Callaghan and his colleagues investigated the repercussions of sitting and standing while working. They report that people who have access to sit-stand desks need to be trained in their use to benefit from them: “Changing exposures from sitting to standing does not eliminate these issues [negative health and musculoskeletal issues for workers], as evidence indicates prolonged standing also induces problems. Reducing seated exposure and rotating frequently between sitting and standing has been shown to result in positive health outcomes, reduced discomfort and increased work performance. Implementing sit-stand workstations has promise to mitigate work-related health issues, if the users are provided with training that includes accommodations for individual work patterns and preferences.”
Jack Callaghan, Diana De Carvalho, Kaitlin Gallagher, Thomas Karakolis, and Erika Nelson-Wong. 2015. “Is Standing the Solution to Sedentary Office Work?” Ergonomics in Design: The Quarterly [sic] of Human Factors Applications, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 20-24.
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.