The management and preparation of ‘street ministers of health’ are essential: An interview with a practitioner on the process of preparing instructors who are about to implement team sport on prescription in a Danish municipally organised prevention centre

Søren Bennike, Rene Andersen, Henriette Folkmann Hansen, Laila Ottesen

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Abstract

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we wish to present the ‘team sport on prescription’ intervention and second, we wish to draw attention to the importance of managing and preparing the instructors running the intervention. Unorthodoxly, this article is structured as an interview with a practitioner answering three questions, to which we have included expert commentary to provide an explicit link to the theory of ‘street-level bureaucracy’ (Lipsky, 1980) and thereby connect to the field of public administration. A main purpose of the intervention was to study how a new way of organizing municipally initiated health enhancing ‘exercise on prescription’ influenced citizens referred by a general practitioner or a hospital. All traditional activities were replaced with team sports activities. For one year, all exercise equipment was removed from the location and the employees had to perform they their role as instructors. In the article, we conclude and exemplify how crucial the initial phase of managing and preparing the instructors is due to their extremely important position. In fact, the whole intervention is likely to stand or fall on the work of the instructors.
Original languageEnglish
Journalidrottsforum.org
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
ISSN1652-7224
Publication statusPublished - 30 May 2018

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