Supporting Those Living With Long Term Health Conditions To Be Active

Over 2,000 people, including those living with health conditions, their carers, friends and families, and those with a professional interest in this area, shared their experiences and opinions to help shape the future of the campaign. All this information created the ‘Bridging The Gap’ report. 

This report covers: 

• The motivators and barriers that people living with long term health conditions face being active. 

• What friends, family, carers need to feel more confident encouraging physical activity. 

• The views of professionals across a range of sectors.  

The public consultation identified: 

• The majority of participant acknowledged the importance of physical activity in managing or preventing long term health conditions.  

• The most trusted sources of physical activity advice are the NHS, healthcare professionals and their GPs. However, it was noted that the actions of multiple players across the system are needed to support change.  

• The top 3 barriers to activity are all physical ones: pain, a lack of energy or feeling too tired. 

• The empathy gap: there is a mismatch between lived experiences and perspectives from the system. 

• Family, friends and carers lack confidence supporting people with long term health conditions to be active. 

• Professionals would appreciate more guidance around physical activity and local services. 

• 9 in 10 participants stated that health charities’ involvement in the We Are Undefeatable campaign was important. 

To see view the full report, visit the We Are Undefeatable website. 

To help you utilise these insights in your work, there is now a We Are Undefeatable dashboard so you can filter through the data by consultation audience, region, postcodes and deprivation decile. 

There is a short guide that explains how to navigate the dashboard on the welcome page. 

It is free to access and available for any individual or organisation interested in this information. 

These insights can help professionals understand what is needed to support people with long term health conditions to make physical activity enjoyable and achievable. 

If you do anything different as a result of the ‘Bridging The Gap’ report – whether that’s undertaking training or changing the language you use when discussing physical activity – please let us know by submitting a We Can Be Active Win! 

If you are a health professional or someone with an interest in this area seeking further advice or support, please get in touch with our health team.