“We’re Trying so Hard for Outcomes but at the Same Time We’re not Doing Enough”: Barriers to Physical Activity for Australian Young People in Residential Out-of-home Care

ABSTRACT

Despite the clear benefits of engaging in regular physical activity (PA), research suggests that young people in Out-of-Home Care (OoHC) are less likely to achieve the recommended levels of PA than their same-aged counterparts in the general community. To date, there has been limited examination of the barriers to PA engagement specific to young people living in residential OoHC. This qualitative study aimed to better understand the barriers and/or challenges to regular PA engagement for young people in residential OoHC. The voice of young people, residential care staff, and key stakeholders in the OoHC sector were included through the use of interviews and focus groups. Three key barriers were identified including: (1) the residential OoHC setting is not conducive to PA; (2) young people require additional support to be physically active; and (3) there are community barriers which impact young people’s engagement in PA. Discussions identified a number of individual barriers or challenges faced by young people, which are impacted or exacerbated by the barriers faced at the system and community level. Findings suggest there is a need for governments, agencies involved in OoHC and community sports and recreation facilities to re-examine current practices and policies and address barriers related to workloads of residential care staff, funding, resource allocations, and capacity to support young people’s participation in PA. The need to take action is urgent and warranted. It is recommended that future intervention approaches develop innovative partnerships—that bring together research, practice, community, and policy resources—to ensure access to PA does not become an equity issue for YP living in residential OoHC.

KEYWORDS:

• Out-of-home care
• young people
• physical activity
• residential care
• barriers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Internationally YP in care are referred to as children in care, care experienced, looked after children and/or foster youth (Department for Education, 2017).

2 “Physical activity involves any bodily movement produced by contraction of skeletal muscle that subsequently increases energy expenditure.” (p. 2, Hughes et al., 2006). This is inclusive of active living (e.g., integrating physical activity into daily routines, including active transport), active recreation (e.g., gym, walking, jogging), organised sport and/or high performace sport (e.g., elite level).

3 Community service organisations refers to not-for-profit agencies who offer OoHC care services, including residential care.

4 This model of care offers trauma-informed, intensive support for YP with complex needs associated with the experience of abuse or neglect (DHHS, 2016b).

5 In Victoria, Australia, the DHHS has oversight of OoHC arrangements.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rachael Green

Dr Rachael Green is a Research Fellow at the Health and Social Care Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. She works in the social care sector to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for vulnerable children and young people and has extensive experience managing and evaluating complex projects in community service and social welfare sectors.

Lauren Bruce

Dr Lauren Bruce is a Research Fellow at the Health and Social Care Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. Dr Bruce completed a Doctor of Psychology (Health) in 2017 and her research interests include body image, intuitive eating and disordered eating across the lifespan.

Renee O’Donnell

Dr Renée O'Donnell is a Research Fellow at the Health and Social Care Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. She is an expert in program implementation, evaluation and scale-up of community-based services.

Tom Quarmby

Dr Thomas Quarmby is a Reader in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University, UK. His research explores the role and value of sport, physical activity and physical education for youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds included care-experienced young people.

Kostas Hatzikiriakidis

Kostas Hatzikiriakidis is a Research Assistant at the Health and Social Care Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. He has expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research methods and completed a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) in 2019. He has since been involved in social care research through his role as a research assistant . His current research interests are embedded in supporting the wellbeing of vulnerable population groups, including young people residing in out-of-home care and people with disability.

David Strickland

David Strickland is the Executive Officer of Sport and Recreation Camps at Sport and Recreation Victoria. His focus is on delivering social outcomes through outdoor programs. David supports outdoor programs and physical activity research and its translation to improve the social, health and economic wellbeing of underrepresented and vulnerable populations in the Victorian community.

Helen Skouteris

Professor Helen Skouteris is the Monash Warwick Professor in Healthcare Improvement and Implementation Science, and Director of the Health and Social Care Unit. She is an expert in maternal and child health and wellbeing. She works across the health and social care sectors as well as the education sector to improve outcomes for mothers, children and families, especially those who are most vulnerable.