Barriers to exercise prescription and participation in people with mental illness: the perspectives of nurses working in mental health

Evidence is mounting for the efficacy of exercise in the treatment of people withmental illness. Nurses working in mental health settings are well placed to provideexercise advice for people with mental illness. However, quantitative examinations ofthe barriers to exercise prescription experienced by nurses, or their views regardingthe barriers to exercise participation experienced by people with mental illness, arelacking. In this study, 34 nurses completed the Exercise in Mental Illness Questionnaire– Health Professionals Version (EMIQ-HP). This survey examined the frequencyof exercise prescription and the level of agreement with statements regardingbarriers to exercise prescription for, and exercise participation by, people with mentalillness. The level of agreement scores for statements for each section was summed,with a higher score indicating a higher level of agreement. Nurses disagree with manyof the barriers to exercise prescription presented in the literature. The level ofagreement scores did not differ between nurses who prescribe exercise ‘Always’, ‘Mostof the time’, ‘Occasionally’ or ‘Never’. We found a non-significant negative relationshipbetween frequency of exercise prescription and summed level of agreement scoresfor barriers to exercise prescription. Consensus regarding barriers to exercise participationby mental health consumers is less clear. This study provides valuable newinsight into the role of nurses in the provision of exercise for people with mentalillness. Confirmation in larger samples is needed before translation of research topractice