Physical Activity Clinical Champions (or PACC for short) is an evidence-based, physical activity training programme for health and care professionals.
It supports them to improve patient care and outcomes.
It was developed as part of the Moving Healthcare Professionals programme, a national programme led by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities in partnership with Sport England.
The training gives clinicians access to evidence-based resources proven to increase knowledge and confidence around physical activity, to support clinical practice in line with guidance and support patients to manage long-term conditions.
Why PACC training?
According to Sport England, one in four people would be more active if advised by a GP or nurse, yet nearly three quarters of GPs don’t speak about the benefits of physical activity to their patients.
They report a lack of knowledge, skills, or confidence, with 80% reporting being unfamiliar with the national Chief Medical Officer (CMO) physical activity guidelines.
Healthcare professionals can reach a large percentage of the population with more than one in ten people visiting their GP every two weeks.
People who are regularly engaging with healthcare professionals (those with, or at risk of, developing health conditions) are far more likely to be inactive, for example, people facing the highest level of economic disadvantage have a 60% higher prevalence of health conditions compared to those facing the least economic disadvantage.
The lack of ability to hold conversations relating to physical activity can be linked to a lack of training and support, with less than half of healthcare professionals confident in the area and more than half having not received specific training.
What we do
We work to increase knowledge of physical activity for healthcare professionals.
We’ve worked with Cumbria, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW) to offer access to training.
And we also helped to embed physical activity knowledge with the future professional workforce, by embedding Physical Activity Clinical Champions (PACC) training into the curriculum at Newcastle University for medicine, nutrition and pharmacy students.
Find out more about our work at Newcastle University