TY - JOUR
T1 - How European Fans in Training (EuroFIT), a lifestyle change program for men delivered in football clubs, achieved its effect
T2 - a mixed methods process evaluation embedded in a randomised controlled trial
AU - Bunn, Christopher
AU - Palmer, Victoria
AU - Chng, Nai Rui
AU - Andersen, Eivind
AU - Gray, Cindy M.
AU - Hunt, Kate
AU - Jelsma, Judith G. M.
AU - Morgan, Heather
AU - der Sanden, Maria Nijhuis-van
AU - Pereira, Hugo V.
AU - Philpott, Matthew
AU - Roberts, Glyn C.
AU - Rooksby, John
AU - Røynesdal, Øystein B.
AU - Silva, Marlene N.
AU - Sørensen, Marit
AU - Teixeira, Pedro J.
AU - van Achterberg, Theo
AU - van de Glind, Irene
AU - van Mechelen, Willem
AU - van Nassau, Femke
AU - van der Ploeg, Hidde P.
AU - Wyke, Sally
N1 - Funding Information: We are grateful to participants who took part in the research, coaches and club managers at fifteen football clubs and UEFA’s Football and Social Responsibility department for supporting the proposal at bidding stage. Ciaran Clissman of Pintail Ltd managed the project and provided invaluable editorial input into the funding application and delivery of the program. Prof Nanette Mutrie was substantially involved in the development of the EuroFIT program. Dr Lisa Macauley administered the UK data collection in the UK and Alan Pollok supported some UK data collection. Dr Mattias Rost and Prof Mathew Chalmers were substantially involved in the development of MatchFIT and Drs Douglas Maxwell and Nikos Mourselas of PAL Technologies in the technical development of the SitFIT. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Funding Information: Relational, physical and financial resources are needed to implement EuroFIT, including professional football clubs with sufficient commitment to try delivering the program and to recruit coaches willing to take part in training. The program also requires access to club facilities and materials for the program, and funding to pay for materials such as manuals and t-shirts (Fig. ). Funding for the deliveries of EuroFIT reported in this paper was provided through the research grant. Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/12/1
Y1 - 2023/12/1
N2 - Background: A randomised trial of European Fans in Training (EuroFIT), a 12-week healthy lifestyle program delivered in 15 professional football clubs in the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, successfully increased physical activity and improved diet but did not reduce sedentary time. To guide future implementation, this paper investigates how those effects were achieved. We ask: 1) how was EuroFIT implemented? 2) what were the processes through which outcomes were achieved? Methods: We analysed qualitative data implementation notes, observations of 29 of 180 weekly EuroFIT deliveries, semi-structured interviews with 16 coaches and 15 club representatives, and 30 focus group discussions with participants (15 post-program and 15 after 12 months). We descriptively analysed quantitative data on recruitment, attendance at sessions and logs of use of the technologies and survey data on the views of participants at baseline, post program and after 12 months. We used a triangulation protocol to investigate agreement between data from difference sources, organised around meeting 15 objectives within the two research questions. Results: We successfully recruited clubs, coaches and men to EuroFIT though the draw of the football club seemed stronger in the UK and Portugal. Advertising that emphasized getting fitter, club-based deliveries, and not ‘standing out’ worked and attendance and fidelity were good, so that coaches in all countries were able to deliver EuroFIT flexibly as intended. Coaches in all 15 clubs facilitated the use of behaviour change techniques and interaction between men, which together enhanced motivation. Participants found it harder to change sedentary time than physical activity and diet. Fitting changes into daily routines, planning for setbacks and recognising the personal benefit of behaviour change were important to maintain changes. Bespoke technologies were valued, but technological hitches frustrated participants. Conclusion: EuroFIT was delivered as planned by trained club coaches working flexibly in all countries. It worked as expected to attract men and support initiation and maintenance of changes in physical activity and diet but the use of bespoke, unstable, technologies was frustrating. Future deliveries should eliminate the focus on sedentary time and should use only proven technologies to support self-monitoring and social interaction. Trial registration: ISRCTN81935608, registered 16/06/2015.
AB - Background: A randomised trial of European Fans in Training (EuroFIT), a 12-week healthy lifestyle program delivered in 15 professional football clubs in the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United Kingdom, successfully increased physical activity and improved diet but did not reduce sedentary time. To guide future implementation, this paper investigates how those effects were achieved. We ask: 1) how was EuroFIT implemented? 2) what were the processes through which outcomes were achieved? Methods: We analysed qualitative data implementation notes, observations of 29 of 180 weekly EuroFIT deliveries, semi-structured interviews with 16 coaches and 15 club representatives, and 30 focus group discussions with participants (15 post-program and 15 after 12 months). We descriptively analysed quantitative data on recruitment, attendance at sessions and logs of use of the technologies and survey data on the views of participants at baseline, post program and after 12 months. We used a triangulation protocol to investigate agreement between data from difference sources, organised around meeting 15 objectives within the two research questions. Results: We successfully recruited clubs, coaches and men to EuroFIT though the draw of the football club seemed stronger in the UK and Portugal. Advertising that emphasized getting fitter, club-based deliveries, and not ‘standing out’ worked and attendance and fidelity were good, so that coaches in all countries were able to deliver EuroFIT flexibly as intended. Coaches in all 15 clubs facilitated the use of behaviour change techniques and interaction between men, which together enhanced motivation. Participants found it harder to change sedentary time than physical activity and diet. Fitting changes into daily routines, planning for setbacks and recognising the personal benefit of behaviour change were important to maintain changes. Bespoke technologies were valued, but technological hitches frustrated participants. Conclusion: EuroFIT was delivered as planned by trained club coaches working flexibly in all countries. It worked as expected to attract men and support initiation and maintenance of changes in physical activity and diet but the use of bespoke, unstable, technologies was frustrating. Future deliveries should eliminate the focus on sedentary time and should use only proven technologies to support self-monitoring and social interaction. Trial registration: ISRCTN81935608, registered 16/06/2015.
KW - Football
KW - Intervention
KW - Mixed Methods
KW - Physical Activity
KW - Process Evaluation
KW - Sedentary Time
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=85150431147&origin=inward
UR - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36941552
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15419-y
DO - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15419-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 36941552
SN - 1471-2458
VL - 23
JO - BMC public health
JF - BMC public health
IS - 1
M1 - 526
ER -