GPs get set to exercise patients

The first group of fitness instructors qualified to run GP exercise referral schemes will begin seeing patients in private gyms and community sports centres later this year.

The fitness instructors will manage exercise programmes for patients referred to them by local GPs. "The fitness instructors will work with patients referred for exercise to help conditions such as weight reduction, hypertension, osteoarthritis, diabetes, depression, osteoporosis and asthma," said Mr Kilian Fisher from the Institute of Leisure Amenities Management (ILAM), which the HSE has commissioned to provide the specialised training for fitness instructors.

The 16 fitness instructors, mainly from the Munster region, are completing a six-module HSE-funded course run by the ILAM. Following completion of the course this summer, they will take GP referrals in sports centres including the Mayfield Sports Complex in Cork city, Tralee Regional Sports Centre, Co Kerry and Ennis Leisure Centre in Co Clare.

The drive to train fitness instructors to run exercise programmes for patients dates to 2001 when a working group was set up by the Department of Health and Children to look specifically at the training requirements for exercise co-ordinators of GP exercise referral schemes.

"Previous Irish studies have acknowledged that the advice provided by GPs on physical activity was an untapped resource in health promotion," said Mr Fisher.

Pilot programmes in the old southern and mid-western health board regions have since led to approximately 270 GPs in Cork and Kerry signing up to exercise referral schemes.

The fitness instructors working with these GPs trained in Britain.

According to Dr John O'Riordan, a Cork-based GP, the long-term benefits of exercise referrals are evident. "We're now seeing good follow-up from initial 12-week exercise programmes which help us manage a lot of health problems," he said. "People are being offered the chance to join walking groups, get involved in other gym exercise programmes and even participate in gardening programmes."

Thanks to the newly qualified fitness instructors, the scheme can expand further in counties Limerick and Clare.