The settings-based approach to health promotion within sports clubs is a growing field of research. Evidence of health promotion intervention effectiveness in scientific literature is scarce, and little is known about their implementation mechanisms. The present study explores how promising health promotion interventions in eight French sports clubs are developed, and how the health promoting sports club’s intervention planning framework is applied. A method to collect Experiential Knowledge in health promotion was used, based on two iterative interviews to analyze intervention mechanisms and completed with document analysis. A deductive analysis using the health promoting sports club intervention planning framework was then undertaken. Among the 14 evidence-driven strategies, 13 were implemented in sports clubs (min = 9; max = 13). Policies were not targeted by any of the interventions. Key competencies of the managers of these health promotion interventions were identified: (1) having a deep understanding of the public and environment, (2) acquiring a high capacity to mobilize internal and external human resources, (3) possessing communication skills and (4) having an ability to write grant applications. By using evidence-driven strategies and intervention components, sports professionals can use this experiential knowledge to create successful and sustainable interventions.

Summary The health promoting sports club describes the development of the settings-based approach in sports clubs. Based on this model, a questionnaire was developed to measure health promotion perceptions in sports clubs (e-PROSCeSS). The objective of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of a French version of the e-PROSCeSS measurement tool. The questionnaire includes three scales measuring stakeholder’s perceptions of club (macro), managers (meso) and coaches (micro) activities toward promoting health. Five steps were undertaken to assess perceptions. First, scales were translated into French. Second, each item’s content clarity was tested in three populations: managers, coaches, sports participants. Third, descriptive statistics were analyzed for each scale. Fourth, confirmatory factorial analysis was used to select items for each level. Predictive validity found positive relationships between health promotion perceptions and managing/coaching positions, and negative relationships with drop-out intentions. Positive relationships were found between sports participants’ perceptions of health promotion and their self-rated performance and quality of life, while negative relationships were detected with drop-out intentions. The French e-PROSCeSS subscales showed good psychometric properties in measuring health determinants at multiple levels. However, the tool did not measure health promotion as an overarching concept that questions its applicability in the sports club setting.

Objectives: Sports clubs’ investment in health promotion (HP) has so far been limited, and efforts to understand where gaps exist in implementation are few and far between. This mixed-method study analysed managers’, coaches’ and sports participants’ perceptions of HP in a single sports club. Design: A mixed-method cross sectional design was used. Setting: The goal was to assess HP perceptions at the macro (club), meso (managers) and micro (coaches) levels with respect to four key health determinants. Method: Quantitative data were collected from 237 participants using e-PROSCeSS questionnaires. Qualitative data collection included two meetings with managers and a focus group with sports club participants. Data analysis took place by means of a hybrid thematic analysis informed by the health promoting sports club (HPSC) model. Results: Similar answer patterns among managers, coaches and sports club participants illustrated that social and environmental determinants scored higher than organisational and economic determinants, which was consistent with qualitative findings. Only one significant difference was found between managers and sports club participants – for organisational determinants at the macro level. In others words, all club actors agreed that sports clubs needed to invest in HP policy and funding, and not only acknowledge that HP is an integral outcome of sports participation. Gender differences in HP perceptions were identified, while being a volunteer compared to a non-volunteer did not make any significant difference. Conclusion: Study findings raise questions about how best to implement and evaluate sports club HP, especially in relation to policies and resources. This is essential to understand the interactions between macro, meso and micro level health determinants and the temporal implications of implementing a HPSC’s approach.

The recognition of sports clubs (SC) as health-promoting settings is increasing, as well as the number of health promotion (HP) interventions implemented in this setting. However, minimal understanding of their development process and the persistent gap between theoretical knowledge and real-life practice is a major limitation to their implementation. This article describes a participatory research approach, implicating 29 stakeholders in sports and HP (6 HP researchers, 9 HP professionals, 6 representatives from regional and national sports organizations and 8 representatives from SC), leading to the co-construction of a health-promoting SC intervention. Stakeholders were mobilized through four stages: (i) analysis of effective programs, (ii) co-construction workshops, (iii) evaluation of relevance and acceptability, and (iv) beta-testing of a massive open online course (MOOC). A qualitative analysis was carried out on data collected through notetaking, recordings, transcripts, email exchanges and produced documents. This work led to the development of an HP intervention, including an MOOC, as well as a seven-step SC-tailored program. The convergence of theoretical knowledge and contextual real-life practice made it possible to respond to the specific needs and implementation problems encountered by SC actors and to develop acceptable strategies and tools.

Background The acquisition of health promotion (HP) skills and knowledge is essential for interventions development [1,2]. Considering the increasing recognition of the potential of HP in sports clubs (SC) [3] and the number of HP interventions [4,5], the development of training to optimize their implementation is important. To this end, the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) PROSCeSS (PROmotion de la Santé dans les Clubs de SportS) was developed. The objective of this work was to evaluate the learning process of the MOOC, its acceptability and its effectiveness on the HP knowledge and on the abilities to implement the learning. Methods Questionnaires were sent to participants before and after the training between November and February 2022. The RE-AIM model, measuring reach (affected audience) of the training, effectiveness (knowledge gained), adoption (motivations to participate in the course), implementation (use of learning), and maintenance (long-term use of learning) was used to structure the study. Descriptive and multivariate statistics were performed using SPSS 23.0 software. Preliminary Results Of the 2000 learners, 21% completed the pre-MOOC questionnaire and 5% completed the post-MOOC questionnaire. Among non-exclusive categories, 32% of learners were SC coaches, 26% were managers, 43% were practitioners (on average for 10 years) and 46% were HP or sport professionals. A paired sample t-test showed an 11% increase in the post-MOOC knowledge questionnaire score compared to the pre-MOOC questionnaire, as well as a 10% increase in confidence in implementing HP actions. 48% of learners were “completely satisfied” with the MOOC and 47% “quite satisfied”. The strategies of participatory approach, communication and objective were considered as the most important and feasible while the lack of time, financial and human resources were considered the main barriers to learning's implementation. Conclusions SC actors seem to be interested in HP and want to be trained. This MOOC appears to be an effective solution for acquiring knowledge in HP. The results provide indications for the development of strategic tools and inform on strategies recognized as effective and feasible to implement HP projects and face the problems encountered by the SC.