Building the health promotion capacity of sport and recreation organisations: A case study of Regional Sports Assemblies

Abstract

Sport and recreation organisations are increasingly recognised by the health sector as key players for promoting health, particularly in terms of increasing population-wide physical activity levels. Developing the capacity of these organisations to influence health, however, is not understood. This research examined the efficacy of a system-wide, capacity-building strategy implemented to enable sporting organisations to change from a narrow focus on sport to one encompassing health promotion. This involved evaluating a state-wide health promotion programme funded by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) and implemented within nine Regional Sports Assemblies (RSAs). The research method involved a web-based survey with all RSAs and in-depth interviews with four selected RSA Executive Officers. The results demonstrate that health promotion was successfully adopted within sport and recreation environments; however, they also highlight the need to understand the nature of existing organisational resource dependencies and interdependencies. The article discusses the design of organisational change interventions to support practitioners and policy-makers in health and sport management.

Keywords:

• organisational change
• organisational development
• capacity building
• physical activity

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This study was funded by VicHealth, as a component of the VicHealth Sport and Active Recreation Schemes Evaluation Project. Staff members from VicHealth, along with the executive officers of RSAs are thanked for their contribution to the research.