Clinical Practice
p-ISSN: 2326-1463 e-ISSN: 2326-1471
2013; 2(2): 5-9
doi:10.5923/j.cp.20130202.01
Robert Stanton
Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton 4702, Australia
Correspondence to: Robert Stanton, Institute for Health and Social Science Research, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton 4702, Australia.
Email: |
Copyright © 2012 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
Accredited Exercise Physiologists are allied health professionals trained in the delivery of exercise and lifestyle interventions for people with chronic illness including mental illness. This study aimed to investigate how Accredited Exercise Physiologists engage in the treatment of people with a mental illness. Accredited Exercise Physiologists were invited to complete an online survey via communication from Exercise and Sports Science Australia. Sixty-one Accredited Exercise Physiologists completed the online survey. The majority of AEPs agree that exercise is valuable in the treatment of people with a mental illness. General Practitioners are the most common referral source. Exercise Physiologists believe more people with a mental illness should be referred for services, however more than half agree that people with a mental illness are likely to be less adherent to an exercise intervention compared to people without a mental illness. More than half of respondents report no formal training in training in the prescription of exercise for people with a mental illness however 89% believe additional professional development would be beneficial. Given the support for the efficacy of exercise in the treatment of people with mental illness, this group of health professionals appears to be an underutilised resource.
Keywords: Physical Activity, Mental Health, Exercise Physiologist, Exercise Referral
Cite this paper: Robert Stanton, Accredited Exercise Physiologists and the Treatment of People with Mental Illnesses, Clinical Practice, Vol. 2 No. 2, 2013, pp. 5-9. doi: 10.5923/j.cp.20130202.01.
|
[1] | Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australia's health 2010. Canberra: AIHW; 2010. |
[2] | Robson D, Gray R. Serious mental illness and physical health problems: A discussion paper. Int J Nurs Stud. 2007;44(3):457-66. |
[3] | John A, Koloth R, Dragovic M, Lim S. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Australians with severe mental illness. Med J Aust. 2009;190:176-9. |
[4] | Scott D, Burke K, Williams S, Happell B, Canoy D, Ronan K. Increased prevalence of chronic physical health disorders in Australians with diagnosed mental illness. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2012;36(5):483-6. |
[5] | Lambert T, Chapman L. Diabetes, psychotic disorders and antipsychotic therapy: a consensus statement. Med J Aust. 2004;181(10):544-8. |
[6] | Ho SS, Dhaliwal SS, Hills AP, Pal S. The effect of 12 weeks of aerobic, resistance or combination exercise training on cardiovascular risk factors in the overweight and obese in a randomized trial. BMC Public Health. 2012;12(1):704. |
[7] | Sharman JE, Stowasser M. Australian association for exercise and sports science position statement on exercise and hypertension. J Sci Med Sport. 2009;12(2):252-7. |
[8] | Hordern MD, Dunstan DW, Prins JB, Baker MK, Singh MA, Coombes JS. Exercise prescription for patients with type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes: a position statement from Exercise and Sport Science Australia. J Sci Med Sport. 2012; 15(1):25-31. |
[9] | Rimer J, Dwan K, A. LD, Greig Carolyn A, McMurdo M, Morley W, et al. Exercise for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;Jul 11(7):CD004366. |
[10] | Robertson R, Robertson A, Jepson R, Maxwell M. Walking for depression or depressive symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Ment Health Phys Act. 2012;5(1):66-75. |
[11] | Gorczynski P, Faulkner G. Exercise therapy for schizophrenia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;Jun 9(5):CD004412. |
[12] | Forsyth A, Deane FP, Williams P. Dietitians and exercise physiologists in primary care: lifestyle interventions for patients with depression and/or anxiety. J Allied Health. 2009;38(2):e63-8. |
[13] | Wynaden D, Barr L, Omari O, Fulton A. Evaluation of service users' experiences of participating in an exercise programme at the Western Australian State Forensic Mental Health Services. Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2012;21(3):229-35. |
[14] | Aitken C, Power R, Dwyer R. A very low response rate in an on-line survey of medical practitioners. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2008;32(3):288-9. |
[15] | Exercise and Sports Science Australia. 2011 ESSA Employee Survey. Brisbane: ESSA; 2011. |
[16] | Searle A, Calnan M, Turner KM, Lawlor DA, Campbell J, Chalder M, et al. General Practitioners’ beliefs about physical activity for managing depression in primary care. Ment Health Phys Act. 2012;5(1):13-9. |
[17] | Lysy Z, Da Costa D, Dasgupta K. The association of physical activity and depression in Type 2 diabetes. Diabet Med. 2008;25(10):1133-41. |
[18] | Zhao G, Ford ES, Dhingra S, Li C, Strine TW, Mokdad AH. Depression and anxiety among US adults: associations with body mass index. Int J Obes. 2009;33(2):257-66. |
[19] | Scott D, Happell B. The high prevalence of poor physical health and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours in individuals with severe mental illness. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2011;32(9):589-97. |
[20] | Kemp V, Bates A, Isaac M. Behavioural interventions to reduce the risk of physical illness in persons living with mental illness. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2009;22(2):194-9. |
[21] | Bernard P, Ninot G. Benefits of exercise for people with schizophrenia: a systematic review. Encephale. 2012; 38(4):280-7. |
[22] | Rosenbaum S, Nguyen D, Lenehan T, Tiedemann A, van der Ploeg H, Sherrington C. Exercise augmentation compared to usual care for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomised Controlled Trial (The REAP study: Randomised Exercise Augmentation for PTSD). BMC Psychiatry. 2011;11(1):115. |
[23] | Larun L, Nordheim Lena V, Ekeland E, Hagen Kåre B, Heian F. Exercise in prevention and treatment of anxiety and depression among children and young people. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009;Jul 19(3):CD004691. |
[24] | Callaghan P, Khalil E, Morres I, Carter T. Pragmatic randomised controlled trial of preferred intensity exercise in women living with depression. BMC Public Health. 2011;11:465. |
[25] | Chu IH, Buckworth J, Kirby TE, Emery CF. Effect of exercise intensity on depressive symptoms in women. Ment Health Phys Act. 2009;2(1):37-43. |
[26] | Friedenreich CM, Neilson HK, Woolcott CG, McTiernan A, Wang Q, Ballard-Barbash R, et al. Changes in insulin resistance indicators, IGFs, and adipokines in a year-long trial of aerobic exercise in postmenopausal women. Endocr Relat Cancer. 2011;18(3):357-69. |
[27] | Arikawa AY, O'Dougherty M, Kaufman BC, Schmitz KH, Kurzer MS. Attrition and adherence of young women to aerobic exercise: Lessons from the WISER study. Contemp Clin Trials. 2012;33(2):298-301. |
[28] | Bergman P, Grjibovski AM, Hagstromer M, Bauman A, Sjostrom M. Adherence to physical activity recommendations and the influence of socio-demographic correlates - a population-based cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2008;8:367. |
[29] | Australian Sports Commission. Participation in Exercise, Recreation and Sport Survey 2010 Annual Report. Canberra: ASC; 2010. |
[30] | Perraton LG, Kumar S, Machotka Z. Exercise parameters in the treatment of clinical depression: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. J Eval Clin Pract. 2010;16(2010):597-604. |
[31] | Teychenne M, Ball K, Salmon J. Physical activity and likelihood of depression in adults: a review. Prev Med. 2008;46(5):397-411. |
[32] | Pollock KM. Exercise in treating depression: Broadening the psychotherapist's role. J Clin Psychol. 2001;57(11):1289-300. |