An Evaluation of Exercise Referral Schemes in Healthcare.

Greater physical activity and exercise is associated with better overall health and a reduced risk of many chronic conditions, but most of the Canadian population is insufficiently active. Physicians reach a large proportion of the population but experience barriers such as of time that prevent them from providing tailored exercise advice, as such they are interested in referring their patients to qualified exercise professionals or community exercise programs. Our proposed project aims to review the effectiveness of these exercise referral schemes to improve patient focused outcomes (i.e., physical activity levels, blood pressure, etc). The anticipated results of the present study may lead to more initiatives aimed at increasing the availability of community exercise programs and exercise professionals to support physical activity promotion in primary care.

Faculty Supervisor:

Derek Kimmerly

Student:

Myles O'Brien

Partner:

Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology

Discipline:

Human physical performance and recreation

Sector:

Medical devices

University:

Program: