O.4.4-8 Promoting men’s health through sports clubs: a rapid realist review

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Traditional health promotion interventions have failed to engage men. Sports clubs offer male-friendly environments that have been identified as an attractive setting for men’s health promotion, but little is known about implementable intervention strategies and subsequent effects. This rapid realist review (RRR) aims to close this gap by assessing context, mechanisms and effects of health promotion interventions targeting men by or in collaboration with sports clubs. Methods The RRR methodology was developed in collaboration with a panel of Danish practice and policy representatives and international academics. A systematic literature search was conducted in February 2023 for studies published after 2013 in MEDLINE, Embase, and SportDiscus databases. Included studies: 1) targeted men aged 18+ years, 2) reported health promotion outcomes, and 3) were delivered primarily by or in collaboration with sports clubs. A grey literature search of National Sports Associations and Federations and non-government men’s health organizations was also performed. Dalkin’s conceptualization of mechanisms in realist methodology was used to identify context- mechanism-outcome configurations (CMOc) and develop a program theory. The study follows Cochrane’s guidance for rapid reviews and is registered in Research Registry (ID: reviewregistry1556). Results We identified 2.720 studies after duplicates removal. Preliminary analyses indicate that interventions delivered through sports clubs show promise for engaging men and producing favorable health outcomes (e.g., weight loss, increased physical activity and improved social support). The realist synthesis suggests that health interventions delivered through sports clubs (resource mechanism) targeted at men who have high attachment to the sport or club (context), may align with their interests and identities (mechanism), to increase the potential for engagement and health behavior change (outcome). The analysis will be finalised by August. Conclusions Our study indicates that men’s health promotion through sports clubs is emergent. While great strides have been made to increase men’s involvement in health promoting activities by delivering interventions through sports clubs, research has predominantly focused on select behaviours (e.g., physical activity) and sub-groups (e.g., sports fans). Support/Funding Source This work was funded by the five Steno Diabetes Centers in Denmark, which are partly funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.