University Mental Health Counselors Perceptions Of Exercise Is Medicine Prescription And Referral

Abstract

Studies show a rise in college students’ mental health needs as prevalence of diagnosed anxiety and depression has increased on college campuses. Consequently, yearly visits of students to college counseling centers have increased. Physical activity shows to have positive benefits for mental health, but many counselors lack confidence to be able to prescribe physical activity. PURPOSE: To explore university mental health counselors’ perceptions on prescribing physical activity to patients and referring patients to a physical activity specialist. METHODS: Using a qualitative descriptive design, 14 certified counselors (13 females and 1 male, ages: 26-67), across 7 southern universities, participated in semi-structured virtual interviews. Questions, aligned with Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) constructs, including individual, environmental, and behavioral factors related to prescribing physical activity to patients and counselors referring patients to a physical activity specialist. Thematic analysis was used to develop overarching themes and subthemes from the data. RESULTS: Counselors are open to prescribing physical activity and referring patients to a physical activity specialist. Though, prescribing physical activity would take more formal training for counselors to do so. Question topics, themes, subthemes, and number of participants who reported the most prevalent subthemes are found in Table 1. CONCLUSION: Counselors iterated the convenience of referring to a trained physical activity specialist is currently more feasible than prescribing physical activity. Future studies should quantitatively investigate how effective referring patients to a physical activity specialist would be for improving patients’ physical activity and mental health.