Here are the reasons we need a National Activity Therapy Service:
Activity Therapy is defined as the promotion and enablement of activity, physical, cognitive and emotional for people with, or at risk of, long term conditions. It complements and supplements the NHS services for preventing long term conditions and supporting people with long term conditions.
The National Activity Therapy Service has the following objectives
Additional information that you may find useful, for example in preparing presentations and papers, can be accessed on a linked page covering these issues:
- Activity has a powerful beneficial effect for people with all the common long term conditions, 'Exercise, the Miracle Cure' is the title of a report by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
- 'Benefits Outweigh Risks' is the title of a consensus document by all the key UK organisations - the risks of inactivity are much greater than the risks of activity and everyone should be told this
- Activity has three dimensions: physical, cognitive & emotional. The term exercise is of course valid & important but talking about 'exercise' or 'physical activity' undersells the mental benefits of exercise, both on the way the brain operates, the cognitive effects, & on how people feel, the emotional effects. For this reason we talk about the National Activity Therapy Service to emphasise the triple benefits.
- There is huge over-prescribing of drugs, about 10% of GP prescribed drugs do no good, and many of them will do harm - this is in the DHSC report titled 'Good for You, Good For Us, Good for Everybody' which emphasises that it is a lack of opportunities for prescribing social or physical activities is one of the causes of over-prescribing of drugs
- Social Prescribing is making very good progress but there is huge under-prescribing of activity
Activity Therapy is defined as the promotion and enablement of activity, physical, cognitive and emotional for people with, or at risk of, long term conditions. It complements and supplements the NHS services for preventing long term conditions and supporting people with long term conditions.
The National Activity Therapy Service has the following objectives
- To link activity prescriptions to drug prescriptions and the prescription of psychological therapies.
- To offer activity therapy to people with both newly diagnosed and long-established long-term conditions
- To provide a digital activity therapy service and reduce digital exclusion
- To educate and inform the public and all professionals about the benefits of activity therapy
- To link activity therapy with other therapeutic options.
- To promote research.
- To mitigate the effects of deprivation.
- To provide digital opportunities , for example those offered by the Richmond Group of charities and enable increased use, and development, of local activities
- To make the optimal use of resources.
- To prepare an annual report for the population served.
Additional information that you may find useful, for example in preparing presentations and papers, can be accessed on a linked page covering these issues:
- WHAT IS ACTIVITY THERAPY?
- HOW DOES ACTIVITY THERAPY EXERT ITS BENEFICIAL EFFECT?
- HOW DOES ACTIVITY THERAPY RE;ATE TO NHS REHABILITATION AND AGEING WELL SERVICES
