Sports coaches’ perception of Health Promotion: philosophies, actions, barriers & strategies study

Abstract Background Sport coaches play an essential role in promoting the health of sport participants, yet their contribution is often underemphasized, despite sports clubs being recognized as health-promoting settings. This article explores sports coaches’ philosophies, actions, barriers and strategies to health promotion (HP). Methods An exploratory mixed-method survey design (QUAL = >quan) was used in this study. A sample of 299 sports coaches in Europe completed an online survey, including closed-ended questions on their influence on sports participants health behaviors, barriers for HP and open-ended questions on coaching philosophies and associated health benefits, keywords linked to health, and strategies for HP. Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis and multivariate statistics respectively. Results Coaches define health mainly through keywords related to physical health. Nevertheless, coaches consider themselves to be influential on the mental and social health of sport participants and are addressing these health-related themes to a greater extent than physical health during the season. Coaches’ training philosophies were categorized into 9 themes, mainly focusing on social and mental health. Coaches used primarily participants’ management and communication as successful strategies and reported a lack of time, knowledge, and human resources as the main barriers. Conclusions The present findings highlight a gap between how coaches define health, what they feel they can influence and how they promote health. Further work is needed to explore the paradox between coaches’ definition of health and self-reported actions focused predominantly on social and mental health. Key messages • This study highlights how coaches’ priorities influence their practice, as a basis for designing targeted health promotion training programs to help them broaden their influence on athletes’ health. • Coaches’ perceived role in health highlights their potential as agents of health promotion and underlines the importance of raising their awareness of a more holistic approach to health promotion.