Academics believe “exercise prescriptions” should be issued by GPs to encourage patients to become more active and boost their health.
According to a new study carried out by St Andrews University, a nationwide health initiative to get patients active will only work if formal referrals and prescriptions are used.
So-called “social prescribing” is a health initiative which aims to help patients experiencing a wide range of physical health, mental health and wellbeing issues.
Under the scheme, health professionals connect a patient with a link worker who, following consultation with the patient to gauge their abilities, finds them a place with an appropriate community-based exercise forum such as a jogging group or a befriending service.
Lead researcher on the study, Kathryn Cunningham, who is a chartered health psychologist and research fellow in the School of Medicine at St Andews University, said the findings were of “particular significance”.
She said: “They address the lack of evidence about which methods work best for connecting patients with community-based opportunities to improve health and wellbeing and will help with the design of effective social prescribing schemes.”
Gozde Ozakinci, senior lecturer in health psychology in the university’s School of Medicine, added: “Our review also shows that we need rigorous evaluation of, and transparent reporting of, these schemes so that the knowledge is easily available to progress social prescribing practice and research.”
The Scottish Government has committed to recruiting 250 social prescribing link workers by 2021.