Exercise can be an effective treatment for a range of health conditions, but health experts say doctors continue to face barriers to prescribing it to patients.
Australian doctors are now being encouraged to routinely prescribe exercise to patients to help manage their health, rather than simply telling them to become more physically active.
Dr Isobelle Smith, a general practitioner and endocrinologist, believes exercise as a treatment option has not received enough attention.
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“We need to think of exercise as a therapeutic intervention like we would in medicine,” Dr Smith told 7NEWS.
“Therefore as a doctor, we need to prescribe it like we would in medicine how much, how often and what dose.”
Smith, who specialises in hormonal and metabolic health, said exercise can offer benefits comparable to certain medications in treating and managing chronic conditions.
“We know exercise has similar efficacy to certain medications in conditions like depression, high blood pressure and preventing progression to type 2 diabetes,” she explained.
Exercise as medicine
People with osteoporosis and those recovering from heart attacks or strokes may also benefit from appropriately prescribed exercise.
“I would never say to a patient here’s some medicines just take them when you feel like it,” she said.
“I would tailor it to the individual depending on what their particular issues are.”
But despite growing awareness of the benefits of exercise, research led by Dr Smith has found that doctors continue to face several barriers to prescribing it.
The survey of 118 Australian doctors found more than half doubted patients could meet Australian Institute of Health and Welfare exercise guidelines.
Many believed patients were simply not interested in exercising.
Doctors’ own exercise habits also helped shape their perceptions of patients’ willingness to be active.
Short appointments and the cost of supervised exercise sessions also present barriers to exercise prescriptions.
Why doctors aren’t prescribing exercise
Dr Smith believes some doctors may be underestimating patients’ willingness to exercise, particularly when they have the right support.
“Upwards of 95 per cent of patients are interested in doing physical activity rather than taking a medicine so we need to educate doctors that actually patients want to be doing this,” she said.
Exercise physiologist Jessica Coombe told 7NEWS she’d seen similar willingness among her own patients.
“I find that a lot of patients are really quite willing… if we educate these patients and we present all of their options, they are really quite inclined to give this a go,” she said.
Coombe said exercise can also improve patients’ strength, bone density and ability to carry out everyday activities, helping to improve their quality of life.
“You’re never too far behind to ever, ever start. There’s always a starting point,” she said.
The cost barrier to exercise
But Dr Smith warned that prescribing exercise alone is not enough, with the cost of professional support leaving some patients behind.
“We shouldn’t have physical activity be something that only the wealthy and high socioeconomic groups can afford,” she said.
She is calling for greater support from the government and the community to make exercise programs more affordable and accessible.
“This isn’t just about doctors prescribing exercise,” she said.
“We need to have better community and government initiatives to support people.”
