Understanding the Barriers To, And
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UNDERSTANDING THE BARRIERS TO, AND IMPACT OF, MEN'S ENGAGEMENT IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH RELATED BEHAVIOURS: AN EXAMINATION OF AN ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL IN THE COMMUNITY MEN'S HEALTH PROGRAMME Kathryn Michelle Curran Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Liverpool John Moores University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy This research programme was carried out in collaboration with Everton in the Community 2013 "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people, in a way that little else does." (Nelson Mandela, 2000) Copyright and Disclaimer No portion of the work referenced in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or institute of learning. This research was supervised by a member of academic staff but is essentially the work of the author. Views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of any other member of the Research Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences. Copyright in text of this thesis rests with the author. The ownership of any intellectual property rights may be described in the thesis is vested in liverpool John Moores University and may not be available for use to any third parties without the written permission of the University. II Declaration I declare that the work contained in this thesis is entirely my own. Some of the work has been submitted to academic journals and presented at regional, National, European and International conferences and are listed below: Curran, K. (2013) Corporate Social Responsibility in Professional Football Clubs: A case study of Everton Football Club. Sport and Social Responsibility conference, th Portadown, Northern Ireland. 6 September 2013. ORAL. Curran, K. and Parnell, D. (2013) The Realities of Promoting Men's Health: A Case Study from Everton Fe's Community Football Programme. Physical Activity and Men's Health Interventions. 2nd European Healthy Stadia Conference 2013: 21 st March, Etihad Stadium, UK. ORAL Curran, K. (2013) Encouraging positive lifestyle changes among hard-to-reach men. Heart Research UK, 'Celebrating Success-Learning the Lessons' one day conference. Leeds, UK. 23 rd January 2013. ORAL Dunn, K., Drust, B., Murphy, R. and Richardson, D. (2012) The challenge of engaging hard-to-reach populations in regular sport and physical activity: an examination of an English Premier League Football in the community men's health programme. The 20TH European Association of Sports Management (EASM) Conference, Aalborg, Denmark, 18th_21st September 2012. ORAL *Awarded runner-up in 'EASM New Researcher Award' for the best original theoretical or conceptual advance and significant unpublished contribution in sport management. Dunn, K. and Parnell, D. (2012) Football as a vehicle for social change: reflections from the field. Football and its Communities Conference, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. 1st June, 2012. ORAL Dunn, K., Drust, B., Flower, D. and Richardson, D. (2011) Kicking the Habit: A Biopsychosocial Account of Engaging Men recovering from Drug Misuse in Recreational Football. The 8th International Men's Health World Congress. Vienna, Austria. 2nd_5th October 2011. ORAL Dunn, K., Drust, B., Flower, D. and Richardson, D. (2011) Football, Health and Homelessness. The complexities of engaging homeless men in regular physical activity. The 16th Annual Congress of the ECSS, Liverpool, UK.6_9th July, 2011. POSTER Dunn. K., Drust, B. and Richardson, D. (2010) I just want to watch the match! A reflective account of men's health themed match day events at an English Premier League Football Club. The 7th International Men's Health World Congress. Nice, th France. 28th_30 October 2010. ORAL III Dunn, K. (2010) Premier League Men's Health: Using sport as a vehicle for men's engagement in positive health behaviours. Regional Conference. Duxford Imperial War Museum Cambridge. 22 nd March 2010. ORAL Invited Symposia Dunn, K. (2011) Football as a vehicle for men's engagement in health related behaviours. In 'Habits and Hobbies of Men' at the 8th International Men's Health nd th World Congress', Vienna, Austria. Oct 2 - 6 2011. Abstract Publications Dunn, K., Drust, B., Murphy, R. and Richardson, D. (2012) The challenge of engaging hard-to-reach populations in regular sport and physical activity: an examination of an English Premier League Football in the community men's health programme. Book of abstracts, 20th EASM Conference, Aalborg, Denmark. Dunn, K., Drust, B., Flower, D. and Richardson, 0 (2011) Kicking the Habit: A Biopsychosocial Account of Engaging Men recovering from Drug Misuse in Recreational Football. Journal of Men's Health, 8(2), 233. Dunn, K., Drust, B., Flower, D. and Richardson, D. (2011) Football, Health and Homelessness. The complexities of engaging homeless men in regular physical activity. Book of abstracts, 16th Annual Congress ofthe ECSS, Liverpool, UK. Dunn. K., Drust, B. and Richardson, D. (2010) I just want to watch the match! A reflective account of men's health themed match day events at an English Premier League Football Club. Journal of Men's Health, 7(3), 323. Case Study Case study submitted to World Health Organization and chosen as an example of best practice for promoting physical activity in socially disadvantaged groups. Available at: www.euro.who.int!en!what-we-do!health-topics!environment-and health!sections!news!2013!07!new-guidance-on-promoting-physical-activity-in socially-disadvantaged-groups IV Abstract This thesis outlines research undertaken by formal collaboration between Everton Football Club's Football in the Community (FitC) scheme; Everton in the Community (EitC) and Liverpool John Moores University, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences. In recent years, there has been recognition of the influence that English Premier League (EPL) football clubs can have in attracting men to physical activity and health engagement programmes. Despite attempts to align FitC programmes with suitable evaluation procedures, there still remains limited evaluative empirical evidence. Study 1 adopted ethnographic principles to explore the effectiveness of, and identify the barriers to, promoting positive health behaviours and messages to male football fans at an EPL football stadium on match days. Results showed that in general, men did not wish to engage in health related behaviours on match days however approaches that did not impose on, nor contaminate, the men's match day experience were more successful. Study 2 adopted a multi-method approach to explore the distinct barriers that hard-to-reach (HTR) male populations encounter when attempting to commit to regular participation in physical activity and health behaviours and to examine the impact of engaging in a 12 week FitC intervention. Economic, environmental and social barriers to engagement in regular physical activity and positive health behaviours are highlighted and specific biopsychosocial effects of engaging in the FitC programme are identified. Study 3 utilised informal semi structured interviews with programme participants to explore the contextual, environmental and psychosocial barriers experienced by men from HTR populations. Psychosocial motivations for programme uptake and the impact of regular engagement in the FitC men's health programme are discussed. It is recommended that commissioning agencies should endorse and fund men's health initiatives delivered in and by professional sports clubs. To maintain participant engagement and maximise improvements to men's health and wellbeing, alterations to current practice and research are discussed. v Acknowledgements A former student once wrote "completing a PhD is like running a marathon", and I have to say, I rather agree. Thankfully, there was a lot less physical pain (and vomiting!!) during the completion of this marathon than during my actual marathon effort, but there have been many similarities. During both 'marathons' I experienced the feeling of flying, the feeling of plodding and the feeling of being well and truly stuck to the spot. So too did I experience the emotion of excitement followed by exhaustion and the feeling of utter relief and personal satisfaction when the finishing line was eventually crossed. Another similarity lies in the number of people I came to lean on, and in some cases, depend on, for support during the journey. There are a number of people whom I wish to sincerely thank, as without them, I would not have been successful in finishing this marathon. First and foremost I would like to thank the participants of the Premier League Health programme. Thank you for accepting me, for letting me into your world and for opening my eyes. Thank you to all of the staff and volunteers at Everton in the Community; in particular, thank you to Chris Clarke and Dean Jones for your guidance, support and ridiculous banter throughout my time at Goodison Park. My journey and experiences with you all 'burst my bubble' of naivety and made me grow both personally and professionally. A very special and HUGE thank you must be said to Dr Dave Richardson. Dave, your knowledge and guidance have been pivotal in my professional development (gone are the days that I have to 'Google' the words you use, but instead, I now use them myself!! I). I honestly cannot thank you enough for all of your time, advice and attention to detail over the past four years. Thank you for all the laughs, the (extra hot) coffee breaks and for not only being a great Director of Studies, line manager and role model, but for also being a friend. I couldn't have done this without you. Thank you to my second and third supervisors, Professor Barry Drust and Dr Rebecca Murphy, for all of your time, help and contributions to this thesis and related abstracts/papers. Barry, thank you for your advice, for keeping me grounded and for constantly reminding me not to make a mountain out of mole hill.