The Roles, Responsibilities and Enlightenment of Advanced Exercise Instructors in the UK under the Perspective of Exercise Referral

Exercise Referral Scheme (ERS) is an innovative chronic disease management model that aims to improve patients' physical and mental health through integrated sports and medical services. Advanced exercise instructors play a key role in the ERS, and their professional competence and service quality directly affect the effectiveness of the scheme. The UK has a mature and well-established professional system for advanced exercise instructors, accumulating rich experience in role positioning, scope of responsibilities, and competency requirements. This is specifically reflected in their clear roles in the ERS, standardized professional service process throughout the training, and the establishment of professional competency standards based on a registration system. At the same time, the UK attaches great importance to the training and management of advanced exercise instructors, forming a curriculum setup guided by professional standards, a practice code led by industry associations, and theoretical innovations supported by academic communities. Based on a review of the current development of advanced exercise instructors in the UK, this article analyzes its enlightenment for improving China's social sports instructor qualification certification system: medical competencies should be incorporated into professional standards, collaboration between training institutions and relevant departments should be strengthened, the role of industry organizations should be brought into play, professional ethics education should be reinforced, and talent training models should be innovated. This research has important reference value for promoting the construction of an integrated sports and medical service system in China and enhancing the professionalization of social sports instructors.