Improving Knowledge and Intent to Prescribe Exercise for Health Promotion Among Primary Care Providers

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to educate primary care providers on the Exercise is Medicine program and physical activity recommendations to incorporate evidence-based exercise prescription into practice.Background: Decreased amounts of physical exercise are linked with the early development of chronic disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States. The US Federal Physical Activity Guidelines, American College of Sports Medicine, American Heart Association, and American Diabetes Association all recommend 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise to realize health benefits. Through physical exercise recommendations and prescription, primary care providers have the opportunity to improve the health of the large number of patients they see and influence patient health behaviors. Methods: This quality improvement project used the Plan-Do-Study-Act, a model for healthcare improvement, as a framework for implementation. A post-pre-survey has been utilized to collect qualitative and quantitative data on prior knowledge, quality of educational materials, and intent to utilize newly acquired knowledge in practice. The educational intervention was an asynchronous recorded Panopto lecture. All 12 providers at this organization were invited to participate in this project, which resulted in a 50% response rate (n= 6). Results: The difference between prior and after intervention survey responses indicated an increase in knowledge on physical activity guidelines and exercise prescription. 100% (n=6) also reported that they intend to incorporate exercise prescription into their practice after viewing the education intervention. Conclusions: These results show increased knowledge and willingness to promote healthy lifestyle modifications for health promotion among their patients. These results also reflect buy-in by the providers that participated in the education and indicate they found value in the information provided.