Physical Activity Promotion Tools in the Portuguese Primary Health Care: An Implementation Research

• Autor(a) principal: Mendes, Romeu
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Nunes Silva, Marlene, Santos Silva, Catarina, Marques, Adilson, Godinho, Cristina, Tomás, Rita, Agostinho, Marcos, Madeira, Sara, Rebelo-Marques, Alexandre, Martins, Henrique, Teixeira, Pedro J., Cruz, Diogo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17030815
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10316/106173; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030815
• topic: physical activity; exercise; primary health care; brief assessment; brief counseling; monitoring; Adult; Humans; Portugal; Primary Health Care; Exercise; Health Promotion; State Medicine

Background: This paper aims to discuss how physical activity (PA) brief assessment, brief counseling, and self-monitoring tools were designed and implemented in the Portuguese National Health Service (NHS), and to report on their current use by health professionals and citizens. Methods: Three digital tools to facilitate PA promotion in primary health care (PHC) were developed: 1) a PA brief assessment tool was incorporated in the electronic health record platform “SClínico Cuidados de Saúde Primários“; 2) a brief counseling tool was developed in the software “PEM—Prescrição Eletrónica Médica” (electronic medical prescription); and 3) a “Physical Activity Card” was incorporated in an o cial NHS smartphone app called “MySNS Carteira”. Results: From September 2017 to June 2019, 119,386 Portuguese patients had their PA assessed in PHC. Between December 2017 and June 2019, a total of 7957 patients received brief intervention for PA by a medical doctor. Regarding the app “MySNS Carteira”, 93,320 users activated the “Physical Activity Card”, between February 2018 and December 2018. Conclusions: These tools represent key actions to promote PA among Portuguese citizens using PHC as a priority setting. Further initiatives will follow, including proper assessment of their clinical impact and training programs for health care professionals on PA promotion.