Associate Professor Aurelie Van Hoye, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Lorraine, France has been successful in obtaining a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship. Aurelie will work with Prof. Catherine Woods over a 2-year period, where they will explore policy development for health promotion within the ‘Health Promoting Sports Clubs’ intervention model. Collaborators include Dr. Aoife Lane, Athlone Institute of Technology, Mr. Colin O’Regan, GAA and Dr. Una May, Sport Ireland.
Summary
Currently, 12% of European citizens participate in organised sport weekly1. Beyond the contribution of sport participation to physical activity, sports clubs have the potential to enhance sport experience and health, and sustainable development (Goal 3; Ensure healthy lives and promotion well-being for all at all ages) through health promotion (HP)2. The European Commission White Paper on Sport (2007), and the WHO Global Action Plan on Physical Activity have suggested that the HP aspects of sport participation are often underutilised and need to be further developed. Unfortunately, precise mechanisms through which sport can be used as a vehicle to support health behaviours and health status are unclear, especially in how the national to local government interact with sports clubs to support their efforts towards HP.
In sports clubs, previous studies have underlined that, from both coaches and managers’ perspectives, sports clubs scores on the HP policy dimension are below average3, that managers’ guidance towards HP was principally oriented on performance achievement, but not on non-performance goals4. This fellowship will develop the Health Promoting Sports Clubs-Policy Audit Tool (HPSC-PAT), to enable sports clubs to create their HP policies and implement national to local policies. A first study will consider the impact of the Gaelic Athletics Association ‘Healthy Clubs’ program on sports clubs HP policies. A second study will question how Irish sports clubs implement national to local policies. The last study will invite sports and health stakeholders and experts to draft the HPSC-PAT. This project should support sports clubs to become a hub for health information and programs, empowering their members and communities to enjoy healthier lifestyles.
References
- European Commission (2017). Special Eurobarometer 472. Sport and Physical Activity.
- Eime RM, Young JA, Harvey JT, Charity MJ, Payne WR. (2013). International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 10(98):16.
- Van Hoye, A., Sarrazin, P., Heuzé, J. P., & Kokko, S. (2015). Coaches’ perceptions of French sports clubs: Health-promotion activities, aims and coach motivation. Health Education Journal, 74(2), 231-243. (Q2 in Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health)
- Van Hoye, A., Johnson, S., Geidne, S., Donaldson, A., Rostan, F., Lemonnier, F., & Vuillemin, A. (2020). The health promoting sports club model: an intervention planning framework. Health Promotion International. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daaa093 (Q1 in Health)
- Van Hoye, A., Heuzé, J. P., Larsen, T., & Sarrazin, P. (2016). Comparison of coaches’ perceptions and officials guidance towards health promotion in French sport clubs: a mixed method study. Health Education Research, 31(3), 328-338. (Q1 in Public Health, Environmental and Occupational health)
Profiles
- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aurelie-Van-Hoye
- Associate Professor Aurelie Van Hoye, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Lorraine: Profile
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