Join the Exercise is Medicine Australia Network
Register online for membership or click here for more information
Exercise is Medicine Australia launched a provider network in 2016. Health and Medical professionals across Australia with a specialty or interest in physical activity are invited to join the Exercise is Medicine Australia Network.
EIM Network members will be promoted as critical allies helping patients to reach physical activity goals for the prevention and management of chronic disease. Interested providers may register for EIM Australia Network based on their current qualifications.
More information is available in this information sheet
EIM in Practice 2016
The message is simple. Exercise is the best, cheapest, most accessible medicine available and in order to improve chronic disease mortality rates, people need to move more.
Exercise is Medicine Australia invited GP practices to take part in the exciting new initiative, EIM in Practice, in 2016. EIM will provide an RACGP and APNA endorsed workshop to upskill GPs and practice nurses, and provide supporting resources and information to ensure practices are well equipped to engage patients in a conversation about physical activity and begin the process of long-term behaviour change.
- Target audience: General Practices with a need to increase patient physical activity levels.
- Cost: Free
- Venue: In-house
- Key dates:
- November 2015: Registrations
- December 2015: Workshop facilitators and dates confirmed
- January 2016: Workshops facilitated, installation of software add-in, pre-intervention questionnaire
- February 2016: Focused effort to implement the Exercise is Medicine Australia Framework
- March 2016: Post-intervention questionnaire
- June 2016: 3 month follow-up questionnaire
- September 2016: 6 month follow-up questionnaire
More information is available in this information sheet
Registrations for EIM in Practice 2016 have reached capacity and have now closed.
Exercise is Medicine primary healthcare provider workshops
The EIM healthcare provider workshop is a structured two-hour workshop, fully endorsed by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Australian Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), and the Australian Practice Nurses Association (APNA).
The primary aim of the EIM workshops is to educate health care providers about the role of physical activity in the prevention and management of chronic disease, and advocate for multidisciplinary care. The suite of resources available to participants will support them in their assessment, management and referral of patients with and at risk of chronic disease. Presented by an Accredited Exercise Physiologist, the workshop details the extensive evidence that exercise is indeed medicine.
Click here for further information.
Online modules are also available for GPs, nurses and allied health professionals. Click here to register
Evaluation: Physical Activity Assessment in Primary Care
Exercise is Medicine Australia commissioned a formal evaluation of its primary care engagement activity, 31 Days 31 Patients in 2013. The executive summary is published here, with the full report available on request from info@exerciseismedicine.org.au
The 31 Days 31 Patients initiative reached out to primary health care clinicians and encouraged them to make physical activity a part of one patient consultation each day for one month. The project was undertaken with clinicians located across Australia from a range of professions including GPs, general practice nurses, and allied health professionals.
Download the summary here.
How Exercise is Medicine Australia works
Exercise is Medicine® Australia is designed to make physical activity assessment and exercise prescription a standard part of a disease prevention and treatment medical paradigm for all patients in Australia.
Exercise is Medicine Australia empowers primary healthcare providers to effectively counsel patients about physical activity leading to sustained behaviour change, and promotes evidence based screening to easily identify when and how to refer patients to appropriately trained allied health professionals to deliver exercise treatment services.
Exercise is Medicine® Australia’s three guiding principles:
- Physical activity and exercise are important to health and the prevention and treatment of many chronic diseases;
- Support the prescription of physical activity and exercise in health care settings; and
- Support the referral of patients to appropriately trained allied health professionals to deliver exercise treatment services.
Call to Action
General practitioners
Exercise is Medicine® Australia is encouraging general practitioners to make a physical activity or exercise assessment a part of their interaction with every patient on each visit, when appropriate.
Exercise is Medicine® Australia is providing resources to help general practitioners assess their patient’s current physical activity or exercise level, educate them on the role that exercise has in the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions and about the referral processes available in Australia.
Regardless of the current condition of an individual, the primary aim of Exercise is Medicine® Australia is to encourage physical activity or exercise that is sustained for the long-term.
Practice nurses
With the support of general practitioners, Exercise is Medicine® Australia is encouraging practice nurses to make a physical activity or exercise assessment a part of their interaction with every patient on each visit, when appropriate.
Exercise is Medicine® Australia is providing resources to help practice nurses assess their patient’s current physical activity or exercise level, educate them on the role of exercise in the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions and about the referral processes available in Australia.
Allied health professionals
Exercise is Medicine® Australia supports and promotes an integrated approach to the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions.
Exercise is Medicine® Australia is providing resources to help educate allied health professionals on the role of exercise in the prevention and treatment of conditions and about the referral processes currently available in Australia.