Qualitative investigation of the role of collaborative football and walking football groups in mental health recovery

Abstract

Efforts to increase physical activity levels in people with serious mental health conditions are viewed as desirable but little is known about how best to support this group to engage in exercise over extended periods. From a personal recovery perspective, the dominant paradigm in current mental health service delivery, one promising route involves participation with, rather than administration to or supervision of, mental health service users in team sports, usually football, in order to foster sharing of common interests and experiences. We aimed to explore the factors underlying the success of four collaborative mental health football (soccer) projects and the role played by football in mental health care delivery and in personal recovery. We held semi-structured focus groups with service user (n=18) and staff (n=7) participants from four football groups (two 'walking' football and two regular football) in two geographical National Health Service Boards in Scotland. Thematic analysis revealed that, central to success, were perceived relational, and personal and physical recovery-related benefits; competition and collaboration-related aspects were important drivers of interest in and commitment to the groups. Further, participants identified barriers to and concerns for continued success; specifically, they expressed that they need more explicit support from senior management. The clear emerging message was that collaborative football groups were perceived by participants as a conduit for recovery and an important aspect of mental healthcare delivery. Playing football was associated with a sense of wellbeing, and enhanced relationships between service users and staff.

“Football is pure enjoyment”: An exploration of the behaviour change processes which facilitate engagement in football for people with mental health problems

“…Social support is a frequently used strategy in PA interventions to enhance behaviour change and peer support has been found to aid recovery amongst those with mental health problems who play football (Lamont et al, 2017;Magee, et al, 2015). The current study added that using social support could be essential for engagement in football on the occasions where there were significant barriers to attending.…”

“…Facilitators to engaging people with mental health problems in football, include the competition element (Lamont et al, 2017) and provision being away from the clinical environment (Magee et al, 2015). One non-clinical environment which has potential to engage people with mental health problems is the provision of football delivered by professional football clubs through their community foundations and trusts (Curran et al 2017).…”

“…The key findings from this evidence is that participation in football provided increased social opportunities (Darongkamas, Scott & Taylor, 2011;Carter-Morris & Faulkner, 2003). Qualitative work further explored the social element of football where it emerged that peer support aids recovery in mental health (Lamont, Harris, McDonald, Kerin & Dickens, 2017;Magee, Spaaig & Jeanes, 2015). Other benefits of football included improved confidence (Darongkamas et al 2011), increased well-being, connectedness and symptom relief (Friedrich & Mason, 2017a) and transformation of self-stigma (Magee et al, 2015).…”

The Physiological, Physical, and Biomechanical Demands of Walking Football: Implications for Exercise Prescription and Future Research in Older Adults

“…Previous small-scale investigations have shown that walking football is a feasible and sustainable exercise intervention that may improve participants' mental wellbeing (Lamont, Harris, McDonald, Kerin, & Dickens, 2017;McEwan et al, 2019;Reddy et al, 2017), as well as their body composition and physical fitness (Arnold, Bruce-Low, & Sammut, 2015). An ethnographic study of walking football suggested that walking football also provides intangible benefits, including increasing participants' 'appetite for life' and enhancing their social engagement as part of a wider supportive community (Loadman, 2017).…”

Sport as a Treatment Aimed to the Recovery in Severe Psychiatric Disorders: Health, Functioning and Adjustment

“…Also, sport may reduce BMI and promote a higher level of physical health [5,6]. Enjoyment and amusement are very important parts of sport activities [7,8] and that could help patient adherence. More recent evidence [9] have shown a positive effect of sport on schizophrenia symptoms.…”