fi a update


Dr John Searle, chief medical officer for the FIA, looks at the opportunities for the fitness sector presented by the new Joint Consultative Forum


O


ur industry has long known that there is huge potential to make a positive contribution


to the health of nation, not only by preventing disease but also through the treatment of disease. And now we’re joining forces with the medical profession to do something about it. The evidence is well established


that, for so many patients who visit the doctor every day, exercise represents a practical and effective treatment. However, exercise has not, to date, been used regularly in primary care. Over a year ago, the FIA set out to


solve this problem and fi nd a place for exercise in the treatment of disease. The fi rst step was to enlist my expertise as the organisation’s fi rst ever chief medical offi cer. It quickly occurred to me that the principal reason why exercise is not yet a routine part of healthcare is that the medical profession that prescribes treatment, and the fi tness sector that delivers exercise, do not talk. Doctors are in a unique position to


encourage people to exercise and be active: 78 per cent of the population visit their general practitioner at least once a year, and the fact remains that people will listen to what their GP has to say. If the doctor gives a prescription, we tend to follow it. Doctors also look after people


with chronic illness and can prescribe exercise as part of their treatment. It is therefore essential in my opinion that fi tness and wellness professionals work together to make exercise a normal part of healthcare.


it’s good to talk So my objective was clear: to get the two professions talking. To achieve this at a national level, we spent a year in discussions with the relevant Medical Royal Colleges with a view to setting up a Joint Consultative Forum. The forum first met earlier this year, when


20


news Exercise: Medicine for Life


Position of influence: 78 per cent of people visit their GP at least once a year


representatives of the Royal College of General Practitioners shared a table with exercise professionals to go over the finer points of exercise in healthcare. After three meetings, the forum


is now offi cially established and we have agreed the following terms of reference: the role of the forum is to facilitate the provision of advice – to the medical and health professions, the fi tness sector, healthcare commissioners and other relevant institutions and agencies – on exercise in the promotion of health, exercise in the prevention of ill health and the use of exercise in the management of disease. This is the fi rst time that the Royal


Colleges of General Practitioners, Physicians, Psychiatrists, Paediatrics and Child Health, the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine, the Faculty of Public Health and the fi tness sector have ever agreed a way of working together. It brings many opportunities to


the fi tness sector – not only in terms of basing our practice on evidence,


Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital


but also in contributing to the wider public health strategy.


exercise referral guidelines Now that the forum has been established, with the support of the fitness sector and the Department of Health, it has been agreed that its first task will be to draw up new standards in exercise referral. Exercise referral has a long history


in the UK, with 800 schemes already operating across the country. However, it has been shown that these schemes do not share any consistent evaluation, exit strategies, initial assessments – the list goes on… This is not to say that there are not fantastic individual schemes in operation, but it does show the need for national standards created jointly by the fi tness sector and the medical profession. For the fi rst time ever, the Joint


Consultative Forum gives the fi tness sector the chance to solve this problem. We look forward to the task ahead.


january 2011 © cybertrek 2011


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