Physical Activity on Prescription “Not a Quick Fix”: School Nurses’ Experiences of Promoting and Tailoring Physical Activity to Children in Swedish Compulsory School

Abstract

This study aimed to explore school nurses’ experience of using physical activity on prescription with children in Swedish compulsory school. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 24 school nurses who had the educational qualification to prescribe physical activity. The analysis resulted in one overarching theme, “A delicate process of tailoring physical activity on prescription to a child's social context,” and two categories: “Promoting joyful physical activity through individualization and support” and “Dealing with dilemmas and challenges,” with related subcategories. The results demonstrate the importance of tailoring prescribed physical activity to each individual child, their living conditions, and the school context. In addition, they highlight the nurses’ working conditions and collaborations as important prerequisites when initiating physical activity on prescription. In conclusion, the results suggest that school nurses perceive physical activity on prescription as a useful tool in the school context, but it needs to be tailored to each individual child.

Physical activity on prescription for children with obesity: a focus group study exploring experiences in paediatric healthcare

“…On the other hand, participants working with motivation and change of PA habits could clearly define the core components of PAP and found them useful, especially the person-centred dialogue component. This finding is in agreement with a recent study amongst school nurses, who expressed that working with PAP facilitates dialogue about the child's motivation and selection of PA ( 25 ). The results of the present study indicate that PAP could be more meaningful and clearer for paediatric professionals, who may also have to overcome a certain knowledge gap.…”

“…The need to coordinate care throughout the intervention ( 30 , 52 ) and treatment delay ( 52 ) have also been reported by professionals working with PAP for adults. Especially when working with PA and PAP for children, collaboration with stakeholders is crucial ( 23 , 25 , 53 ). However, their concern was mainly related to outsourced PAP treatment and less pronounced for PAP work in the paediatric clinics.…”

“…The Swedish PAP model has been shown to increase PA levels in adults ( 22 ), but for children, the scientific basis for PAP is insufficient. A few small studies have investigated PAP alone or as part of a combined intervention, and suggested increased PA levels, reduced age- and sex-adjusted body mass index (ISO-BMI), and increased motivation for PA, respectively ( 23 – 25 ).…”

“…To enhance understanding of how PAP is used for children with obesity in paediatric healthcare, barriers and facilitators for implementing PAP in this context need to be further explored using a qualitative research approach. This has been done previously in adult populations ( 29 – 31 ), in paediatric healthcare for children with intellectual disability ( 32 ), and in a school context ( 25 ). To our knowledge, no study has explored determinants for implementing PAP for children with obesity in paediatric healthcare.…”

School Strategies on Improving Students’ Physical Activity Engagement During COVID-19 Pandemic Period: A Thematic Review

“…Physical activity as part of kid's daily life became one of the researchers interests during COVID-19 times. Being active through movement was very important to students positive growth (Wiklund et al, 2023). This was supported by Gilic et al, (2023) cited that being active was positively associated to being healthy.…”