The Fit Pharmacist: Implementing a Step Challenge in Your Pharmacy

Adam Martin, PharmD: Hi, I’m Adam Martin, founder of The Fit Pharmacist. Do you want to increase productivity and strengthen camaraderie among colleagues? A step challenge may be the ticket. Those who participate might find that they take more steps when emptying the trash, re-stocking pharmacy supplies, and walking customers to products in the aisles. In addition to health benefits, for staff members these activities can also benefit accountability, collaboration, communication, customer service, engagement, productivity, and workflow. How do you implement the step challenge? Well, there are 5 easy steps.

Step 1 is to set the stage. Get buy-in from the participants by explaining how it will benefit them and turn the challenge into a competitive game.

Step 2 is to equip the staff members. Let them know that they can use their smartphones or FitBits to participate.

Step 3 is to state your goals and intentions. Be sure to set clear expectations for each individual and the group as a whole. For the individual, it mostly will depend on whether they are active or sedentary, and what their fitness and health goals are. For most people, striving to get an average of 10,000 steps per day is challenging yet realistic. Set an overall goal for the group for the duration of the challenge. Make sure that the goal is attainable, but also requires effort. Be mindful of any health conditions or limitations people may have. Those who are new to fitness should check with their physicians first.

Step 4 is to consider incentives. Offering incentives or prizes can ignite people’s competitive drive. Consider offering something creative that people will actually want, or offer a group prize that rewards accountability and teamwork, such as a lunch or dinner for the team.

Step 5 is to celebrate the wins. Apps that can be used for the step challenge offer message boards to communicate with teammates. Start off each day sharing a motivational message, photo, or quote. The FitBit app’s message board congratulates those who reach their personal goals or move to first place, and others can cheer the comment just as you can ‘like’ a comment or status on Facebook.

There you have it. How to get started in setting up a step challenge to step up your pharmacy’s game in health, service, and beyond. Thanks for watching.