Enabling healthcare professionals
Healthcare professionals can have significant influence in supporting more disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to be active for life. We are committed to working with a broad range of healthcare professionals and their national bodies.
Everyone deserves the right to be active. There are 13.3 million disabled people in England but they are the least active group in our society. Disabled people are almost twice as likely to be inactive than non-disabled people, yet four in five state they want to be more active.
Healthcare professionals are the preferred source of advice on sport and physical activity for disabled people. Sixty per cent would listen to their GP, doctor or nurse, and 57 per cent would listen to a physiotherapist or occupational therapist.
We are proud to be working with Sport England, NHS Horizons, the Department of Health and Social Care and other partners in health.
Working in partnership
National collaboration: We are an active member of the Physical Activity and Health Collaborative group alongside key stakeholders and partners from across the sector. This group aims to raise the visibility and embed the importance of physical activity, as part of a whole system approach, consistently across the NHS/ICS/Healthcare, making physical activity for the prevention and management of long-term conditions a part of the norm, rather than the exception.
Collaborative approach with The Richmond Group of charities: We collaborate with The Richmond Group of Charities, who represent 15 million people living with long-term health conditions, through their Movement for All programme and We Are Undefeatable campaign. We are working together to combine our knowledge and share good practice to help increase physical activity levels.
Strategic partner of Mind and its Get Set to Go programme: Mind’s Get Set to Go programme helps people find the physical activity that's right for them. We support them having an inclusive approach, and they support us to think about mental health.
Internal collaboration: We have set up an internal health-working group to explore how we can work with and support our health partners. Through this, we identify ways in which we can influence the sector and provide the right support in areas of engagement, resources and programmes.
Research: We are working with research partners, Better Decisions Together, to conduct research to help steer the future of our work, listening to both healthcare professionals and disabled people.
Resources and guidance
- Download advice for health professionals on current available opportunities.
- Our roadmap to supporting more disabled people to be active is a good place to start. Visit our being active at home page for more ideas too.
- Our research provides valuable insight to inform the health sector about disabled people and their supporters. This includes, the Physical Activity as a Therapy Choice study. Visit our research page and facts and statistics page for more.
- Our Inclusive Activity Programme can provide health professionals with the skills and confidence to support disabled people to be active.
- Our Get Out Get Active programme is a pioneering project in 21 localities across the UK. Funded by Spirit of 2012, it is getting the least active disabled people and non-disabled people, active together.
- The National Disability Sports Organisations (NDSOs) offer support and opportunities for people of all ages with specific impairments.
Useful links
Moving Healthcare Professionals programme led by Sport England and Public Health England
Public Health England Physical Activity for Disabled Adults infographic
Public Health England Physical Activity for Disabled Children and Disabled Young People Infographic
Royal College of Occupational Therapists
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
