Project overview
Sports injuries have a significant impact on performance and health, yet preventive measures are often overlooked. Drawing on behaviour change theories, the project seeks to understand and influence the adoption of preventive practices among athletes within the everyday context of training and competition, taking into account both individual and environmental factors.
Phase 1 (2026)
Objective:
- Identify behaviours that reduce injury risk and their determinants
Methods:
- A comprehensive literature review and a Delphi process will be conducted, which will then be used to develop a tool for assessing athletes’ injury-prevention behaviours and their socio-cognitive determinants (e.g. beliefs, motivations, barriers).
Phase 2 (2027)
Objective:
- Design theory-based intervention tools
Methods:
- In co-construction with researchers, healthcare professionals, performance experts and athletes, develop tools (e.g. digital content, workshops, training courses, practical guides) to act on the identified factors and encourage positive behaviour change among athletes, coaches and healthcare professionals.
Phase 3 (2028)
Objective:
- Deploy and evaluate the tools
Methods:
- Develop an implementation strategy grounded in scientific evidence and drawing on implementation science, in order to foster the effective integration of the developed tools into the everyday practices of sports organisations.
- Test and evaluate the impact of the implementation strategy across various sports institutions through pilot studies and continuous monitoring, refining the approach to optimise its effectiveness and scalability.