Collaboratively Designing the Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport (CCMHS) Using Group Concept Mapping

Abstract

Mental health researchers and practitioners alike have recognized that there are special considerations and challenges involved in diagnosing and treating mental illnesses in athletes. However, very few clinical psychologists and psychiatrists in Canada specialize in sport, representing a significant gap in mental health care service provision for this population. In this study, a group of expert sport and mental health stakeholders (n = 17) employed a Participatory Action Research approach to design a specialized sport-focused mental health care model integrated within the Canadian Centre for Mental Health in Sport (CCMHS). Stakeholders engaged in focus group discussions to perform an environmental scan of the Canadian sport and mental health care contexts that laid the foundation for a Group Concept Mapping (GCM) exercise. Using the Concepts Systems software, stakeholders individually produced statements that described the elements to include in a sport-specific mental health care model implemented within the CCMHS. A total of 106 unique statements were organized into 6 themed clusters, focusing on: (1) service delivery [40 statements], (2) communications and promotion [20 statements], (3) business, policy, and operations [19 statements], (4) partnerships [9 statements], (5) research [6 statements], and (6) education and training [6 statements]. These findings were operationalized to establish a sport-centered mental health care model and the CCMHS itself - the first Centre of its kind in Canada. GCM is seldom used to conduct sport research, thus the validity and reliability of this methodology was assessed.

Lay Summary: In this study, 17 sport and mental health expert stakeholders participated in group concept mapping to design a sport-focused mental health care delivery model. The group produced 106 unique statements that were organized into six strategic priority areas and operationalized to establish the Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport.

Notes

1 For more information on the scope of practice of each of the professions mentioned, please refer to Van Slingerland et al. (2019), in which the boundaries of competence of psychology-related professions in Canada are outlined.

2 As outlined in Van Slingerland et al. (2019), competitive sport involves activities in which athletes have the opportunity to systematically improve and measure their performance against others in competition in a safe and ethical manner (Government of Canada, 2019). High-performance sport involves activities in which athletes systematically achieve world class results at the highest levels of international competition through fair and ethical means (Government of Canada, 2019).

3 To gain a fuller picture of mental health challenges in competitive and high-performance athletes, readers are directed to the International Olympic Committee’s recent consensus statement and review of literature on the mental health of elite athletes (Reardon et al., 2019).

4 Each group included at least one experienced researcher who was instructed to assist the moderator if necessary