CIMSPA has contributed to a report by the Health and Social Care Committee, which highlights the importance of older people keeping physically active.
The Healthy Ageing Inquiry states that physical activity should be at the heart of the NHS’s support for older people and is as important as providing medication.
The inquiry gathered evidence from a range of organisations across the sport and physical activity sector and the health and social care sector, including CIMSPA, about how physical activity can contribute towards a more physically resilient older population.
Encouragingly, the report highlighted a wealth of evidence that suggested that a partnership with the leisure and physical activity sector could support the delivery of physical activity-based interventions in community settings such as leisure centres, pitches, gyms and pools, rather than a hospital.
Professional status for sport and physical activity was a present discussion point in the report. With acknowledgement that health professionals often lacked confidence in referring patients to physical activity providers due to not understanding how their qualifications align to theirs, our solution of professional standards and formal recognition was noted to allow our sector to be built into commissioning pathways.
The report recommends:
- Advice and social prescribing of physical activity should become a core, routine offering to older people from their GPs and other clinicians.
- Stronger links between local NHS services with leisure providers and community groups to make exercise more accessible.
- The Care Quality Commission should be charged with checking that exercise programmes are being provided to residents in care homes.
Tara Dillon, CEO of CIMSPA said:
“As a sector, we have always known that physical activity is the best kept secret for keeping people healthy, and this report is a reassuring step in the right direction.
“We are proud to have contributed towards this inquiry, highlighting the important work that our sector workforce does, and the economic and social potential that we can unlock.
“In order to help the older population become more active, the report rightly states that a national conversation and cultural shift need to happen. Physical activity is for everyone, and no one is better suited to encourage people to move more than the sport and physical activity workforce. Our professionals are trained, qualified, and motivated to help more people become physically active for their health, no matter where they are in their active journey.
“Our sector has been crying out for forging stronger links with local healthcare services, and I hope that this report is a catalyst for that to grow. Now that professional status is finally an option for the sport and physical activity workforce, I look forward to seeing how our sectors can work together and put our communities, and their health, first.”
Professional status for the sport and physical activity workforce
Professionals working in sport and physical activity deserve to be recognised for their exceptional work in improving the health of the nation by peers, employers, the public and professionals in other sectors.
Receive your professional status by applying for your most suitable title: