We recognise the important role that health, social care and community workers play in supporting our residents to be more active, so we’ve pulled together a list of short training courses to help you to improve your confidence and knowledge when engaging with the people that you support.

Whether you’re a GP, nurse, care worker, social worker, volunteer or have any clinical, professional or voluntary role you’ll be able to find a training course to suit you from our menu below. There’s a range of training options to suit your availability and needs, with further courses to be added to the menu in due course.

A brief introduction to physical activity by All Together Active, covering what physical activity, how much we should be doing, benefits and barriers to being active, top tips for promotion and further resources/signposting. Click here to access the training content.

Length: 15 minutes.
Format: Online video.
Cost: Free.
Suitable for: Health, social care and community professionals and volunteers.

Course certificate can be downloaded at the end of the course

Click here to watch an Introduction to Physical Activity

Making Every Contact Count (MECC) for Physical Activity increases knowledge and confidence for colleagues to start a behaviour change conversation with physically inactive people and signpost to appropriate services.

Length: 1-2 hours (flexible)
Format: Face to face, online or hybrid group session
Cost: Free (freelance trainers may charge for their time)
Suitable for: Healthcare professionals (clinical and not)

Click here for further information

Expert Physical Activity Clinical Champions are delivering FREE, peer to peer
1-3 hours training sessions to groups of healthcare professionals at a date and time
to suit local needs e.g. Vocational Training Schemes, Protected Learning Time,
lunchtime learning, etc.

Length: 1-3 hours (flexible)
Format: Online group sessions (minimum 12 participants)
Cost: Free
Suitable for: Healthcare professionals

Click here for further information, and email PACC@shu.ac.uk to book your group session.

This e-learning programme prepares GPs, nurses and other healthcare professionals to champion the benefits of physical activity with their patients and, in doing so, help prevent and manage a range of common physical and mental health conditions. The programme will familiarise the learner with the UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity guidelines and the underpinning evidence base.

The programme comprises of three short introductory sessions and an assessment. Additional sessions explore people’s changing needs across the life course, as well as the use of physical activity in the clinical management of the following long-term conditions: cancer, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, musculoskeletal health and mental health.

Click here to access the online content (n.b. you will need to register for an e-Learning for Healthcare account to access the content).

Length: One introductory module (one hour) plus 10 follow-on modules
Format: e-Learning (reading, videos, assessments)
Cost: Free
Suitable for: Healthcare professionals

This collection of e-modules highlights the importance of physical activity and how it can produce health benefits with detailed evidence-based summaries on how it can prevent and improve specific conditions such as cancer, diabetes and mental health. Click here to access the online content

Length: x9 modules of 30 minutes (5 weeks of 2 hours per week recommended)
Format: e-learning
Cost: Free. BMJ account required for course certificate
CPD points: 4.5
Suitable for: GPs, Hospital doctors, medical students, nurses and physician associates

This qualification is for individuals who are interested in helping others develop a healthier lifestyle by encouraging physical activity. Learners will increase their knowledge and understanding of why individuals may not actively participate in physical activity, the health benefits of physical activity and how individuals can be helped and supported to improve their health by increasing their level of physical activity.

Click here to view further information and to find your nearest provider.

Length: 10 hours recommended study time
Format: online or face to face (depending on provider)
Cost: Yes (varies per provider)
Suitable for: Health, social care and community professionals and volunteers

This course is not specific to physical activity, but explains what motivational interviewing is, its uses, and explanations. It will help you to understand what motivational interviewing is, appreciate how it can be used to improve outcomes for patients, recognise situations where motivational interviewing is useful/less useful, begin to develop an understanding of theoretical explanations for motivational interviewing and appreciate how motivational interviewing can work in practice, within a number of different clinical scenarios.

Length: 1 hour
Format: e-learning
Cost: Free. BMJ account required for course certificate
Suitable for: GPs, Hospital doctors, medical students, nurses and physician associate