How are exercise professionals described within academic literature? A narrative review

Abstract

There is growing interest to include exercise into healthcare for the prevention, treatment, and management of chronic disease. However, what defines an "exercise professional" to fulfil these roles and responsibilities is not clear across Canada. While exercise science often integrates exercise professionals within academic studies to assist exercise-based research, exploring how exercise professionals are involved in these contexts may contribute to developing a clearer understanding of how these professionals may be characterized. The purpose of this narrative review was to summarize how exercise professionals are described in research and identify the components that inform their unique roles. A keyword search of "exercise professional" was performed in multiple databases, including Medline, SportDiscus, and Web of Science to identify peer-reviewed studies that included "exercise professionals". Fifteen studies were included, and two independent reviewers performed a reflexive thematic analysis to derive three themes that represent how exercise professionals were described: (1) job title; (2) roles/duties (e.g., fitness testing, motivational interviewing), and (3) education/qualifications/credentials. Common occupations involved in research included exercise physiologists, kinesiologists, and personal trainers. Exercise professionals were responsible for interacting with clinical and non-clinical populations in a variety of contexts. Similarly, qualifications varied, with some studies specifying further training to work with special populations (e.g., patients who have cancer). By identifying these discrepancies, this study highlights the need to develop consistent definitions and roles to promote recognition and integration of exercise professionals in both clinical and community settings.

Keywords: education; exercise; health professionals; kinesiology; physical activity.