Authors' objectives:

This publication provides guidance on four common methods used to increase the population's physical activity levels. The four interventions considered are: brief interventions in primary care, exercise referral schemes, pedometers and community-based walking and cycling programmes.

Authors' recommendations: Recommendation 1 Primary care practitioners should take the opportunity, whenever possible, to identify inactive adults and advise them to aim for 30 minutes of moderate activity on 5 days of the week (or more). They should use their judgement to determine when this would be inappropriate (for example, because of medical conditions or personal circumstances). They should use a validated tool, such as the Department of Health's forthcoming general practitioner physical activity questionnaire (GPPAQ), to identify inactive individuals. Recommendation 2 When providing physical activity advice, primary care practitioners should take into account the individual's needs, preferences and circumstances. They should agree goals with them. They should also provide written information about the benefits of activity and the local opportunities to be active. They should follow them up at appropriate intervals over a 3 to 6 month period. Recommendation 3 Local policy makers, commissioners and managers, together with primary care practitioners, should monitor the effectiveness of local strategies and systems to promote physical activity. They should focus, in particular, on whether or not opportunistic advice is helping to increase the physical activity levels of people from disadvantaged groups, including those with disabilities (and thereby tackling health inequalities). They should also assess how effective professionals from a range of disciplines are at raising long-term physical activity levels among these groups. Recommendation 4 Local policy makers, commissioners and managers, together with primary care practitioners, should pay particular attention to the needs of hard to reach and disadvantaged communities, including minority ethnic groups, when developing service infrastructures to promote physical activity. Recommendation 5 Practitioners, policy makers and commissioners should only endorse exercise referral schemes to promote physical activity that are part of a properly designed and controlled research study to determine effectiveness. Measures should include intermediate outcomes such as knowledge, attitudes and skills, as well as measures of physical activity levels. Individuals should only be referred to schemes that are part of such a study. Recommendation 6 Practitioners, policy makers and commissioners should only endorse pedometers and walking and cycling schemes to promote physical activity that are part of a properly designed and controlled research study to determine effectiveness. Measures should include intermediate outcomes such as knowledge, attitude and skills, as well as measures of physical activity levels.

Authors' methods: Review

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=300202

Year Published: 2006

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: England

Organisation Name: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

Contact Address: Level 1A, City Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester, M1 4BT

Contact Name: nice@nice.nhs.uk

Contact Email: nice@nice.nhs.uk

Copyright: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)