Exercise referral can work.
What we need now is to deliver consistently, and consistently well
“insuffi cient evidence to recommend the use of exercise referral schemes to promote physical activity other than as part of research studies where their effectiveness can be evaluated”. This in spite of a growing body of robust
evidence which proves that disease-specifi c exercise can reduce symptoms across a wide range of conditions. Further evidence has been provided by the recent Health Wales Exercise Referral Study, which tracked 2,160 patients and which showed that, if you follow up with referred patients over the course of 12 months, a signifi cant proportion will achieve and sustain the ‘5 x 30’ activity guidelines.
setting standards So exercise referral can work. What we need now is to deliver consistently, and
april 2011 © cybertrek 2011
consistently well. And in order to do this, as Searle explains, we need an agreed set of standards. “In 2001, a national quality assurance
framework for exercise referral set out a professional, operational and legal framework for exercise referral schemes,” he explains. “But these only applied to publicly-funded schemes. “In the light of the BHF fi ndings, our
new Joint Consultative Forum [the FIA working in conjunction with the various royal colleges of medicine – see HCM Jan 11, p20] identifi ed a need to revisit the whole thing and create professional and operational standards for the whole sector – for all exercise professionals working with patients. We’re developing these at the moment and will publish them in the autumn.
Those working in exercise referral don’t currently need to be regularly accredited – an issue for GPs
“These standards will speak to a
number of groups: to medics, building the credibility of our sector with them; to the fi tness sector, setting out what we need to achieve; and to the new GP consortia health service commissioners, providing them with a set of criteria against which to measure exercise referral schemes and make decisions on funding.” It seems we can look forward to a
new, regulated, standardised approach to exercise referral, driving a consistently high quality approach to these schemes across our industry. In the meantime, we take a look [over the page] at existing schemes that are leading by example.
Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 53
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