Publication type: Conference other
Type of review: Peer review (abstract)
Title: Voluntary sport programs for individuals with mental health disorders : the trainer’s and participant’s view
Authors: Epiney, Florence
Baumberger, Carina
Pauli, Carole
Loosli, Daniela
Znoj, Hansjörg
Kleim, Birgit
Wieber, Frank
Kiselev, Nikolai
et. al: No
DOI: 10.36950/2024.2ciss040
Published in: Current Issues in Sport Science
Volume(Issue): 9
Issue: 2
Page(s): 040
Conference details: 15th Annual Conference of the Swiss Society of Sports Sciences (SGS/4S), Zurich, Switzerland, 7-8 February 2024
Issue Date: Feb-2024
Publisher / Ed. Institution: Bern Open Publishing
ISSN: 2414-6641
Language: English
Subject (DDC): 616.89: Mental disorders, clinical psychology and psychiatry
700: The arts and entertainment
Abstract: Introduction: There is strong evidence that physical activities are important in increasing and maintaining mental health as well as in preventing relapse after mental health disorders (Schulz et al., 2011). Physical activity is an integral part of the treatment program in psychiatric hospitals in Switzerland (CH; Brand et al., 2016). However, after discharge from the hospital in CH, there are insufficient opportunities to engage in physical activity for individuals with mental health disorders (IMHD). To close this gap, voluntary sports groups (VSG) for IMHD have been growing in Switzerland since 2016, mainly organized by the PluSport Umbrella Organization of Swiss Disabled Sports (Kiselev & Loosli, 2019). Yet, little is known about these VSG and their training settings. The perspectives of IMHD and trainers of these groups as well as the perceived barriers and facilitators for participating for IMHD have neither been assessed nor included in the design of sports programs. Therefore, two studies aimed to explore the point of view of the IMHD (first study) and the trainers of these groups (second study) on challenges, barriers, and facilitators for IMHD regarding participation in VSG for IMHD. Additionally, given the crucial role of the trainers in the training process and the importance of their interpersonal characteristics, both studies aimed to identify reasons/motivations and proper personality characteristics of the VSG trainers from the interviewees’ perspective. Methods: Both studies consisted of 15 semi-structured interviews each (with participants (1st study) and with trainers (2nd study) of VSG for IMHD). The results were analyzed using thematic analysis using Nvivo (Guest et al., 2012). Results: Several training facilitators and trainers’ characteristics supporting the participation of the IMHD in VSG for IMHD were named by interviewees (e.g., offer-specific, emotional, rational motives, social skills of the trainers, and ability to set boundaries). At the same time, respondents reported several barriers as possible inhibitors for the participation of IMHD in VSG for IMHD (e.g., intrapersonal, structural, offer-specific, interpersonal and socio-cultural). Within the interviews, IMHD described predominantly positive perceived outcomes from participating in VSG for IMHD. On the other side, trainers of VSG for IMHD highlighted the satisfaction of doing sports with IMHD and of the contribution to improving the physical activity habits of IMHD as the main factors for their commitment as coaches (Baumberger et al., under review; Epiney et al., 2023). Discussion/Conclusion: IMHD benefit socially, physically, and psychologically from participating in VSG for IMHD. However, participation is associated with barriers that need to be minimized in the future to make participation more accessible. Furthermore, the findings suggest improving the recruitment of future trainers of VSG for IMHD by focusing on assessing the appropriate personality characteristics of trainers and their motives. Additionally, findings should be integrated into the educational materials of Swiss disabled sports systems to ensure the proper upskilling of the new and present trainers of VSG for IMHD and ensure the quality and attractiveness of these groups for the target population . Finally, a large-scale survey is necessary to validate the results among the population.
URI: https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/29907
Fulltext version: Published version
License (according to publishing contract): CC BY 4.0: Attribution 4.0 International
Departement: School of Health Sciences
Organisational Unit: Institute of Public Health (IPH)
Published as part of the ZHAW project: Sport für Menschen mit psychischen Beeinträchtigungen in der Schweiz
Appears in collections:Publikationen Gesundheit

Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.
Show full item record
Epiney, F., Baumberger, C., Pauli, C., Loosli, D., Znoj, H., Kleim, B., Wieber, F., & Kiselev, N. (2024). Voluntary sport programs for individuals with mental health disorders : the trainer’s and participant’s view [Conference presentation]. Current Issues in Sport Science, 9(2), 40. https://doi.org/10.36950/2024.2ciss040
Epiney, F. et al. (2024) ‘Voluntary sport programs for individuals with mental health disorders : the trainer’s and participant’s view’, in Current Issues in Sport Science. Bern Open Publishing, p. 040. Available at: https://doi.org/10.36950/2024.2ciss040.
F. Epiney et al., “Voluntary sport programs for individuals with mental health disorders : the trainer’s and participant’s view,” in Current Issues in Sport Science, Feb. 2024, vol. 9, no. 2, p. 040. doi: 10.36950/2024.2ciss040.
EPINEY, Florence, Carina BAUMBERGER, Carole PAULI, Daniela LOOSLI, Hansjörg ZNOJ, Birgit KLEIM, Frank WIEBER und Nikolai KISELEV, 2024. Voluntary sport programs for individuals with mental health disorders : the trainer’s and participant’s view. In: Current Issues in Sport Science. Conference presentation. Bern Open Publishing. Februar 2024. S. 040
Epiney, Florence, Carina Baumberger, Carole Pauli, Daniela Loosli, Hansjörg Znoj, Birgit Kleim, Frank Wieber, and Nikolai Kiselev. 2024. “Voluntary Sport Programs for Individuals with Mental Health Disorders : The Trainer’s and Participant’s View.” Conference presentation. In Current Issues in Sport Science, 9:40. Bern Open Publishing. https://doi.org/10.36950/2024.2ciss040.
Epiney, Florence, et al. “Voluntary Sport Programs for Individuals with Mental Health Disorders : The Trainer’s and Participant’s View.” Current Issues in Sport Science, vol. 9, no. 2, Bern Open Publishing, 2024, p. 40, https://doi.org/10.36950/2024.2ciss040.


Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.