CLINICAL EXERCISE PRACTITIONER

and disseminated. Guidelines published by the American College of Sports Medicine relating to the management of persons with spe- cific clinical exercise needs (11), although widely recognised as a principal source of information, still appear to require “translation” or “customisation” for health professionals in the UK.

Conclusions The competencies for exercise practitioners developed in primary health care need to be extended into secondary and clinical care settings. Additional curriculum development, protocols and guide- lines are required to support the work of the clinical exercise prac- titioner. Mechanisms are required to develop greater collaboration at national and local level between medical and exercise profes- sionals and medical professional support is required for the National Exercise and Fitness Register.

References 1. Queen Mary and Westfield College and South East Institute of Public Health. Guidelines for the Prevention of Falls in Older People. Department of Health, London 1998 2. Harland J, White M, Drinkwater C, Chinn D, Farr L, Howel D. The Newcastle exercise project: a randomised controlled trial of methods to promote physical activity in primary care. BMJ 1999;319:828-832 3. Health Education Authority. The Exact Directory - Courses and qualifi- cations for teaching and instructing in physical activity and exercise. HEA 1998 4. Riddoch C, Puig-Ribera A, Cooper A. Effectiveness of Physical Activity promotion Schemes in Primary Health Care: A review. Health Promotion Effectiveness Reviews No 14. Health Education Authority 1998 5. Dinan S, and Skelton D. Exercise and Falls: Promoting Independence and Preventing Injury. A Training Module for Exercise and Health Professionals. 1999 In press

6. Department of Health. (Unpublished) National Quality Assurance Framework for Exercise Referral Systems 7. Finch H. Physical Activity “At Our Age”. Qualitative research among people over the age of 50. Health Education Authority 1997 8. Arthur S and Finch H. Physical Activity “In Our Lives”. Qualitative research among disabled people. Health Education Authority 1999 9. Bell J. M. Delivering an Exercise Prescription for Patients with Coronary Artery Disease. Paper given to Royal College of Physicians Conference London June 2000 10. Radcliffe, A. Physical Activity and Hypertension. SportEX Medicine 2000;5 (Jun):11-14 11. ACSM. Exercise Management for Persons with Chronic Disease and Disabilities. Europe. Human Kinetics, 1997

This article follows a presentation made to the Royal College of Physicians in June 2000. The author is grateful to Susie Dinan and Dr. Andrew Craig for helpful contributions to the thinking therein.

If you would like to discuss any issues arising from this article or have any thoughts regarding the future of the ‘clinical exercise practitioner’ we have set up a special discussion forum on the SportEX Medicine website at www.sportex-medicine.com. The author will be logging on regularly following the publication of this issue to contribute his thoughts and ideas on this subject.

Resources ● British Association for Cardiac Rehabilitation (BACR) - tele-

phone 01384 230222 ● American College of Sports Medicine - website www.acsm.org ● British Heart Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity and Health - telephone 01509 222239 ● Falls management programme - telephone Helen Keighley on 0161 224 2079 or e-mail her at hkeighley@leicestercollege.ac.uk

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