What do you think about GP's prescribing you 'a walk'?

[StrawberryMarble]

I just heard this on radio 4, that GP's will be able to prescribe a walk or a bike ride etc. We all know we need to move more & not lead sedentary lives. I don't disagree that we need to get moving & keep our fitness, especially as we get older. But I can see a few people getting upset over this. I think it might be a common prescription with waiting times post covid being so long.

It’s green prescriptions

It’s been in the works long pre Covid. There is plenty of good evidence for it.

An analogy I’ve heard before is the bucket of crabs, where any crab that tries to crawl out is just dragged back in by one of the others. It’s so sad to think that someone supposedly out to help people is instead bolstering their view that they should simply not try.

Social services should be weeding people like this out, not employing them.

And the GPS will be taking this into account.

There's two ways to solve that then, aren't there?

Encourage working class people to give it a go anyway (they can walk away at any time, after all; it's not an indentured contract), thereby making the group more diverse and making it easier for other working-class people in future; or start your own WC walking/running group.

I know it sounds like a fob off, but walking is free and so good for your physical and mental health. It’s just that for those with fatigue and mobility problems, or struggling severely with mental health, even a quick turn round the block might seem like an insurmountable barrier (and it could well be).

My mental health really suffered during the winter lockdown but one thing that got me through was getting out every day, whatever the weather. I genuinely did have to force myself though. Sounds so simple, life isn’t that way for everyone.

It's called social prescribing and something gp surgeries have been doing for years.

I actually posted previously up the thread that I did start a walking club - for those that won't go to a park run or out for a walk by themselves for the reasons I've mentioned.. is it so hard to take a step out of your own lense of reality and think about reasons why some people wouldn't attend.

But yeah crack on with all the zeel of an ex smoker who now hates smoking 😂

I also love exercise, I previously posted I got rid of my sciatica through cycling and swimming. I have lots of outdoor 'mc' hobbies and I can still see that others can't be like me for their own reasons.

I don’t think a gp should prescribe walking.

I think that’s like going because you want to quit smoking and them saying ‘just stop’.

I can see many angry patients feeling ‘fobbed off’ and the gps getting verbal abuse.

Everyone knows that walking is good for you.
I don’t think anyone needs anyone to tell them that.

I love walking.
I do it as often as I can.

But I live in the middle of nowhere, where there is no where to walk apart from small windey lanes and in the autumn and winter it’s pitch black before and after I go to work.

A gp telling me to walk more would not be helpful.

I think workplaces should encourage walking instead. Although I’m not sure how this would be done.

@HikingHeidi I find the hardest thing about MS is everyone else's opinions on what you should do. It's infuriating.

They've been prescribing park run for quite some time now, they also prescribe 4 weekly gym passes so for some a walk would be the first step, some people do need to exercise more and that would solve many of their physical and mental health problems, I work in mental health and regularly see people massively improve just by starting to go out for a walk 🤔

So walk at the weekend, walk some of the way to/from work, walk at lunch time, near work before you start or after you finish, set up a group to walk together when it's dark.

If you live in the middle of nowhere, there's likely to be public footpaths, buy an OS map for your local area, or look online and just get out and explore, the options are endless.

When it gets to the stage when people are putting barriers up as to why a free activity that is known to improve physical and mental health is so impossible to do for even a few minutes a day then I think there's no helping some people but that shouldn't make it unreasonable for GPs to suggest this to people (physical disabilities that prevent people from being able to walk excluded, obviously).

I’ve had anxiety over the last few years and put on weight. Tablets were no good. Physical exercise has been the best cure. The problem
is some people seem to think there should be an instant fix for everything medicine related and don’t seem to accept that in some
instances we need to put in some hard work too. It can’t all be down to the GP’s and NHS to resolve in every case.

If it was this easy to fix everything, don't you think everything would be fixed already?

You just need to accept not everyone is as perfect as you are @BarbaraofSeville

I'm utterly baffled that anyone would describe Parkrun as middle class. I'm a runner and I've met people from all walks of life running. It really is the great leveller as a sport, because all you need is a pair of running shoes. I know people who run in Sweaty Betty and people who run in old t-shirts and cycling shorts - it's a sport for everyone and Parkrun is very inclusive and friendly. My local one is huge - we get 600 people some weekends - and it is for everyone - young and old, fat and thin, rich and poor.

Look at where Parkruns tend to take place.

Access to safe green spaces is very much linked to socio-economic factors.

'All you need if a pair of running shoes' (which are not that cheap actually)... and a safe area to run in and a partner/someone else to watch the kids and a job that leaves enough time to run and the mental health starting point to do it...

Life is easier if you are well off, in so many ways. You can see it very easily if you open your eyes.

Sometimes people need to hear it from professional person to do the right thing. So I don't think it's a bad idea at all. GP can recommend practical way of life all the time. Why not walking x times a week? If they are personally told to do so, then most people would be taking it more seriously?

If it was this easy to fix everything, don't you think everything would be fixed already?

Aside from disabilities, what is so hard about going for a walk?

As they say, there is none so blind as they who will not see.

If you are being extremely simplistic, nothing is difficult about going for a walk.

But if you have ever met any humans, you will quickly have learnt that things are not that straightforward.

If it was as simple as you suggest, why are people not already doing it?

Our park run is on the common. It's within walking distance of the whole town. Access from all sides. The same for the next two closest, one on their common and one in a park. Both within 100 yards of the main shopping street. Both with bus services.

And if you walk round, you don't need running shoes or Lycra, normal comfy shoes and clothes will do.

I walk at least 5 miles a day with my dogs. In all weathers. It's my "me" time and I am like a bag of adders if for some reason I can't get out.

My Mum is under a lot of stress (from my golden child sister mainly) and she's been a zombie on anti depressants for years. It makes me really angry that GP's hand these things out so easily. Talking and exercise should always be a 1st point of call, not medication.

Then by the same token, there probably isn’t much point a GP prescribing working class people a course of counselling or physiotherapy, or a Slimming World membership or anything which requires them to take time off work or have somebody watch their DC or pay to travel to get there.

This isn't new. I did this exact job within the NHS for over 12 years. It went to a private company then public health cut all the funding now it doesn't exist and we were left on the scrap heap jobless and our patients and the wider community left to struggle. We provided more than walks and bike rides. It benefited so many people. Not just physically but mentally. Now we're being told we need this kind of service. Well no shit! We really have come full circle in just over 2 years. Bet this new reincarnation is woefully funded (and it wasn't great last time) and will barely scratch the surface

*As they say, there is none so blind as they who will not see.

If you are being extremely simplistic, nothing is difficult about going for a walk.

But if you have ever met any humans, you will quickly have learnt that things are not that straightforward.

If it was as simple as you suggest, why are people not already doing it?*

Because in all honesty, people are lazy. They want a quick fix, they don't want to spend the time bettering their health. They don't want to walk instead of using the car or get off the bus earlier. I've met many humans, some incredibly lazy who moan about their health and others who actually do something about it. It is as simple as going for a walk, if you have kids, great take them with you. If you have a job, do it during lunch or before/after work. It's about making time for your health.

I'm not claiming to be perfect. Just trying to suggest some of the many ways that going out for a walk can be achieved seeing as so many people seem to think it is so hard to manage.

And LOL at the idea that Parkrun is inaccessibly middle class. The ten nearest Parkruns to me look like the list of places to avoid if someone posted 'I'm thinking of moving to West Yorkshire, where should I live'.

I would never say that, it is offensive to stereotype all people by class in the way you are.

My point was a) Parkrun is more often in nice parks and nice parks are related to socio-economic characteristics of an area and b) running is not just about a pair of trainers.