Physical activity and sedentary behaviour counselling: Attitudes and practices of mental health professionals

Barriers to using physical exercise as an intervention within inpatient mental health settings: A systematic review

Service providers find it difficult to implement Physical Exercise (PE) strategies in routine care within inpatient mental health settings even though they perceive it to be an effective therapy, with a robust evidence base. Identifying barriers that exist can assist with the development of future interventions and support PE services being introduced into mental health inpatient settings. The aim of this systematic review was to synthesise the evidence on the barriers or perceived barriers that exist amongst service users and providers when incorporating PE as an intervention within inpatient mental health settings. Using a narrative synthesis approach, four main themes were identified: (i) Barriers relating to service users' mental and physical health, (ii) Factors relating to service providers, (iii) Environmental factors and (iv) Cultural factors. Both service users and providers need more knowledge on implementing PE in inpatient mental health settings. Tailored programmes for service users are warranted, with specialist roles for staff developed.

Sedentary Behavior Counseling Received from Healthcare Professionals: An Exploratory Analysis in Adults at Primary Health Care in Brazil

Counseling by health professionals has promising results in behavior change and is recommended as part of integrated community interventions. However, the knowledge about sedentary behavior (SB) counseling is incipient. The study aimed to identify the prevalence and explore the associated factors with SB counseling received from healthcare professionals by adults in primary health care (PHC) in Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 that included a representative sample of 779 users in all 15 basic health units (BHU) in São José dos Pinhais, Paraná. We identified those who reported having received SB counseling during a consultation. The association between the sociodemographic factors, chronic diseases, access to health services, physical activity, SB, and counseling were analyzed using Poisson regression in a hierarchical model. The prevalence of counseling was 12.2% (95% CI: 10.1-14.7%); it was higher in women (PR: 1.77; 95% CI: 1.10-2.83), those aged ≥60 yrs (PR: 1.84; 95% CI: 1.14-2.98), BMI ≥ 30 kg/m² (PR: 2.60; 95% CI: 1.31-5.17), who consume ≥3 medications (PR: 2.21; 95% CI: 1.06-4.59), and those who spend a prolonged period of the day engaged in SB (4th quartile PR: 3.44; 95% CI: 1.88-6.31). The results highlight that SB counseling is underutilized and incipient in PHC. Understanding these results can help managers and healthcare professionals in BHU teams to implement and direct specific actions to reduce SB in adults through counseling.