Where does physical activity fit?

With a background in the physical activity sector and knowing that people with long-term health conditions are both likely to be less active and to benefit greatly from being active, it is not surprising that I can’t stop wondering where physical activity fits into my new role as Strategic Partnership Manager at Macmillan.

As Macmillan is one of the Sport England funded Richmond Group charities behind We Are Undefeatable, I expected physical activity to be high on the agenda. And, in all the ways it can be, it is.

Physical activity is included in workforce development training for Macmillan professionals (e.g. the nurses you meet in the hospital) and all new Macmillan staff. For people living with cancer, there are booklets available through information and support centres, tips, guides and information on the Macmillan website, partnerships such as the one recently announced with parkrun, and physical activity fundraising activities. Patient groups can access support grants to develop what they offer which could include physical activity.

Like every organisation private, public, or charitable with statutory or non-statutory remits the world over, we do not have infinite resources.

We have to make difficult decisions on where we focus what we’ve got to ensure we have the maximum impact in improving the lives of people living with and beyond cancer and their families. At the moment that means Macmillan is less focused on pre-habilitation and rehabilitation and more on transforming cancer services. Similar to the physical activity sector, there is a drive to create positive experiences that tackle the inequality of access, in this case to treatment and care. This could change with the new strategy currently open for ideas from people and organisations until 25th August.

I know moving more makes a difference no matter what part of the journey a person is on, whether that’s prevention or living beyond cancer through reducing exacerbating factors, managing anxiety whilst waiting for a diagnosis, preparing people for coping with and recovering from treatment, or helping people living with cancer to maintain quality of life for as long as possible in palliative care.

It’s hard not to want to rush in, waving my arms in the air and shouting “Let’s get connecting to leisure operators, football foundations, your Active Partnership…” There will be a time for that, but it’s not yet.

One of the many things my directorate does is improve access to high-quality holistic needs assessments and care plans that put as much attention on the non-clinical aspects of each person’s life as they do on the clinical side. Done well these assessments of the support an individual needs at different points through their journey will flag how physical activity fits into an individual’s life, exploring and identifying their attitudes and motivations as well as it does the importance of support and advice on money, employment, and family support.

Once upon a time, the physical activity sector would have been funding Macmillan to put on a programme of activities, maybe we’d offer a club coach or gym instructor to lead the activity.

We’ve all come a long way since then.

Through years of work, we’ve reached a point where the health sector and the general public know being physically active is good for them. They just don’t always know the what, when, where, and how for their specific needs.

This is where the consensus statement from Moving Medicine, which provides clinicians and allied health professionals with accessible, evidence-based, condition-specific information to advise on physical activity at all stages of treatment pathways, is helpful.

The health sector is getting better at being the trusted voice to its patients and their families and communicating the answers to these questions. Training the workforce to speak with confidence, and even lead active lives themselves.

If health can get more people willing to be active, then the physical activity sector has to meet its part of the bargain and be ready to take them with arms wide open.

It has to play its part by not putting pressure on an already capacity and resource challenged health system, and instead provide opportunities and spaces for moving more to be an option. It’s about moving away from providing one or two options that are for people with cancer (or any health condition for that matter) to be active.

Instead providing a physical activity and sport workforce that can understand the effects cancer can have on an individual’s ability to be active in whatever activity they choose and helping them understand their bodies’ capabilities even though these may change from day to day.

It’s also about recognising public realm is just as important (I’d argue even more so) as sport-specific spaces e.g. leisure centres in keeping people active, with fixtures such as ramps, benches, water fountains, and traffic-free routes to get to, from, and between key venues like the shops and surgery all vital.

Together we're going to make a huge difference to so many people.