GPA0022

Written evidence submitted by Associate Professor Rita De Oliveira, Doctor Lisa Zaidall, Zsofia Szekeres and Professor Katya Mileva

The Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Centre (SESRC) est. 1994 at London South Bank University (LSBU) is recognised nationally and internationally for conducting research that is scientifically excellent, innovative and rigorous, as well as relevant and impactful on our communities and stakeholders. Over the past decade we have collaborated with Lambeth Council and Sport for Development Charities incluing Fight4Change, SilverFit, Active Communities Network, and others to investigate the potential of sport and exercise delivered through community-based programs to improve exercise participation, social cohesion and pro-social behaviours in socially deprived communities. We engage with vulnerable, marginalised, excluded or hard-to-reach groups and produce insight into the factors that influence their participation and attitude to sport and exercise. SESRC research has informed recomendations for effective engagement strategies, future service commissioning and sport and leisure provision. In the last Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) the impact of our research was judged “very considerable in terms of reach and significance in relation to health behaviour change”. 

Our evidence is based on primary research studies involving young women and girls, and older adults living in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation in London and with diverse ethnic backgrounds, as well as exercise providers.

1. High-quality and reach campaigns like the This Girl Can campaign have positively affected young women and girls from ethnic backgrounds and deprived areas of residence. They positively influence attitudes and perceptions about physical activity, exercise, and sports in different sectors of the population (e.g., girls, older adults, and parents).
1. In addition to the key messages of the campaign so far, our research suggests the following extra messages: 1) exercise has immediate positive psychological effects; 2) an exercise class is a great way to make new friends or connect with friends and neighbours; 3) exercise is for all ages and mobility levels, no matter how old; 4) exercising in older age is a ‘civic duty’ (as it unburdens the NHS).

2. Young women and girls wish to see their sports skills develop and improve, and value a competent and knowledgeable coach. They also wish equity with boys and men.
1. Part-time and volunteer coaches (as opposed to full-time coaches with Sport and Exercise degree-level qualifications) may lack the competence to lead grassroots sessions that capture and motivate participants, especially from harder to reach groups (North, 2009).
2. Sports kits, from t-shirts and vests to sports halls and balls must be equally distributed between girls’ and boys’ groups. For girls, this acknowledges their equity with boys.
3. Girls experience competitive school leagues which are sporadic, unorganised, and unrewarding. At the same time, they observe boys’ school leagues prioritised, better funded, and supported by teachers and parents. This discrepancy sends the message that girls’ sports are second-rate and not worth their time.

3. A significant barrier to older adults’ participation in exercise is fear of injury or re-injury.
1. Instructors that lead sessions for older adults (or mixed-age sessions) must have qualifications that guarantee they can adapt sessions to older adults with lower mobility or injuries.
2. GP and other health professionals should routinely recommend physical activity and exercise; these recommendations are the main starting point for many inactive older adults. In addition, healthcare facilities should be able to provide a list of registered local exercise providers for adults and older adults.

4. Exercise providers (charities) say the way to report engagement is not fit-for-purpose because it is resource-intensive, and it focuses on numbers rather than impact.
1. To receive funding (eg, from Sport England, Lambeth Council) providers must commit to engaging very large numbers which they often achieve by running taster events with little follow-up. However, they believe that their value is to engage fewer numbers but that these will be active for longer. One provider said “Measuring impact […] allows organisations to focus on delivery rather than on numbers, and when you take away that pressure to hit numbers people start doing quality and effective work”.
2. Exercise providers should recruit competent and fully qualified coaches.

5. Sport delivered through Youth Sport Programs can successfully engage hard to reach and high-risk groups of young people, serve as a protective factor against involvement in anti-social behaviours, improve the social cohesion between different sub-communities and provide young people with positive role models.
1. To become more effective these programs must be supported by long-term strategies and funding for operation and delivery to ensure sustainability of the sport activities and the youth workforce engagement.

6. Schools are vital stakeholders for young participation in exercise; they are the familiar setting where interventions (community partnerships) can take place and pathways to community sport participation can be implemented there.
1. Although schools do well in having sports clubs exit routes after school, schools must not substitute their PE lessons with sports clubs;
2. Excessive sit-down homework hampers engagement in physical activity, exercise, or enjoyment of outdoor spaces like parks. It also results in increased psychological stress. Instead, schools could shape homework to include (family) visits to local parks, libraries or museums.

7. Physical education encourages movement exploration and essential psychomotor learning that will stay with children over their lifetime. PE is where children learn basic skills like running, skipping, dodging, climbing, catching, passing a ball, doing a forward roll, etc.
1. Physical education is the crucial time and place where attitudes are formed for life towards exercise and sport. Competent fully-qualified PE-trained teachers must lead PE; Schools must give PE lessons sufficient allocated time, facilities and resources.
2. The evidence is clear: children and older adults with positive physical education experiences want to return or continue active participation in exercise, whereas inactive people often cite poor physical education experiences.

References

Annan, L., Gaoua, N., Mileva, K. and Borges, M. (2021). What makes young people get involved with street gangs in London? A study of the perceived risk factors. Journal of Community Psychology. 50 (5), 2198-2213. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcop.22767

Hull, R. (2019). This girl can: an ecological approach to investigating physical activity in urban females. Unpublished doctoral thesis. London South Bank University. https://doi.org/10.18744/lsbu.921v4

Hull, R., Zaidell, L., Mileva, K., de Oliveira, R.F. (2021). This Girl Can, can’t she? Perspectives from exercise providers and participants on what factors influence participation. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.102043

Hull, R., Zaidell, L., de Oliveira, R.F. (2018). An ecological approach to exploring physical activity interventions aimed at young UK-based females: a narrative systematic review. Psychology, 9, 2795-2823. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2018.914161

North, J. (2009). The coaching workforce 2009–2016. Leeds, UK: Sports Coach UK.

North, J., Piggott, D., Rankin-Wright, A., & Ashford, M. (2020). An empirical examination of U.K. coaches; issues and problems, and their support and advice networks. International Sports Coaching Journal, 7, 283–294.

Szekeres, Z. (2022). “Getting the old limbs going”: Exploring the emotional and cognitive benefits of exercise and the barriers to participation in older adults. Unpublished doctoral thesis. London South Bank University. https://doi.org/10.18744/lsbu.921v3

October 2022