Depressed or diabetic women seeking help from GPs are set to be prescribed fitness classes.
This Girl Can classes, designed by Sport England and based on its successful campaign by the same name, will be launched across the country early next year.
Drawing on disciplines including dancing, boxing and yoga, they are designed to be non-judgmental sessions where attendees are encouraged to “do your worst”.
Doctors will be encouraged to send patients to the classes as a form of “social prescribing”, in which they try to address an individual’s non-medical needs — some of which may contribute to conditions such as diabetes, depression or obesity — in conjunction with a link worker.
An estimated one fifth of patients consult their GPs for something that is
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