An Evaluation Framework for Ireland’s GAA Healthy Club Initiative Lane, Aoife, Murphy, Niamh Centre for Health Behaviour Research, Dept of Health, Sport and Exercise Science, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland Lane, Aoife, Murphy, Niamh Centre for Health Behaviour Research, Dept of Health, Sport and Exercise Science, Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland

Background Settings approach to health promotion reflects the socio-ecological perspective in relation to health behaviour (Donaldson & Finch, 2012) Sports clubs have been identified as a new and important setting for health promotion (Kokko et al., 2011) Can promote health more broadly in the club and target wider community and thus, work beyond standard remit of facilitating competition and improving sports performance

Current Status of Healthy Sports Clubs Australia: health education, sponsorship/advertising, sun safety, alcohol/smoking policy, injury prevention (VicHealth, 2010) Belgium, Finland: assessment of current sports clubs (Kokko et al., 2009); standards for sports clubs (Kokko et al., 2011); swimming clubs Holland: profile of healthy tennis clubs (Pluim et al., 2013); Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (variety of sports) Scotland: football fans in training (Gray et al., 2013)

Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Amateur organisation; inclusion; community identity

The GAA Club Clubs already promote health and well being amongst its members and wider community Community and family orientation Central unit of activity; 90% of activity takes place within the club environment

Healthy Club Programme

Aim To evaluate the GAA Healthy Club initiative 1. Process evaluation; the how of becoming and running a healthy club 2. Impact evaluation; assess effect in relation to key criteria/principles of Healthy Clubs 3. Action research; assist clubs in the implementation of the healthy club concept from initial development stage to programme design and evaluation

pilot intervention clubs 2 comparison clubs in each province

Data Collection Community audit Healthy Club Questionnaire; HCI adapted from Kokko et al., (2009) - will be used as an indicator of change over time Focus groups; will be conducted to describe initial development stage, implementation and evaluation - regional and club level Club visits; observation of coaching, administration, playing environment Programme evaluation; evaluation of a selection of prgrammes delivered by clubs 1.Club characteristics 2.Healthy Club Index: policies, ideology, practice, environment, coaching environment 3.Facilities 4.Programmes 5.Partnership 6.Communication

Action Research Regional operation group meetings National workshop Online database of evaluation materials Iterative process to support the development of the healthy club

Community Audit - Healthy Club Questionnaire Profile of club/community Identify priority areas Recruit new volunteers, partners, stakeholders 90% rated health as excellent/VG/good

51% active volunteers 50% want to get more involved Results 72% felt club was a welcoming place Lower for non members 20% aware of club policies specific to health 27% aware of health programmes delivered in the club

Key Priority Areas

Conclusion Engagement with clubs and national organisation committee Evaluate effectiveness Chart the process of the development of the healthy club to develop a ‘how to guide’ for other clubs

Essential that research is transferrable and findings disseminated to other clubs