Preventive medicine
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2009
ReviewBridging the gap: translating research into policy and practice.
Effective physical activity interventions do not achieve their full potential if they are not applied beyond their original testing in research studies. Potentially effective interventions can be adopted in community settings through the efforts of numerous agencies, organizations, and individuals. ⋯ To enhance the uptake of evidence-based interventions, several steps are needed to: build the science by moving upstream, increase the understanding of practice-based evidence, move beyond the "what" to the "how," re-frame the dissemination challenges, place greater emphasis on workforce development, and make research more accessible for policy audiences. The most effective strategies to bridge the gap between research and practice, will have at their heart, effective academic-practice-policy maker partnerships.
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Preventive medicine · Oct 2009
ReviewPhysical activity: health outcomes and importance for public health policy.
This manuscript presents a brief summary of the substantial data supporting an inverse relationship between the amount of habitual physical activity performed and a variety of negative health outcomes throughout the lifespan. It points out that despite these data a large segment of the US population remain insufficiently active resulting in a high population attributable risk for chronic disease due to inactivity. The accumulated data support the need for more comprehensive health promoting physical activity policies and programs, especially for the economically and socially disadvantaged and medically underserved.