Factors Influencing Men's Experiences and Engagement with the Rugby Fans in Training-New Zealand Pilot Trial: A Healthy Lifestyle Intervention for Men.

Elaine Anne Hargreaves,Ralph Maddison,Samantha Marsh

doi:10.3390/healthcare9121737

Elaine Anne Hargreaves, Ralph Maddison + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9121737

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Abstract

Health promotion programs designed specifically to support men to improve their lifestyle behaviours are required to improve men’s health. This study explored factors that influenced men’s experiences of, and engagement with, the Rugby Fans in Training—New Zealand pilot trial, a professional sport-based healthy lifestyle intervention for overweight men. Thirty-five men (mean age = 45, SD = 10 years) who completed the 12-week intervention participated in one of eight semi-structured focus groups. Using inductive thematic analysis, five themes represented the meanings in the data. First, a group of like-minded men all in the same boat recognised the importance of being in similar life situations and having similar reasons for joining the programme. Second, the men described the importance of the support and motivation provided by the team atmosphere created through the programme. Third, the motivational coach recognised the characteristics, skills and knowledge of the coach delivering the programme which created engagement with it. Fourth, the education sessions were valued for the knowledge gained and underpinning philosophies that guided them. Finally, the involvement of the rugby franchise influenced commitment to the programme and created initial interest. These results provide evidence for the key components that should be incorporated into the future development of and improvement to healthy lifestyle interventions for men.

Highlights

RuFIT-NZ was a lifestyle intervention focused on improving physical activity and dietary behaviours, delivered through professional rugby union franchises
Our results illustrated that engagement with the programme was heavily influenced by: (1) factors brought to the programme by the men who enrolled: their life situations, motivations and behaviours, and how those factors supported the creation of a team atmosphere; (2) the supportive, motivating and skilful coach who delivered the programme; and (3) factors inherent to the design and content of the programme: the knowledge gained from the education sessions and its situation within professional sport
Similar to the men in Hat Trick [20], they appreciated the realistic messages to make small, manageable behaviour changes. These elements were built into the RuFIT-NZ programme given previous evidence that a small change approach can promote significant behaviour change and weight loss [47], these results provide further evidence that this approach is appreciated by men

Summary

Introduction

Compared with women, the prevalence of being overweight or obese is greater in men (70% vs 63%) [2]. Reasons for this are multifactorial but poor lifestyle habits are likely contributing factors [3]. Men are more likely than women to consume a diet low in fruit and vegetables and have higher alcohol consumption, while 42% do not achieve recommended levels of physical activity [2]. Men are repeatedly underrepresented in traditional health promotion interventions aimed at improving lifestyle behaviours and reduce weight [4]. We describe the experiences of the men who completed the pilot Rugby Fans in Training—

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