“Green prescription” is a term coined by healthcare practitioners in New Zealand, which refers to written advice given by a healthcare professional to a patient to be physically active. [1] The benefits One study published by the British Journal of General Practice found that interventions done in order to increase physical activity were cost-effective. The study was conducted through randomised controlled trials of interventions to increase adult physical activity based on primary health care in the community. Researchers found that advice given to patients on walking, group exercise and brief exercise showed to be more cost-effective as opposed to supervised gym-based exercise classes or instructor-led walking programmes. [2] In another study, findings showed that this type of prescription is effective in increasing physical activity and improving quality of life over 12 months without adverse effects. The study was conducted among patients aged between 40 and 79 years old who were visiting their general practitioner during the study’s recruitment period. The general practitioners were prompted to give oral and written advice on physical activity during the consultation. In addition to a positive change in patients’ quality of life, the study results also showed a trend towards decreasing blood pressure. [3] The effectiveness of this green prescription model has encouraged other countries to implement a similar programme. For instance, GPs in the counties of Devon and Somerset, England have started to encourage patients to visit national parks as part of their treatment or an alternative to medication. Surgeries also provide a scheme called Walking for Health to promote walking in the outdoors. [4] Current trends in the region There is high potential for the green prescription trend to grow in the region as well. In Malaysia for instance, Dr. Ahmad Taufik Jamil, a consultant public health and exercise physician in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) said that he will start an exercise prescription clinic in Cheras by the end of the year. The clinic will be run by the UKM Medical Centre (UKMMC) and will prescribe patients the appropriate type of exercises and the intensity of those exercises based on the patients’ risk assessment. [5] In Singapore, doctors who have attended an exercise prescription course by Exercise is Medicine Singapore (EIMS) are now prescribing exercise more often to patients based on a survey carried out among the course attendees. The course trains doctors particularly on how to prescribe exercise, as well as trains health and fitness professionals on safely supervising the prescribed exercise. [6] Sources: [1] “Green Prescriptions”. New Zealand Ministry of Health website. Web. 15 Nov 2016. http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/...ellness/physical-activity/green-prescriptions [2] Sue Garrett, C Raina Elley, Sally B Rose, Des O'Dea, Beverley A Lawton, Anthony C Dowell. “Are physical activity interventions in primary care and the community cost-effective? A systematic review of the evidence”. Br J Gen Pract Mar 2011, 61 (584) e125-e133. http://bjgp.org/content/61/584/e125.long [3] Elley C Raina, Kerse Ngaire, Arroll Bruce, Robinson Elizabeth. “Effectiveness of counselling patients on physical activity in general practice: cluster randomised controlled trial”. BMJ 2003; 326:793 http://www.bmj.com/content/326/7393/793 [4] “Prescribing exercise outdoors could reduce obesity, say councils”. Local Government Association, UK. http://www.local.gov.uk/media-releases/-/journal_content/56/10180/7944615/NEWS [5] Syida Lizta Amirul Ihsan. “Battle hypertension with exercise”. New Straits Times. http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/10/179531/battle-hypertension-exercise [6] Joyce Teo, “Docs adding a dose of exercise to prescriptions”. The Straits Times. http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/docs-adding-a-dose-of-exercise-to-prescriptions Source
