Several resources have now been developed to help clinicians to apply this in practice. Stichting Special Heroes Nederland takes care of the support for hospitals that want to apply this.
The PIE=M (Physicians Implement Exercise is Medicine) project was carried out at the departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Orthopedics of UMCG and Rehabilitation Medicine and Oncology of Amsterdam UMC. The aim was to make it easier for clinicians to talk about an active lifestyle with their patients in hospital practice. The project showed that with the strategies developed, an individual exercise advice can be given. This has resulted in an 'Exercise Roadmap' that other hospital departments can use to apply Exercise = Medicine (E=M) in regular care. From now on Stichting Special Heroes Nederland is responsible for the further development and support for implementation.
As a follow-up study, Amsterdam UMC and UMCG will collaborate again to examine how patients can be guided in lifestyle change and what the effects are on patients' health and their healthcare consumption.
For more information about the PIE=M project and the exercise roadmap, please visit the Beweegstappenplan website.
Read this article in Dutch on the ZonMw website.