Methods of connecting primary care patients with community-based physical activity opportunities : a realist scoping review
Abstract
Deemed a global public health problem by the World Health Organization, physical inactivity is estimated to be responsible for one in six deaths in the United Kingdom (UK) and to cost the nation's economy £7.4 billion per year. A response to the problem receiving increasing attention is connecting primary care patients with community-based physical activity opportunities. We aimed to explore what is known about the effectiveness of different methods of connecting primary care patients with community-based physical activity opportunities in the United Kingdom by answering three research questions: 1) What methods of connection from primary care to community-based physical activity opportunities have been evaluated?; 2) What processes of physical activity promotion incorporating such methods of connection are (or are not) effective or acceptable, for whom, to what extent and under what circumstances; 3) How and why are (or are not) those processes effective or acceptable? We conducted a realist scoping review in which we searched Cochrane, Medline, PsycNET, Google Advanced Search, National Health Service (NHS) Evidence and NHS Health Scotland from inception until August 2020. We identified that five methods of connection from primary care to community-based physical activity opportunities had been evaluated. These were embedded in 15 processes of physical activity promotion, involving patient identification and behaviour change strategy delivery, as well as connection. In the contexts in which they were implemented, four of those processes had strong positive findings, three had moderately positive findings and eight had negative findings. The underlying theories of change were highly supported for three processes, supported to an extent for four and refuted for eight processes. Comparisons of the processes and their theories of change revealed several indications helpful for future development of effective processes. Our review also highlighted the limited evidence base in the area and the resulting need for well-designed theory-based evaluations.
Citation
Cunningham , K B , Rogowsky , R H , Carstairs , S A , Sullivan , F & Ozakinci , G 2021 , ' Methods of connecting primary care patients with community-based physical activity opportunities : a realist scoping review ' , Health & Social Care in the Community , vol. 29 , no. 4 , pp. 1169-1199 . https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13186
Publication
Health & Social Care in the Community
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0966-0410Type
Journal item
Description
Funding: NHS Fife Endowment Fund (Grant Number(s): FIF142).Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Effect of free medicine distribution on health care costs in Canada over 3 years : a secondary analysis of the CLEAN meds randomized clinical trial
Persaud, Nav; Bedard, Michael; Boozary, Andrew; Glazier, Richard H; Gomes, Tara; Hwang, Stephen W; Jüni, Peter; Law, Michael R; Mamdani, Muhammad; Manns, Braden; Martin, Danielle; Morgan, Steven G; Oh, Paul; Pinto, Andrew D; Shah, Baiju R; Sullivan, Frank; Umali, Norman; Thorpe, Kevin E; Tu, Karen; Wu, Fangyun; Laupacis, Andreas; CLEAN Meds study team (2023-05-26) - Journal articleIMPORTANCE : Few interventions are proven to reduce total health care costs, and addressing cost-related nonadherence has the potential to do so. OBJECTIVE : To determine the effect of eliminating out-of-pocket medication ... -
Pädiatrische versorgungskonzepte in Europa
Weber, Martin W; Backhaus, Sophia; Chukwujama, Obiora; Fenski, Friederike; Henking, Christoph; Schatte, Laura; Aleman-Diaz, Aixa Y (2018-01-19) - Journal articleTo promote children’s health in Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the European child and adolescent health strategy 2015–2020, which is supported and will be implemented by all Member States (MS). In ... -
Arts-based approaches to promoting health in sub-Saharan Africa : a scoping review
Bunn, Christopher; Kalinga, Chisomo; Mtema, Otiyela; Abdulla, Sharifa; DIllip, Angel; Lwanda, John; Mtenga, Sally M.; Sharp, Jo; Strachan, Zoë; Gray, Cindy M. (2020-05-21) - Journal itemIntroduction Arts-based approaches to health promotion have been used widely across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly in public health responses to HIV/AIDS. Such approaches draw on deep-rooted historical traditions ...