Online Exercise Support for healthcare professionals and commissioners

Research informed Clinical Exercise Physiology support for your patients, employees and service users.

Recommending exercise is one thing. Helping someone understand what to do, start exercising safely and maintain it over time can be much harder.

The LJMU Online Exercise Support Service can be commissioned by healthcare services, employers, charities and other organisations for individuals or defined populations. Delivered remotely by registered Clinical Exercise Physiologists, the service combines assessment, personalised exercise prescription, behavioural support and digital technology to help people translate exercise recommendations into sustained physical activity.

Who can benefit

The service is aimed at people living with, or at risk of developing, long term health conditions. It may also support people recovering following treatment or seeking to improve their physical activity and fitness. Suitability is assessed individually. For more information, visit our Who can benefit webpage.

What the service provides

Over six months, individuals receive:

• an initial health, physical activity and exercise assessment
• a personalised exercise and physical activity programme
• five virtual consultations with a registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist
• appropriate health, physical function and wellbeing assessments
• wearable technology for activity monitoring, where appropriate
• regular reviews, progression and behavioural support between consultations
• a final review and plan for maintaining physical activity

Exercise may include cardiovascular, strength and functional activities, with adaptations where appropriate. The programme is designed for delivery at home or another suitable location without routine travel to the clinic.

Complementing existing clinical and wellbeing pathways

The service can complement prevention, rehabilitation, healthcare and workplace wellbeing provision by offering structured exercise support alongside existing care. It may be particularly useful where professionals recommend increased physical activity, but existing pathways have limited capacity to provide ongoing specialist exercise support. Commissioning arrangements can be discussed for individual patients, employees or service users, defined clinical populations or wider groups.

Developed through our research

The service is informed by the MOTIVATE approach developed and tested through research at Liverpool John Moores University. This combines personalised exercise counselling, behavioural support, digital technology and ongoing communication to help people start and maintain physical activity.

Reporting and evaluation

Where agreed as part of the commissioned service, service level reporting and outcome monitoring may support evaluation and quality improvement. Depending on the service model, potential measures include:

• engagement and adherence
• physical activity levels
• programme completion
• patient reported outcomes
• service reach and uptake

Reporting arrangements, outcome measures, information governance and any additional evaluation requirements should be agreed as part of commissioning discussions.