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Editorial
A decade on: successes and future directions for integrating physical activity into healthcare curricula in the UK and EU
  1. Ann Bernadette Gates1,2,
  2. Fiona Moffatt3,
  3. The European Union Erasmus+ VANGUARD project team,
  4. George S Metsios4
    1. 1School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
    2. 2CEO, Exercise-Works, Derby, UK
    3. 3Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
    4. 4School of Physical Education, Sport Science and Dietetics Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Thessaly, Triakla, Thessaly, Greece
    1. Correspondence to Honorary Associate Professor Ann Bernadette Gates; annbgates{at}googlemail.com

    https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2024-108607

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      Background

      In 2014, as part of the outcomes from the inaugural World Heart Federations Emerging Leaders’ work,1 a network of collaborators and change agents set about strengthening the capacity of healthcare professionals (HCPs) to support patients and communities to be more physically active. The intent was to influence the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and poor health, in the context of research demonstrating that even brief physical activity advice during routine consultations can translate to significant clinical outcomes.2 The community of practice3 aim was simple: to upskill, through capacity building, key frontline professionals of any healthcare discipline to be more confident, capable and competent in implementing interventions to mitigate NCDs. This included enabling HCPs to promote greater physical activity by their patients and use their leadership influence to effect wide-scale change in society.4

      Previous initiatives across UK medical and health schools to access free physical activity and health resources and implement them through curriculum change resulted in slow and inconsistent uptake. Similar suboptimal outcomes were reflected in other countries.5 However, in 2019, the European Union (EU) ERASMUS+Virtual Advice, Nurturing, Guidance on Universal Action, Research and Development for physical activity and sport engagement (VANGUARD) project enabled five European schools of medicine (and one UK-based physiotherapy school) to embed bespoke resources, secure academic support and empower future HCPs.

      The VANGUARD project

      The VANGUARD project objectives were to:

      1. Embed physical activity in the EU undergraduate curricula of future frontline HCPs (medical doctors and subsequently allied health professions) in these six European countries to help promote and sustain health.

      2. Foster meaningful collaborative partnerships in the implementation, methodology and evaluation of physical activity in the EU curricula of future frontline HCPs.

      3. Develop an at-scale approach, led by future HCPs, in the critical role of physical activity/sport in the prevention and treatment …

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      Footnotes

      • X @exerciseworks, @fimo18, @George Metsios

      • Correction notice This article has been corrected since it published Online First. The author order has been updated.

      • Collaborators VANGUARD PARTNERS: George Metsios (School of Physical Education, Sport Science and Dietetics, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Thessaly, Greece, Thessaly, Greece); Ioannis Fatouros (School of Physical Education, Sport Science and Dietetics, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly, Greece); Zoi Daniil (School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Greece); Ramune Zilinskiene (Health and Sports Centre, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania, and Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania); Natalja Istomina (Health and Sports Centre, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania); Jarek Mäestu (Institute of Sport Sciences and Physiotherapy, University of Tartu,Tartu, Estonia); Eve Unt (Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu,Tartu, Estonia); Romeu Mendes (EPIUnit-Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal and Unidade Local de Sáude de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal); Ana Barbosa (EPIUnit-Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal); Henrique Barros (EPIUnit-Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal,); Anne Vuillemin (Université Côte d'Azur, LAMHESS, France); David Darmon (Université Côte d' Azur, RETINES, Faculté de medecine, Nice, France); Ian Lahart (Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton, Walsall, UK); Fiona Moffatt (School of Health Sciences,The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK) and Ann Gates (School of Health Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK).

      • Contributors ABG and FM created and developed the editorial. GSM acted as an internal reviewer and developed the use of Figure 1 and associated works. VANGUARD partners: GM, IF, ZD, RZ, NI, JM, EU, RM, AB, HB, AV and DD contributed minor corrections to the final submission.

      • Funding Funded by the EU European Commission Erasmus+ Horizon 2020. This study was funded by European Commission (Nr. 613494-EPP-1-2019-1-UK-SPO-SCP) and contribution in-kind from Exercise Works Ltd UK.

      • Competing interests None declared.

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