Contemporary undergraduate physiotherapy education in terms of physical activity and exercise prescription: practice tutors’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs

Objectives Practice tutors’ evaluation to (i) establish current physical activity and exercise promotion and prescription curriculum content and (ii) their knowledge, attitudes and beliefs concerning physical activity and exercise prescription in clinical education, in terms of contemporary and emerging health trends and priorities. Design A cross sectional survey employing a questionnaire and focus groups. Participants All practice tutors delivering physiotherapy undergraduate education in four physiotherapy schools in Ireland (n = 38) were invited to participate. Thirty participated giving a response rate of 79%. Methods Two methods of data collection were employed. Clinical content questionnaires were administered, the results of which informed follow-up focus groups. Focus group transcriptions were analysed using the ‘Framework Analysis’ method. Results 66% of practice tutors were unhappy with their own knowledge and felt they required further training in the following areas: strategies for changing physical activity behaviour; exercise promotion and prescription for public health; exercise prescription for lifestyle related disease. Main themes emerging from the focus groups were (i) perceptions of the physiotherapist's role, (ii) perceptions of the practice tutor's role and (iii) facilitators and barriers to change. Conclusion In terms of physical activity and exercise prescription education, practice tutors identified a need for further education to improve their knowledge base. However, their attitudes and beliefs relating to physiotherapists’ and educators’ role in terms of teaching contemporary and emerging health trends and priorities were mixed. Results of this study provide useful data to inform future physiotherapy curricula development in terms of physical activity and exercise content.