Evidence-based recommendations to assist adults with depression to become lifelong movers. / Recommandations fondées sur des données probantes visant à aider les adultes atteints de dépression à rester actifs toute leur vie.

Depression is the most common and prevalent mental disorder today, affecting an estimated 1 in 4 Canadians at some point in their lifetime. Physical activity is recommended as a primary treatment for mild to moderate depression and a secondary treatment for moderate to severe depression. Despite this, specific guidelines are still lacking on how to best promote physical activity in this population. Accordingly, this policy brief provides evidence-based recommendations for primary care providers and allied health professionals to promote lifelong physical activity in individuals with depression. Recommendations include asking for permission to discuss physical activity with the individual; framing physical activity as something that they have control over in order to feel better; clarifying that incorporating even a few more minutes of weekly physical activity is better than nothing and that mild forms are enough to achieve mental health benefits; and providing choices of activities to try and accompanying them on their first few sessions. Moreover, this article highlights the importance of promoting physical activity enjoyment for this population, which can be done by guiding the individual to slowly build up the frequency, duration and intensity of activity; encouraging them to be self-compassionate toward physical activity; suggesting they engage in outdoor activity, listen to music, and/or participate with a buddy or group; and incorporate self-monitoring or journalling to solidify the link between physical activity and improved mood. Practitioners are encouraged to use these evidence-informed recommendations-especially maximizing choices, enhancing physical activity enjoyment and emphasizing personal preferences-to help individuals with depression move, recover and flourish. These recommendations may also be used to tailor future interventions and inform policy guidelines to reduce depression rates in Canada.

Physical activity is proven to prevent and treat depression. Lower levels of physical activity and mild forms are enough for mood gains. Practitioners should promote enjoyable physical activity experiences by guiding individuals with depression to slowly build up their physical activity, and by suggesting they choose activities based on preferences, play outdoors, incorporate music and/or participate with a buddy or group. Other recommendations are to ask for permission to talk about physical activity and frame it as something that can be done to feel better; clarify that a little physical activity is better than nothing; provide choices to try; and, if possible, accompany the individual on their first few sessions.

Il est prouvé que l'activité physique permet de prévenir et de traiter la dépression. Des niveaux d'activité physique même faibles et d'intensité peu élevée sont suffisants pour améliorer l'humeur. Les praticiens devraient promouvoir des expériences d'activité physique agréables en aidant les personnes atteintes de dépression à augmenter progressivement leur niveau d'activité physique et en leur suggérant de choisir des activités en fonction de leurs préférences, de pratiquer des activités en plein air, d'intégrer de la musique et d'être accompagnées d'un(e) ami(e) ou de faire partie d'un groupe. Il est également recommandé de demander la permission de parler d'activité physique ainsi que de présenter celle-ci comme un moyen de se sentir mieux, de préciser qu'un peu d'activité physique vaut mieux que rien, de proposer divers choix à expérimenter et, si possible, d'accompagner la personne lors de ses premières séances.

Demographic differences in Canadian medical students' motivation and confidence to promote physical activity.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) remains under prescribed by physicians. Motivation and confidence are clear drivers of frequency of promoting PA. Research shows demographic differences in physicians' preventive practices, yet none have included medical students who form habits during training. OBJECTIVES: Study objectives were to (i) examine how Canadian medical students' motivation to recommend PA to future patients differs according to six demographic variables (i.e. gender, ethnicity, year of study, university, proposed specialty and academic background) and (ii) examine how Canadian medical students' confidence to recommend PA to future patients differs according to these same demographic variables. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was used. First to fourth year medical students from three medical schools responded to an online survey (N = 221). RESULTS: Female participants were more motivated to counsel patients on PA and refer to an exercise specialist compared to males (P < 0.01). Second year students were more motivated to assess a patients' level of PA compared to third and fourth year students (P < 0.01). Students pursuing family medicine were more confident to assess and counsel compared to students pursuing paediatrics (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Given that motivation and confidence have a positive influence on frequency-promoting PA, these results suggest where future efforts should focus, to improve PA promotion in medical practice. Physical inactivity continues to be a major issue worldwide, and medical students as future physicians have a unique opportunity to enhance PA amongst the population.