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Correspondence
Exercise prescription is not just for medical doctors: the benefits of shared care by physicians and exercise professionals
  1. Andrew Maiorana1,2,
  2. Itamar Levinger3,
  3. Kade Davison4,
  4. Neil Smart5,
  5. Jeff Coombes6
  6. Accredited Exercise Physiologists, Exercise and Sports Science Australia
  1. 1School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia
  2. 2Allied Health Department, Fiona Stanley Hospital, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
  3. 3Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL), Victoria University, Footscray, Victoria, Australia
  4. 4School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  5. 5School of Science & Technology, The University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia
  6. 6School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Andrew Maiorana, School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6845, Australia; a.maiorana{at}curtin.edu.au

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2016-096994

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    As allied health professionals, we commend the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine (CASEM) on their recent position statement to better equip physicians for physical activity prescription.1 The CAESM call on physicians to be more engaged in physical activity prescription to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases associated with physical inactivity. Physicians are uniquely positioned in healthcare systems to improve population levels of physical activity. Most people visit a physician at least annually, and physician advice remains influential in guiding patient behaviour. For example, a simple physical activity counselling intervention by general practitioners significantly reduced inactivity.2

    A key objective of the Exercise is Medicine initiative http://www.exerciseismedicine.org/ is for physicians to assess and record physical activity during every patient visit, similar to a vital sign and to facilitate an exercise prescription. However, despite the acknowledged intentions of the CAESM statement, many physicians will remain ill-equipped, or simply not have time, to deliver individualised exercise prescriptions to patients across the …

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    Footnotes

    • Funding Supported by Future Leader Fellowship (ID: 100040) from the National Heart Foundation of Australia.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

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