Healthcare Practitioners’ Perceptions of the Barriers to Prescribing or Promoting Exercise in the Treatment of People with Mental Illness: A Scoping Review

Contemporary healthcare for those experiencing mental illness requires healthcare practitioners (HCPs) to effectively incorporate the prescription of exercise in their treatment, in accordance with clinical guidelines. However, there has been a lack of effective implementation of such recommendations. The purpose of this review was to identify barriers to exercise prescription in the treatment of people diagnosed with mental illness as perceived by HCPs. APA PsycINFO, CINAHL, MEDLINE, and PubMed electronic databases were searched for relevant articles published in the period from January 2005 to September 2023. A total of 18 papers were included for thematic synthesis. Four key themes were identified across the qualitative (8), quantitative (6), and mixed method (4) papers, including a lack of knowledge and confidence of HCPs in prescribing exercise; role and responsibility; HCPs’ misconceptions of client barriers; and systemic issues impacting exercise prescription practices. A lack of knowledge or confidence was the most common barrier. Some HCPs indicated a desire to develop their skills in exercise prescription, while others indicated a preference for an exercise professional to take responsibility for this aspect of treatment. Systemic barriers were spread across a range of issues, with lack of time, excessive workload, and difficulties accessing qualified staff most commonly cited. This review provides further insight into the barriers to exercise prescription faced by HCPs and makes recommendations regarding how to address these barriers in order to better implement clinical guidelines and thus improve the quality of treatment provided to people diagnosed with a mental illness.