Barriers and Facilitators Perceived by Primary Healthcare Professionals About Physical Activity Prescription, a Meta-Ethnography.
To examine qualitative evidence on the barriers and facilitators perceived by Primary Health Care professionals in prescribing physical activity, using the Social Ecological Model as the analytical framework.
A qualitative systematic review using a meta-ethnographic approach was conducted. Searches were performed between 2013 and 2024 in Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and The Cochrane Library Plus. Two independent reviewers screened studies, applied eligibility criteria, and coded findings according to the Social Ecological Model. Methodological quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument.
Barriers and facilitators to physical activity prescription were identified across all five domains of the Social Ecological Model. Key barriers included time constraints, insufficient training, lack of organizational and policy support, and limited referral pathways. Facilitators included professionals' willingness, interdisciplinary collaboration, community partnerships, and the availability of structured guidelines.
Barriers to implementing physical activity prescription remain more prominent than facilitators. Effective implementation requires a comprehensive, system-level strategy involving healthcare organizations as well as local, regional, and national structures to support both the management and prevention of noncommunicable diseases.
PROSPERO under the number CRD42024613298. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/.
A qualitative systematic review using a meta-ethnographic approach was conducted. Searches were performed between 2013 and 2024 in Medline, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and The Cochrane Library Plus. Two independent reviewers screened studies, applied eligibility criteria, and coded findings according to the Social Ecological Model. Methodological quality was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument.
Barriers and facilitators to physical activity prescription were identified across all five domains of the Social Ecological Model. Key barriers included time constraints, insufficient training, lack of organizational and policy support, and limited referral pathways. Facilitators included professionals' willingness, interdisciplinary collaboration, community partnerships, and the availability of structured guidelines.
Barriers to implementing physical activity prescription remain more prominent than facilitators. Effective implementation requires a comprehensive, system-level strategy involving healthcare organizations as well as local, regional, and national structures to support both the management and prevention of noncommunicable diseases.
PROSPERO under the number CRD42024613298. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/.