Managerial perceptions of factors affecting the design and delivery of sport for health programs for refugee populations

Abstract

Millions of refugees from the Middle East and Africa have moved to mainland Europe in recent years, where they face boredom, physical and mental health issues, and lack of social relationships. Policy makers consider sport an effective way to address these issues, but researchers have not fully considered managerial considerations in designing and delivering sport to refugees. The purpose of this study is to understand how sport managers can design and deliver sport to refugee populations in order to maximize beneficial health outcomes. The authors theoretically grounded the study in a socialecological model, recognizing that the design, delivery, and outcomes of sport are set within constraints at multiple levels. Data were collected using a Delphi approach with a group of experts from Germany and the Netherlands. The findings indicated that the experts attributed a number of health benefits to sport programs including physical activity, diversion, stress reduction, coping, and building friendships. Benefits were more likely to occur when the sport delivery approach moved from merely increasing participation to also affecting the sport for health settings. The experts also identified a number of intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, and societal level factors impacting the design, delivery, and outcomes of sport for health programs which are rich in implications for sport managers and policy makers.

Sport, Refugees, and Forced Migration: A Critical Review of the Literature

“…In contrast to the aforementioned publications, which primarily describe barriers that participants experience, Anderson et al ( 2019 ) report on the perceptions of sport service deliverers/managers and the challenges they face in delivering suitable sports activities for refugees. The authors conceptualize societal, organizational, interpersonal, and intrapersonal factors in a socio-ecological model to highlight how each level influences the design, delivery, and outcomes of sport for health programs.…”

Investigating Grassroots Sports’ Engagement for Refugees: Evidence From Voluntary Sports Clubs in Germany

“…This participation is a supposedly open social activity where people can develop networks in an environment characterized by equal opportunities and racial equality (Hatzigeorgiadis, Morela, Elbe, Kouli, & Sanchez, 2013). Refugees, in particular, were reported to profit from a range of physical and social-psychological benefits that are likely to foster health and well-being by satisfying essential emotional needs through gaining confidence and resilience skills (Anderson et al, 2019; Pizzolati & Sterchele, 2016; Spaaij, 2015; Waardenburg et al, 2018). Participation in organized sports may help refugees forget about daily struggles as this activity enables an easy opportunity to meet others (Waardenburg et al, 2018) and serves as “a distraction, a way of avoiding the endless tedium of empty days with little to do as asylum seekers are prevented from (legally) taking an integral role in the local and national economy” (Stone, 2018, p. 179).…”

The Distinctiveness of Sport Management Theory and Research

“…Other researchers have explicitly examined the ways in which sport serves to promote physical and psychological health, while contributing to broader public health agendas (Edwards & Rowe, 2019). Sport is a particularly useful tool for promoting the health and well-being among otherwise underserved populations, including Indigenous women in Australia (Stronach et al, 2019), refugees in Germany and The Netherlands (Anderson et al, 2019), and obese children (Sparvero & Warner, 2019), among others.…”