The National ReferAll Database
In 2014 The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) called for development of a system to collate local data on exercise referral schemes. This database would be used to facilitate continued evaluation of exercise referral schemes. The use of health databases can spur scientific investigation and the generation of evidence regarding healthcare practice. NICEs recommendation has not yet been met by public health bodies. Through collaboration between ukactive, ReferAll, a specialist in software solutions for exercise referral, and the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine, which has its research hub at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre, in Sheffield, data has been collated from multiple UK based exercise referral schemes to generate one of the largest databases of its kind. This database moves the research community towards meeting NICEs recommendation and is available through the Open Science Framework to help facilitate furthering our understanding of exercise, physical activity, and other referral pathways that collectively fall under the broad realm of social prescribing.