International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume IV, Issue II, February 2019|ISSN 2454-6194 www.rsisinternational.org Page 55 Exercise Prescription: Attitude & Barriers among Healthcare Professionals in Hospital Setting, Kenya Oloo Micky Olutende (Msc.) Department of Health Promotion and Sports Science, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya Abstract- Objective. To find out attitudes and barriers of exercise prescription among healthcare professionals in Kakamega county, Kenya Design. The study design was a descriptive cross- sectional, that utilized quantitative methods Setting. The study was conducted in Public health facilities in Kakamega County, located in Western Kenya. These facilities were four (4) Sub- County hospitals, two (2) County hospitals and one (1) County referral hospital Sample Stratified random sampling was embraced to divide the population into homogeneous subgroups as per the professional cadres then simple random in proportion to their number in the population was done. Formulae that was used for calculating the sample size was Cochran with an attrition rate of 10%, since the sample size was less than 10,000 people, the sample size was adjusted with the Finite population correction for proportions based on the populations of nurses, doctors and clinical officers (n = 221) Analysis. Data was analyzed through descriptive statistics. All assumption for conducting parametric tests were met before undertaking parametric tests. ANOVA was used to determine if healthcare providers differed with regards to attitude towards exercise prescription. Main outcome measures. Attitudes and barriers towards exercise prescription among healthcare professionals Results. 103 (46.6%) of the respondents strongly agreed that discussing the benefits of physical activity with their patients was part of the healthcare professional’s role. 98 (44.3%) strongly agreed that healthcare professionals should be physically active to act as role models for their patients. 72(32.6%) strongly disagreed that exercise counselling would not change the patient’s behavior. Majority of the healthcare professionals had positive attitude towards exercise prescription 135 (61%). The independent between- group ANOVA yielded a non- statistically significantly effect, F (2, 218) = 1.941, p = .146, ƞp2= .02 leading to the conclusion that there exist no significant differences in attitude towards exercise prescription among the three cadres of Healthcare professionals. The major barrier to exercise prescription noted was lack of resources e.g. patients’ educational materials (n=124,56.1%) Recommendation. It is recommended that future research investigate the opinions of HCPs pertaining to where the responsibility to prescribe exercise ultimately lies to explore possible additional barriers to exercise prescription not previously reported in literature. Keywords: - Health promotion, healthcare professionals, exercise prescription. Kakamega, Kenya, Attitude, barriers I. BACKGROUND ecent research shows that HCPs agree to the importance of PA counseling and the role they have in promoting PA to their patients (Hébert et al., 2012).However, a gap in belief on exercise counseling and prescription amongst HCPs exists. Gnanendran, Pyne, Fallon, and Fricker (2011) found out that almost all respondents had positive attitudes to exercise counseling but recommended that more research into the attitudes and beliefs of health professionals was required in relation to the effectiveness of current health promotion strategies. A study among dietitians, nurses, patient care technicians, and social workers showed that 72% of the respondents did not think it was their responsibility to encourage PA among their patients (Painter et al., 2004). In terms of who is responsible for providing PA advice, a study among internal medicine residents found that more than 90% felt it was the physicians’ responsibility to counsel patients on exercise, but only 15% of the residents reported counseling their patients (Rogers, Bailey & Gutin, 2002). In Canada, Frank, Segura, Shen and Oberg (2010) found out that physicians reported apositive association between attitudes toward being a role model for their patients and higher frequency of PA counseling. This positive attitude to be a role model is supported by other studies that reported HCPs who engage in healthy habits such as not smoking, eating a healthy diet, or having periodic preventive health screenings and immunizations have a positive attitude toward PA and also provide preventive counseling to their own patients more confidently (Frank, 2004; Bleich et al.,2012). In South Africa, Roos (2014) found out that only 18% of thegeneral practitioners believed it was not their job to prescribe exercise to their patients while 25% considered exercise prescription was a waste of time. This positive attitude was consistent with a study done in Nigeria by Aweto et al (2013) whonoted that 94.8% of health care professionals had good attitude towards PA promotion in patients’ management. In a meta-analysis done by van der Ploeg et al (2007) amongst general practitioners (GPs) between 1997 and 2000, results showed that there were significant improvements in confidence of exercise counseling among general practitioners over the years. In 2000, most GPs recognized their role in helping patients increase PA compared to the year 1997 (van der Ploeg et al., 2007). On the other hand, a study that attempted to check this change of attitude over time but with inconsistent results, was done by Frank, Tong, Lobelo, Carrera and Duperly (2008) amongst medical students who completed questionnaires at orientation to hospital wards and during their senior year. The results showed that perceived relevance of exercise counseling was higher at orientation to hospital wards than at senior year (69% vs. 53%, p<0.01) (Frank, Tong, Lobelo, Carrera & Duperly, 2008). These R