Physical Activity Promotion in Social Work (Commentary‪)‬

Although most social work clinicians probably know the health benefits of physical activity, many may not know how it may be used clinically within the practice context or how to promote it as a therapeutic adjunct. Others may not be fully aware of the tremendous potential psychotherapeutic benefits that may be obtained through physical activity. Perhaps it may be easy for clinicians to say, in effect, "Of course physical activity is good for you so 'just do it.'" Unfortunately, deference to this popular sneaker company slogan does little to bring about positive change in clients' fitness and health and, consequently, their desired physical and psychological effects. Social workers need to get active in promoting physical activity, and in doing so, they need to collaborate with other fields directly involved in addressing the physical inactivity problem, including physical activity sciences, health psychology, public health, and medicine. The scholarly literature illustrating positive physical and psychological benefits of regular physical activity is growing. Despite this burgeoning knowledge, most people do not maintain a sufficiently active lifestyle (Pratt, Macera, & Blanton, 1999; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996). Physical inactivity among a large portion of the U.S. population is responsible for rapid increases in medical care costs that will become increasingly more difficult to sustain. Indeed, research has shown that by increasing participation in regular moderate activity levels among the 88 million inactive Americans ages 15 and older, annual medical costs may be reduced by as much as $76.6 billion (Pratt, Macera, &Wang, 2000). Currently, however, physical inactivity has become a widespread but silent social and public health problem.