Exercise prescription and referral tool to facilitate brief advice to adults in primary care.

The evidence showing that physical activity improves population health is substantial, but initiating physical activity (PA) behaviour changes remains a challenge. Physical activity is as powerful as most drugs in treating most chronic illnesses1 and brief advice in primary care is a cost-effective intervention.2 But as Joy et al point out in their seminal paper, “To succeed, physicians need clinical tools.”3 The mission of Exercise is Medicine Canada (EIMC; www.exerciseismedicine.ca) is to provide national leadership in promoting PA as a chronic disease prevention and management strategy to improve the health of Canadians. The EIMC Advisory Council is composed of members representing several Canadian health and exercise science organizations. One specific goal of EIMC is to increase the number of health care professionals who are assessing and advising patients about PA. Canadian guidelines for PA have been developed and are freely accessible (www.csep.ca/guidelines). Also, asking patients about PA and counseling them about PA are recommended in the Preventive Care Checklist Form.4 Therefore, EIMC mandated a multidisciplinary group to design a tool that would support both primary care providers and patients through the PA advice and prescription process.