The health and social care committee has published an inquiry report on physical activity in an ageing society, informed by evidence submitted by the CSP.
The report, Healthy Ageing: Physical Activity in an Ageing Society, echoes the CSP’s call to utilise health care workers, such as the physiotherapy workforce, to provide expert advice for people when diagnosed with a long term condition to increase capacity and confidence to self-care.
The committee, which is a cross-party group of MPs, recommends a national framework to support integrated care boards (ICBs) and local authorities to help scale health interventions through voluntary, leisure and physical activity settings.
It also calls for a 10-year cross-government prevention plan, prioritising physical activity to reduce health inequalities and improve healthy life expectancy.
Sara Hazzard, CSP assistant director and co-chair of the Community Rehabilitation Alliance, said: ‘Physiotherapists are trusted experts who support older people and those with long-term conditions to build the confidence and capability to stay physically active.
'We welcome the findings of this inquiry and agree wholeheartedly that physical activity is a powerful tool in preventing and managing long-term conditions, often more effective than medication.
'To deliver on these recommendations we need an investment in the workforce and physiotherapists integrated as a core part of healthy ageing.’
The committee also recommends that the government require ICBs to place physical activity at the heart of population health prevention strategies.
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