Category: HSRN

The chairman welcomes you all to HSRN. HSRN is a vibrant, progressive, and unique research platform led by students from Teesside University’s School of Health & Life Sciences. Expanding the capacity within research, our network provides a pool of talented students from which researchers can draw support for ongoing projects. Staff and students work collaboratively to develop competencies in writing articles for publication, operationalising research concepts into proposals, data collection, analysis, and presenting research at conferences and workshops. We promote an inclusive and diverse research culture that enables student and staff engagement in research of global health significance and drives the agenda for the translation of current best research evidence into professional practice through education, advocacy and innovation. We enhance the research culture through involving students in research and scholarly and funding activities; conducting symposia, workshops and seminars to develop research skills, and increasing both the volume of research conducted and the outputs for both staff and students through publications in peer-reviewed journals. Thank you all and let us strive for research excellence.

Chairman HSRN –  Johnson Mbabazi

Abstract: Physical inactivity (PA) accounts for 16.6% of deaths in the United Kingdom. This study aims to review the recent (2016–2021) systematic reviews (SRs) on the facilitators and barriers to physical activity (PA) participation among UK-based adults. Methods Using the Participants, Interventions, Comparators, and Outcomes framework and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses strategy, a SR of SRs of studies on the facilitators and barriers to PA among UK-based adults, published between 2016 and December 3, 2021, in the PubMed, SCOPUS, or Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, was done. Results Three SRs (each published in 2016, 2019, and 2021) were included and reviewed in the study. None of the reviewed SR included a study conducted during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; also, a paucity of primary studies on PA among UK-based adult black, Asian, and ethnic minorities populations was recorded. Having a knowledge/appreciation of the benefits of PA, having the opportunity for social interaction/participation and PA-related support, and having a safe environment for PA were the persistently reported facilitators to PA among UK-based adults. On the other hand, having language difficulties/language barrier, lack of time, and having underlying health problems were the persistently reported barriers to PA among them. Not all the included SRs received project funding. Conclusion The outcomes of this study had identified contemporary research gaps regarding the current challenges related to PA among UK-based adults. It is a fact that COVID-19 has come to stay in the UK. and, as a result, it has affected ways of living, especially PA; hence, there is an imminent need for a SR to collate current primary evidence, with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic, on the facilitators and barriers of PA among UK-based adults.