Health improvement for men and hard-to-engage-men delivered in English Premier League football clubs

Abstract

Unhealthy behaviours represent modifiable causes of non-communicable disease. In men, concern focuses on those (i) demonstrating the poorest health, exacerbated by a lack of awareness of the risks that their lifestyles pose and (ii) who neither consult their doctor nor use health services. Classed as 'hard-to-engage', distinctive strategies are needed to reach these men. Impact and process evaluations assessed the effect of a programme of men's health-delivered in/by English Premier League football clubs. Men attended match-day events and/or weekly classes involving physical activity and health education. Validated self-report measures for demographics and lifestyle behaviours were completed pre- and post-intervention. Intention-to-treat analysis was performed on pre-versus-post-intervention differences in lifestyle profiles, whereas interviews (n = 57) provided men's accounts of programme experience. Participants were predominantly white British (70.4%/n = 2669), 18-44 (80.2%/n = 3032) and employed (60.7%/n = 1907). One-third (n = 860) 'never' visited their doctor. Over 85% (n = 1428) presented with combinations of lifestyle risk factors. Intention-to-treat analysis showed improvements (P < 0.001) in lifestyle profiles. Interviews confirmed recruitment of men who were hard-to-engage and unhealthy. Men were attracted through football and/or the clubs, whereas specific design factors impacted on participation. Limitations include use of self-reports, narrow demographics, small effect sizes, lack of follow-up and the absence of non-completers in interviews.

Effect of a health-improvement pilot programme for older adults delivered by a professional football club: the Burton Albion case study

“…Further, men including, older males demonstrated statistically significant improvements for a range of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. 41 Importantly, some participants reported that they did not engage in health improvement interventions led and delivered in traditional healthcare settings. 42 These two examples demonstrate the potential of football-based, PA-led health-improvement programmes for reaching and facilitating changes in the health behaviours of OA.…”

Understanding Football as a Vehicle for Enhancing Social Inclusion: Using an Intervention Mapping Framework

“…BACT is the community arm and registered charity of Burton Albion Football Club, a professional football club. The authors have developed a range of health improvement based research projects over several years with BACT (Parnell, Hargreaves, et al, 2014;Pringle et al, 2014).…”

“…A measure of quality of life was taken given the breadth of associated factors that appear to contribute to ASB. Finally, demographic profiles (including age, gender, ethnicity and post-code) and affiliation to football and/or football clubs (i.e., football fan, non-fan, fan of host club) were collected which aligned with previous research in football and social change contexts Pringle et al, 2014). The evaluation outlined above is the self-report approach to data collection via an online survey (university commissioned version of Google documents) based on past research on football interventions .…”

“…These presumed outcomes and subsequent policy rationales have rarely been articulated systematically or monitored and evaluated (Coalter, 2007). Indeed, empirical evidence for such benefits is limited and authors have challenged this shortfall calling for more rigorous and sustained programme outcomes and process evaluations (Bailey, 2005;Coalter, 2007;Collins & Kay, 2014;Pringle et al, 2014;Tacon, 2007). Broadly, Coalter (2008) highlights that sport rarely achieves the desired outcomes accredited to participation.…”

“…Moreover, the methodological difficulty of identifying sport's precise contribution and the challenge of establishing cause and effect in behavioural change may also contribute to a lack of evidence (Coalter, 2007). However, research in this area, particularly in football is beginning to emerge Curran et al, 2014;Parnell et al, 2013;Pringle et al, 2014). Yet there remains a need to provide support for football-based practitioners, who often lack the required skill-set, develop effective and workable evaluation strategies for their interventions Walker, Heere, & Kim, 2013).…”