South Staffordshire Primary Care Trust have been commissioned to deliver a rural pilot of the Physical Activity Care Pathway. Care pathways are now becoming a key feature in health care, and such pathways already exist for conditions of Obesity and Diabetes. The Physical Activity Care Pathway is a primary care initiative, designed to compliment existing care pathways for specific conditions, and increase physical activity levels in the adult population. In addition to the Department of Health, Sport England and Natural England are partners in this rural pilot in South Staffordshire.
The team who have won the £50K contract for the evaluation of the pilot are drawn from the University of Gloucestershire (Prof David James and Dr Diane Crone), the Countryside and Community Research Institute (Prof Nigel Curry) and Staffordshire University (Dr Chris Gidlow). The team will provide considerable experience of physical activity, primary care, sport, health trainers and the rural context. The team are also joined by Karen Milton who was involved in the London pilot of the Physical Activity Care Pathway.
The final report (short version) is now available to download. A document providing suggestions for commissioners is also now available to download.