O'Grady Megan, Barrett Emer, Connolly Deirdre
Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Discipline of Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 31;20(1):e0318687. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0318687. eCollection 2025.
Intermediaries facilitate connections to community-based services and supports, including physical activity and exercise groups, and are an emerging method to promote physical activity participation. However, their processes when establishing connections to community-based physical activities are unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the processes, practices, and procedures of Irish intermediaries when connecting people to community-based physical activity. This was a qualitative descriptive design study. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with n = 27 intermediaries from a variety of sectors-Health Promotion and Improvement [HPO], Local Sports Partnerships [LSO] and Social Prescribing [SP]. Four themes were identified using qualitative content analysis; 1) the processes of connecting to an intermediary, 2) connecting individuals to physical activity, 3) exiting from the intermediary service and 4) working in the local context. Intermediaries reported that they received referrals for individuals with physical, mental, and social health needs, but that referrals to improve physical activity specifically were low. They used a person-centred approach throughout their process, often addressing barriers to physical activity. However, only LSO and SP facilitated connections to physical activity, as HPO mainly focused on delivering smoking cessation support and services. Levels of support given and length of follow-up varied between LSO and SP, with the latter providing more intensive support. To facilitate their work, they developed extensive local knowledge and networks of partners, which enabled connections to a variety of community-based physical activities. Intermediaries may be an under-utilized resource to promote physical activity. Understanding the processes used in their interventions can inform future research, which is needed to investigate the effectiveness of intermediaries in improving physical activity levels and to inform future referral pathways.
中介机构促进了与社区服务及支持的联系，包括体育活动和锻炼团体，是促进体育活动参与的一种新兴方法。然而，它们在建立与社区体育活动联系时的流程尚不清楚。本研究的目的是探讨爱尔兰中介机构在将人们与社区体育活动联系起来时的流程、做法和程序。这是一项定性描述性设计研究。对来自健康促进与改善[HPO]、地方体育伙伴关系[LSO]和社会处方[SP]等多个部门的27名中介机构人员进行了半结构化访谈。通过定性内容分析确定了四个主题：1）与中介机构建立联系的流程，2）将个人与体育活动联系起来，3）退出中介服务，4）在当地环境中开展工作。中介机构报告称，他们收到了有身体、心理和社会健康需求的个人的转介，但专门为改善体育活动而进行的转介较少。他们在整个过程中采用以个人为中心的方法，经常解决体育活动的障碍。然而，只有LSO和SP促进了与体育活动的联系，因为HPO主要专注于提供戒烟支持和服务。LSO和SP提供的支持水平和后续跟进时间各不相同，后者提供的支持更为密集。为了便于开展工作，他们积累了丰富的当地知识并建立了合作伙伴网络，这使得能够与各种社区体育活动建立联系。中介机构可能是促进体育活动的一种未充分利用的资源。了解其干预措施中使用的流程可为未来的研究提供参考，未来的研究需要调查中介机构在提高体育活动水平方面的有效性，并为未来的转介途径提供参考。
