Understanding the barriers and facilitators to engaging in a physical activity prescription program from the perspectives of health care providers and recipients using the capability, opportunity, and motivation (COM-B) framework

Abstract

Prescription-based physical activity, a method in which healthcare providers write specified movement recommendations to patients, is an emerging health promotion strategy being applied to combat systematic healthcare crises. This approach, deemed effective for increasing physical activity adherence, is especially vital due to declining activity rates seen since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prescription-to-Get-Active (RxTGA) is an Alberta-based, not-for-profit physical activity prescription program that seeks to increase movement among Canadians and attenuate the risk for adverse health effects associated with not meeting national guidelines. While RxTGA has been in operation since 2011 and is well regarded in Alberta as a viable program to promote physical activity and health among recipients, its effectiveness to date has not been determined empirically. A reduction in prescriptions written and redeemed since the pandemic’s onset has been observed making a formal evaluation timely. Because physical activity is an important strategy to promote physical, mental, and social health, an investigation into the barriers and facilitators to prescription physical activity is needed to optimize engagement in the RxTGA program. Limited studies have sought to understand this phenomenon in a Canadian context and no studies have investigated these constructs from the perspectives of both the healthcare providers who write the prescriptions, and those who receive them. Similarly, no studies have assessed factors that impede or promote participation specific to RxTGA and done so through the lens of the Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Model for Behaviour Change (COM-B): a behaviour analysis tool that allows researchers to break down complex decisions into smaller ones that can be more efficiently studied. [...]