Physical activity support for people with heart failure: mixed-methods study protocol

Heart failure (HF) is a common condition affecting 1-2 in every hundred adults in the UK and one in six people aged over 85 years. Physical activity is important for people with heart failure (PWHF) as it can increase exercise capacity and is shown to improve quality of life. We know that PWHF often seek advice from healthcare professionals about participating in physical activity safely, but healthcare professionals are not always sure what physical activity advice is best for their patients. It is also important to understand what physical activity services are available for healthcare professionals to refer patients to and to explore how patients are referred into these physical activity services.

To explore the barriers and enablers to primary and community healthcare professionals (GPs and nurses) referring PWHF to community physical activity services.

A mixed-methods study will be conducted across GP practices in England.

The following approaches will be used: i) in-depth qualitative interviews with GPs (n = 12) and nurses (n = 12) to understand their experiences of talking to PWHF about referral to physical activity services; ii) finding out what commissioned physical activity services are available to PWHF, and how primary and community healthcare professionals can refer patients to the services; iii) two workshops to examine the findings with our stakeholders.

The findings will be used to inform the development of an intervention for healthcare professionals referring to physical activity services and support the community service configuration.