Towards the effective introduction of physical activity interventions in primary health care

Abstract

Despite the promising findings related to the efficacy of primary

health care-based physical activity interventions and recommendations

for primary health care professionals to promote physical activity, the

introduction of physical activity interventions in routine daily primary health care practice does not always happen as desired. Specifically, rates of physical activity promotion by primary health care professionals are far from optimal and physical activity interventions are not delivered as intended by the intervention developers. Knowledge of the factors that determine the success or failure of the introduction of innovations in health care is important for the development of strategies to improve the introduction process. As a first step towards the effective introduction of physical activity interventions in primary health care practice, the main aim of this thesis is to investigate what factors influence the introduction of physical activity interventions in primary health care.