Abstract
Introduction:Care sport connectors stimulate physical activity and facilitate collaboration between the primary care and physical activity sectors in the Netherlands. To strengthen intersectoral collaboration between the primary care and sports sectors, it is necessary to study which tasks a care sport connector must fulfil according to their own and other professionals’ perceptions.Methods:A Delphi study was conducted with 182 professionals from the primary care, public health and physical activity sectors. Rounds 1 and 2 included questions about task perception, willingness to collaborate and expectations of care sport connectors. Rounds 3 and 4 were used to reach consensus.Results:All professions acknowledged physical activity promotion tasks, but they are not all willing to collaborate. They expect a broad range of roles from care sport connectors: informative, executive, guiding and intermediate. Care sport connectors reached consensus on two roles: informative and intermediate.Discussion:Care sport connectors have an important role in strengthening intersectoral collaboration. All the professions acknowledged a task concerning physical activity promotion and accepted a broker role. Thus, a public health mind-set seems to be present to some extent. However, challenges remain, such as the lack of willingness to collaborate among primary care professionals and sports policies not (yet) supporting intersectoral collaboration.
Highlights
Care sport connectors stimulate physical activity and facilitate collaboration between the primary care and physical activity sectors in the Netherlands
In conclusion, our results show connecting factors with the potential for care sport connectors to fulfil the expectation to strengthen the connection between primary care, sports and physical activity
All the professionals acknowledged a task concerning physical activity promotion and accepted a broker role, which is the beginning of the public health mind-set
Summary
Results: All professions acknowledged physical activity promotion tasks, but they are not all willing to collaborate They expect a broad range of roles from care sport connectors: informative, executive, guiding and intermediate. A public health mind-set seems to be present to some extent Challenges remain, such as the lack of willingness to collaborate among primary care professionals and sports policies not (yet) supporting intersectoral collaboration. The general idea is that care sport connectors facilitate the connection between the primary care and physical activity sectors Professionals from these sectors collaborate and implement lifestyle interventions, which reach certain target groups. These target groups will become able to self-manage their physical activity: they will become more physically active in their neighbourhoods and their health outcomes will improve. There is no history of different sectors working together, roles and responsibilities are not clear and there are differences in knowledge and communication skills [3]
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