GPs urged to tell patients to ‘do more exercise!’ …even if they’re seriously ill
GPs urged to tell patients to ‘do more exercise!’ …even if they’re seriously ill
- Officials say GPs should prescribe exercise to patients with cancer and diabetes
- Nearly three quarters of GPs do not speak about benefits of physical activity to patients ‘due to either lack of knowledge, skills or confidence’ research suggests
- Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine has created a ‘Moving Medicine toolkit’
Kate Pickles Health Reporter For The Daily Mail
Family doctors are being told to prescribe exercise to patients with serious health conditions including cancer, diabetes, dementia and depression.
Health officials say GPs and healthcare workers should encourage patients to help fight their conditions by getting more active.
Doctors should ask about their physical activity levels, inform them of how exercise can help symptoms and guide people towards appropriate activities. One in four patients would be more active if advised by a doctor or nurse, research suggests.
Health officials say GPs and healthcare workers should encourage patients to help fight their conditions by getting more active (stock picture)
The Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine has created a ‘Moving Medicine toolkit’ to provide information for health workers on how to initiate conversations about activity (stock picture)
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But nearly three quarters of GPs do not speak about the benefits of physical activity to patients ‘due to either lack of knowledge, skills or confidence’.
Public health officials believe exercise can help to drive down obesity rates, with two in three Britons now overweight and one in four obese.
Public health officials believe exercise can help to drive down obesity rates
Adopting an active lifestyle can also cut the risk of a host of health problems, including slashing the chances of Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure by half.
Regular exercise cuts the chances of heart disease – Britain’s biggest killer – by 40 per cent. It also reduces the chances of suffering a stroke or depression by a third.
The Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine has created a ‘Moving Medicine toolkit’ in partnership with Public Health England and Sport England. It is being launched today and provides information for health workers on how to initiate conversations about physical activity.
The initiative comes after the Daily Mail reported yesterday how elderly people could be prescribed ballroom dancing or cookery classes on the NHS to help combat loneliness.
Health and social care secretary Matt Hancock, said: ‘I am delighted to launch this brilliant web tool. I hope it will help pave the way for a culture shift in medicine where referrals for exercise are just as common as prescriptions for medication.’
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