Stay Active Exercise on prescription
Exercise on prescription schemes operate as partnerships between primary health care and local authority leisure services. They allow GPs to prescribe a ten week course of exercise to people with certain conditions, including musculo-skeletal problems, such as chronic low-back pain, problems caused by falls, coronary heart disease and hypertension.
More than 300 exercise referral schemes exist around the country and in 2001, the Department of Health issued standards aimed at improving the quality of existing schemes and to encourage doctors to refer people to them.
How to get on a scheme?
- Visit your GP/practice nurse/physiotherapist. If there is a scheme in your area, they will assess whether you are eligible and give you a prescription.
- A fitness consultant at the participating leisure centre will carry out a fitness assessment, which may include measurements of height, weight, body mass, blood pressure, body fat, aerobic efficiency, lung efficiency, strength and flexibility. Based on the assessment the fitness consultant will recommend a programme of exercises.
- The course itself is a ten week exercise programme, often in a group, under the supervision of a fitness consultant.
- At the end of the programme, you will be re-assessed and a report sent to your GP.
- You can continue on the scheme for as long as you like.
Exercise on prescription schemes operate as partnerships between primary health care and local authority leisure services.
Ellie Hollingsworth describes her experience of exercise on prescription and aquafit:
"After a quite bad relapse my GP referred me to the TERMS Scheme ('The Exercise Referral in Mid Sussex' - local names for schemes will differ around the country). This is a joint enterprise between Primary Health Care and Leisure Services. It is run at the local leisure centre for people who have physical disabilities of practically any kind. I was duly sent to a fitness advisor at the centre, who measured my height, weight, blood pressure and Body Fat Index. I then had to do quite a long session, very slowly, on the bike. Doing it very slowly is harder than faster.
He then went through the various options available and said that with my medical history and if I did not mind the water, he thought aquafit would be the best thing to start with. It seemed a good opportunity. I have always been very fond of the water, although I am no longer a strong swimmer. I had to agree to go twice a week for ten weeks. The cost was £50, which was a considerable saving on individual classes.
The classes are run by a physio and the group is made up of people with all manner of problems, including post operative troubles, heart conditions, obesity, back problems and arthritis. There are two of us with MS. The classes I attend consist mainly of ladies, but there are two men, who have to put up with a lot of leg pulling.
The routine is different most weeks but the instruction is always the same 'only do what you find comfortable, and if it hurts, STOP.'
I had no idea how many exercises one could do in the water. Some are easy and relaxing and some quite hard, but because the water supports you all the time it feels easier. Quite a number of movements are aimed at improving coordination.
The class usually starts with some gentle stretches, then a slow jog on the spot, then faster for a few minutes building up to RATHER FAST! We do jumps, hopping and lot of upper body work with solid rubber dumbbells. You are working against the resistance of the water all the time. One very interesting exercise is sitting astride a woggle, hands in the air, trying to peddle backwards round the pool. When I could do that I felt I had arrived!
The class lasts for 45 - 50 minutes, and ends with some more stretches to cool down.
Some people feel embarrassed wearing a swimming costume if they have a disability, but there is no need. Everyone has some problem or other or they would not be in the class. You are, after all, in the water all the time, and the only two people watching are the instructor and a lifeguard.
I think that most people with MS, providing that they do not dislike the water, would feel the benefit of aquafit. When I finished the course I decided to join the club, which allows me to take advantage of not only the aquafit, but other facilities at the centre, including the gym, where an easy routine has also been worked out for me."