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Exercise referral schemes and their effect on health & wellbeing

Title
Exercise referral schemes and their effect on health & wellbeing

Research Area
Health 

Author
Wade M et al; Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

Summary of Findings
A study looked into exercise referral schemes in England, Scotland and Wales to analyse whether or not they led to meaningful health and well-being changes amongst those they seek to impact upon. Data was obtained from 23,731 participants from 13 different schemes that lasted between 6 weeks and 3 months. Changes to BMI, blood pressure and diastolic, resting heart rate, short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, WHO Wellbeing Index, exercise related quality of life and exercise self-efficacy scale were all observed. The results demonstrated that, although many health and well-being outcomes improved, the changes did not achieve meaningful levels. This suggests the need to consider the implementation of exercise referral schemes more critically to discern how to maximise their effectiveness.

Implications
The study raises questions regarding the content and benefits of individual referral schemes and the need for them to maximise their effectiveness. Whilst 'meaningful' changes weren't observed, it's important to note that health outcomes were seen to improve.