The Utilisation of Primary Care Waiting Rooms as Tools for Health Promotion: A Scoping Review

ABSTRACT Primary care waiting rooms represent a valuable environment for health promotion. Current literature specifically focused on physical activity (PA) promotion in this setting is limited, necessitating exploration of the wider evidence base on general health promotion. Subsequently this scoping review aimed to map the existing peer‐reviewed literature regarding health promotion interventions in primary care waiting rooms. Five databases were searched, yielding seventeen studies for inclusion. Studies were eligible if health promotion interventions were delivered within primary care waiting rooms. The reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation and maintenance (RE‐AIM) checklist was applied to evaluate the impact, scalability and sustainability of health promotion interventions. The findings suggest that exposure to health education materials may be associated with short‐term improvements in patient recall, knowledge and behavioural intentions. However, there is a lack of strong evidence showing that these short‐term improvements translate into tangible behaviour change. Health education materials were widely used in general practices, yet these resources were often underutilised by both patients and general practitioners (GPs). RE‐AIM analysis revealed substantial gaps in reporting, particularly regarding representativeness, cost‐effectiveness and long‐term maintenance. These findings suggest that the current evidence base remains exploratory and that further research is needed to assess the full impact of these interventions by incorporating longitudinal follow‐up and explicitly measuring behavioural outcomes. The insights gained from this scoping review may directly inform future research into the design and implementation of PA promotion interventions in health care waiting rooms.