Monday 23 November 2015

Top Ten Physical Activity Resources


I've been meaning to collate a list of on-line Physical Activity (PA) resources and speaking at the Primary Care Rheumatology Society conference in York on Friday has reminded me to get on with it!  This list started as a Top Ten but I keep adding more, it is by no means exhaustive and it isn't in any particular order. It's basically a compilation of some of the free, open-access PA resources that have been particularly useful to me over the last couple of years.

23 1/2 hours

I'm prepared to bet that this is the most informative 10 minutes you'll ever have on physical activity!  If you only access one resource make it this clip!

PA infographic from the CMO

This new infographic reinforces the same basic messages from the 2011 guidelines but in addition to this there is a focus on the message that something/anything is better than nothing. This is particularly important when working with people for whom 150 is not achievable, people with LTCs, for example, can still gain huge health benefits from engaging in regular activity even if it is well short of the amount required for "optimum" health benefits.  The infographic format is more accessible than a report and it would be a good poster to have in waiting rooms etc.


Start Active, Stay Active

This report was published in 2011, it sets out the policy context and gives lots of detail about the extent of physical inactivity.  This was the document that first introduced the CMOs PA guidelines, these were recently updated in the above infographic.

Everybody active, every day: an evidence-based approach to physical activity

This report was published by PHE in 2014, it outlines the key issues and calls for a change in culture around physical activity.  It highlights four key areas in which action is essential to create a more active nation.  These areas are;

  1. Active society
  2. Moving professionals (this includes health & social care)
  3. Active environments 
  4. Moving at scale
This link will take you to some other related resources.

PHE Slidesets on PA

PHE have made these slidesets available online, they have some useful graphs showing levels of inactivity by age, gender, socio-economic status etc.

BMJ Learning Resources

BMJ learning have created a suite of on-line learning modules on physical activity for LTCs. I particularly liked the final module in the list, it shows real understanding of the barriers that clinicians are up against in primary care settings and it makes small, achievable suggestions about ways in which we might promote activity. The modules are free, you just need to create an account which only takes a minute or two.  They take about 30 minutes each to complete and include:

Blueprint for an Active Britain

UK Active recently published this document, it outlines some of the key changes that are required not just in health care but across society in order to make physical activity part of our every day lives.






British Heart Foundation Resources

BHF produce a range of fantastic, accessible resources on physical activity. The two documents that I go back to time and time again are:


Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine Resources

The FSEM produced a booklet called Exercise Prescription in Health and Disease, it presents a series of case studies for medical students. It has loads of great content and is presented in a nice, e-booklet style here.


If there are other resources that you think are useful for healthcare professions then drop me a line and I'll add them to the list.






Tuesday 17 November 2015

BJSM Blog Post

I enjoyed writing a blog post for BJSM about the work we have done with Exercise Works! to enhance the undergraduate Physiotherapy curriculum at Sheffield Hallam University.  The post has been well received and my Twitter feed has gone crazy!  The full article can be read here.





Thank you to BHF for putting the closing sentence on this great back drop & tweeting it!