Kickin 2 shape

Healthwatch is here to demonstrably influence commissioning, service provision or strategic decision making and this report outlines the work they have done collaboratively with Second Step, University of West of England, Bristol City Community Trust, Bristol Active Life Project and Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust.

The pilot project was funded by the Healthwatch Bristol Community Pot grant. Healthwatch will make use of our statutory powers and the information shared with us, to help to set the commissioning agenda for the future, putting local people at the heart of decision-making.

A new walking football and nutrition programme was developed called Kickin2Shape and has been included in the existing Bristol Active Life Project. What was different is that the cohort of participants were currently not accessing any physical exercise but were receiving secondary mental health care due to their mental health conditions.#

The evaluation highlights the need to identify an effective referral route that would enable those with CMHC to access programmes such as Kickin2Shape. There is currently no referral pathway for those with CMHC in primary care. There could be potential to develop the exercise referral scheme (ERS) to those with mental health conditions, as currently people with cardiac conditions, parkinsons, cancer etc can be referred, Having an ability to continue this work would be important so that patients do not regress/become more isolated and have a negative impact on their mental health.