Healthcare professionals
We want to support the health and care workforce across Greater Manchester to incorporate movement and physical activity within their routine care to provide better patient outcomes.
The health and social care workforce plays a crucial role in promoting physical activity and enabling their patients to be active.
There are 250,000 health and care professionals in Greater Manchester, plus 280,000 unwaged carers.
They’re considered a trusted source of advice, so what they say about physical activity, and how they raise it as a topic, is important.
“If physical activity were a drug, we would refer to it as a miracle cure, due to the great many illnesses it can prevent and help treat.”
UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines, 2019
Why physical activity?
Regular physical activity offers a range of physical health, mental health, and social benefits, many of which are increasing in prevalence for individuals, communities and society. The benefits include:
- reducing the risk of many long-term conditions
- living better with long-term conditions.
- helping manage existing conditions and deliver better patient outcomes
- ensuring good musculoskeletal health
- developing and maintaining physical and mental function and independence
- supporting social inclusion and reducing loneliness
- helping maintain a healthy weight
- reducing inequalities for people with long-term condition
- helping to delay the onset and progression of diseases for as long as possible
- helping people to recover from surgery more quickly
- improving mental health
The greatest health and economic gains can be made by supporting those who are physically inactive to participate in some physical activity.
Four Ways Forward
Embedding physical activity into every aspect of life-long healthcare will benefit patients, NHS staff and the wider population. The NHS, in collaboration with national and local partner organisations, can harness the full potential of physical activity to help people live healthier, longer, and more independent lives.
Get inspired
Many incredible health and care professionals across Greater Manchester are embedding physical activity into how they work, embedding physical activity into long-established health and care practices can be done.
Resources to help partners
Explore our resources to support you discuss physical activity more regularly within your work.
RCGP Physical Activity Toolkit and Active Practices Charter
The Royal College of GPs and Sport England have teamed up to produce a comprehensive physical activity toolkit for primary care professionals. The Active Practice Charter is fun, easy way to make some simple but impactful changes in GP Practice that will demonstrate to your patients and staff that you mean it when you say that movement is the best medicine.
Active Workplaces Toolkit for Health and Care Professionals
Our new Active Workplace Toolkit for Health and Care Professionals has been designed to support health teams encourage and enable staff to build movement into their working day. Physical activity plays a vital role in improving health and wellbeing at work; whether that’s mental health, long-term health conditions, sleep, stress, or productivity.
Find ideas, tips, and guidance in the toolkit on how to create a happier, healthier work culture.
Further support and resources to help you
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NICE Guidance: Physical Activity Brief Advice for Adults in Primary Care
This guidance from NICE covers providing brief advice on physical activity to adults in primary care. It aims to improve health and wellbeing by raising awareness of the importance of physical activity and encouraging people to increase or maintain their activity level.
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Moving Healthcare Professionals Programme (MHPP)
The Moving Healthcare Professionals Programme (MHPP) is a national programme led by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) – formerly Public Health England (PHE) – in partnership with Sport England.
Its aim is to support health and care professionals to increase their knowledge and skills and incorporate physical activity within routine care to support quality improvement and better patient outcomes.
The programme provides free, online peer-to-peer group training and practical resources to support health and care professionals to provide brief physical activity advice for the management and prevention of common conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. -
Active Hospitals – Toolkit Overview
Active Hospitals, provided by Moving Medicine, aims to change the physical activity culture within hospitals to encourage patients to move more. Their toolkit can help you to create your own Active Hospital.
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Better Health Campaign
A range of digital resources from the NHS to take the first steps towards making positive, healthier choices. The DHSC Campaigns Hub also has resources for all their campaigns, including mental health and physical activity assets for social media and digital screens etc.
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Moving Medicine
Moving Medicine is a resource to help healthcare professionals integrate physical activity conversations into routine clinical care. The website includes consultation guides, active conversations training, and evidence on the benefits of physical activity.
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PHE Health Matters: Physical Activity for Long-Term Conditions
Public Health England has produced a useful summary of the benefits, evidence and initiatives for physical activity for the prevention and management of long-term conditions in adults, including infographics and videos.
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We Are Undefeatable resources
We Are Undefeatable is a movement supporting people with a range of long-term health conditions to be more active. It’s led by the Richmond Group of Charities, with Sport England, and has a range of resources designed to help you and your audience get active. Their campaign hub has promotional materials have been designed in collaboration with our charity partners, using insight and real stories of people living with long-term health conditions.
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Active Pregnancy Foundation
The Active Pregnancy Foundation believes in a whole systems approach based on clear and consistent evidence-based messages shared by all professionals, so that pregnant and postnatal women feel reassured and empowered to make informed physical activity choices. They provide a range of professional resources which includes advice and top tips to support an active journey through pregnancy and beyond.
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Medical Practice Waiting Room Video
A clip commissioned for medical practice screens to start the conversation around ways we can all become more active. This is a free resource for those in the sector, so don’t hesitate to make use of this and get in touch for more resources.
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Swimming as Medicine Videos
The Swimming as Medicine series has been created to encourage health and care professionals to consider recommending swimming and aquatic activity to their patients as an effective way of improving health and wellbeing. View the videos here and learn more about swimming for health here.
Consensus Statement on Risk
A consensus statement from health experts, published by Sport Engalnd, has determined that physical activity is safe – even for people living with symptoms of multiple conditions.
Training to support you
Explore the organisations that offer training to support the health and social workforce.
Physical activity clinical champions training
Physical Activity Clinical Champions (or PACC for short) is an evidence-based, physical activity education programme for health and care professionals.
The peer-to-peer training increases health and care professionals’ knowledge and skills so that they can incorporate physical activity within routine care. This aligns with the personalised care agenda and supports better patient outcomes.
Moving Medicine – Online Learning Resource
Moving Medicine is an award winning free online resource to help health and care professionals integrate physical activity conversations into routine clinical care. Find step by step conversation guides and patient leaflets for condition-specific consultations. Modules to consider: Active Conversations.
PHE’s All Our Health
This is a bite-sized session to give health and care professionals an overview of physical activity – including key evidence, data and signposts to trusted resources to help prevent illness, protect health and promote wellbeing.
Make Every Contact Count
PHE and NHS’s Making Every Contact Count (MECC) course is a short interactive e-learning that looks at how we can use our everyday interactions to support behaviour change, without adding to busy workloads, and focuses on asking open questions and reflective listening. Access via Health Education England’s learning portal (no registration needed).
BMJ
BMJ and PHE’s Motivational Interviewing course is a short one-hour module explaining what motivational interviewing is, its uses and explanations. Access via BMJ learning (registration needed)
Physical Activity in the treatment of long-term conditions course covers 9 modules including cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis and low back pain, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease (COPD and asthma), depression, anxiety, sleep and dementia. Plus a module on promoting physical activity in primary care. Access via BMJ Learning
Swim England/NHS England
Swim England with support from NHS England eLearning for health and care has developed a new eLearning programme on the unique health benefits of aquatics and swimming. The 20-minute session raises awareness of the benefits of aquatic activity on health and wellbeing and will enhance learners’ confidence in identifying patients who would benefit most. Find out more here. Click here to access with an existing learning hub account or to register.
Get in touch
Contact GM Moving’s Strategic Lead for Health Inequalities, Kate Harding by email or call 07842 425999.
