As part of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and Sport England Active Practice accreditation, which encourages GP surgeries to increase physical activity in both staff and patients, Active Together have worked with over 20 surgeries to deliver patient health walks.
Often, surgeries will target a specific cohort of patients, such as those with Type 2 Diabetes, or those with low mental health. Active Together provides the promotional materials such as flyers and an SMS. The surgery will then invite patients to the health walk. Our walks are accessible, inclusive, and beginner friendly. Mostly, we start with one walk a month, and build up the time and distance, often ending with a social coffee in a local café! For many patients, the walks are ‘the highlights of their week’, providing an opportunity most importantly to socialize, make new friends, and connect with nature.
The challenge
The weather in winter months presents the biggest barrier, however we try to educate patients on the importance connecting with nature. This is all about selling the benefits of being active outdoors throughout the year, to encourage people not to be scared of the winter. We also have the challenge of low attendance, however if the surgery has a long enough lead in time (ideally 4 weeks), this helps. We find the walks are a snowball effect, word of mouth, positive promotion using images from the walks, and continued signposting from clinical staff quickly builds up numbers.
The solution
Active Together and the Local Authority Physical Activity and Health Teams are always on hand at the walk regardless of the weather. Often it will be raining and we still have 1 patient show up! We also explore the mindfulness side to walking, how important the mental health benefits are. We encourage GP practices to promote and signpost to green spaces, e.g. noticeboard with local walks, bird songs playing in waiting room. We also know that people who walk in summer are more likely to continue in winter, so we run our patient walk all year round. The ‘hot drink’ after a walk is also a big draw. Finally, we promote services like Kit Squad which can help provide people with the right kit if lack of kit is a barrier.
The impact
The walks are free by design and do not require any capacity from the surgery, unless surgery staff are able to join us which in many cases they do. Some patients have gone on to join other local walking groups, and report sustained benefits such as better physical and mental health, and reduced need for appointments at the surgery as a result.
How is the new approach being sustained?
As a very simple concept to facilitate, our GP Health Walks are sustained through our relationships with the surgeries, support from our Walking Activator at Active Together and the Physical Activity Development Officers from our Local Physical Activity and Heath Teams. All the surgery is required to do is a choose an appropriate date and time, and invite patients to the walk using their patient text message system.
Lessons learned
GP Health Walks are a great way to connect clinical to community, an important step considering the new Neighborhood Health Model and the 3 shifts (hospital > community). We also know it’s important to explain the benefits of walking for both clinical staff and patients, as if clinical staff understand and are invested in walking themselves, they are more likely to promote it to their patients. Often walks such as bird song walks, history walks, or mindfulness walks have more of a draw. Finally, low attendance does not always equate to a failed walk – it takes time to build trust and relationships with patients and clinical staff.
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Links to relevant documents
Walking | Active Together