Background

Getting people active and staying active is a major implementation challenge.1 Despite international and national strategic intent, most countries fall woefully short on delivery.2 The objectives of the 2018 WHO Global Action Plan for Physical Activity (GAPPA) clearly require improved education and communication to patients, communities and society on the benefits of physical activity (PA).

The Movement for Movement ‘community of practice’ was specifically created to deliver this complex, interrelated system change.3

What is the Movement for Movement?

Movement for Movement3 embeds PA into the undergraduate healthcare curriculum4 5 and provides current, clinically valuable, evidence-based resources developed by: curators, authors, peer reviewers and student reviewers, and endorsed by the UK Council of Deans of Health. These resources are free to providers of undergraduate medical and healthcare education to support capacity building in the healthcare workforce. An implementation plan in a sample of English medical schools (funded by Public Health England/Sport England in 2017/2018) is complete.6

This work is recognised as a UK best practice exemplar by the 2018 WHO Europe Physical Activity Fact Sheets7 and the 2018 WHO Europe Physical Activity in the Health Sector report.8 There is also considerable ongoing collaboration to deliver further strategic support and leadership focusing on the valuable ‘social capital’ that healthcare professionals provide across all the GAPPA objectives and specifically the social determinants of health.

Lancaster University Medical School’s novel approach to embedding PA in the curricula

Lancaster Medical School pioneered the full implementation of the Movement for Movement resources and is empowering future doctors with the knowledge and skills to positively impact individual and population health. Each student can and should make every contact count and make every influence matter across their future career. This amounts to half a million opportunities to improve PA, per doctor, per medical school.

Sharing good practice: a practical guide from Lancaster

The first step to embedding PA into an undergraduate curriculum is to access the Movement for Movement resources (sent to all UK medical schools each year). These are fully integrated into the existing virtual learning environment/s for staff and students. Engaging the Dean and curricula leads supports successful implementation. With students—provide the generic resources in year 1 and specific resources in years 2/3 to enhance learning on non-communicable diseases (NCD). Assess and examine PA knowledge and communication skill competencies, capabilities and confidence.

The provision of resources does not necessarily lead to engagement; instead students need to be directed to them by including specific PA-related learning outcomes and communication assessments. Practical insights recommend that links and references to the resources are embedded within lectures and workshops, or better still include one dedicated PA lecture per NCD or societally challenging issue (online supplementary file). As an example, modules at Lancaster Medical School adopt problem-based learning scenarios, each focusing on a major NCD or age-related condition, while addressing associated comorbidities and psychosocial challenges.

Lessons learnt at Lancaster Medical School

Leadership and action were fundamental to successful implementation. Lancaster was strongly commended in the commission report6 for embedding the resources at all levels of the curriculum and achieving all framework criteria.

Lessons learnt across the English sample of medical schools

Twelve out of a sample of 16 medical schools have provided evidence that there is now access to resources and teaching on PA. Knowledge transfer, assessment and examination of key clinical skills regarding brief intervention on PA and the wider public health determinants are also being explored by each university (and collectively by the UK Medical Schools Assessment Alliance). The lesson is that direct contact with each curricula team and skilled implementation support works.

Future for the Movement for Movement

Empowering medical schools, schools of health and students to access and engage with the resources is an ongoing priority. With many English medical schools now teaching, assessing and examining on PA in the curriculum, the future is indeed bright. We thank the Lancaster University Medical School for their example and all the other English medical schools and UK schools of health for their leadership and work.

There is increasing access to the resources worldwide, for example, in the USA, Canada, Australia and low/middle-income continents such as Africa and South America through a variety of online educational tools and student courses.

Undergraduate medical and health education on making every contact count and every influence matter for PA is happening in England.7 8 120 000 healthcare students across the UK: competent, capable and confident of delivering PA influence is our goal.

But the future for embedding PA in the curriculum is very bright: and going global!

For access to the Movement for Movement resources, contact Ann Gates.