Supporting people with Long Term Health Conditions to be active
Active Worthing provide a really interesting model that recruits through GP exercise referrals, but then signs participants up as long-term members, thereby overcoming the drop-off seen after 12-week exercise referral programmes.
They had 600 members pre-pandemic all with long-term conditions, disabilities or injuries. Once people are referred by a medical professional, they can stay a member forever at low cost and on a pay-as-you-go basis. Many exercise referral schemes have an end date, which doesn't allow people the time to form a habit to be able to sustain their activity levels. Some health conditions mean members may have periods where they are unable to attend the gym. If a scheme is a set amount of time, they may be disadvantaged in those types of schemes.
They also incorporate a social side. They were hosted by a day centre with a cafe until just before the pandemic. This allowed people who were visiting the day centre for various reasons to gain the confidence to join in the exercise classes. They've faced numerous challenges as the day centre that hosted their specialist equipment closed in February 2020. They're currently in a temporary venue (Worthing Town Football Club) but will hopefully find a permanent new venue where they can start to use all their specialist equipment and increase the social side again.