Recipe to develop the implementation guide for the sport-based Icehearts Europe programme: a collaborative process


Oral

Abstract Overview

Background: Icehearts Europe is a pan-European initiative promoting EU-wide adaptation and dissemination of the Finnish sport-based best practice ‘Icehearts’, focused on preventing social exclusion and promoting the psychophysical well-being of disadvantaged youth through a 12-year mentoring and comprehensive support. The project aims to develop tools to implement Icehearts Europe programme and involve more EU countries and grassroots sports organisations (GSOs).

Purpose: This work elucidates the methodology employed to develop a comprehensive guide serving as a ‘lowest common denominator’ for adapting the programme to diverse contexts.

Methods: The guide development was conceived as a sequence of stages: description, analysis, deconstruction of the model concept, identification of the essential ‘ingredients’ and procedural aspects to prepare the implementation, reorganisation, and ‘inspiration’ for the programme. A collaborative approach involving GSOs,
Public Health Organisations, Universities, NGOs was adopted, based on opinion and information sharing, effort in writing collaboratively, meetings, and collection of first-hand data through a study visit to Icehearts Finland. The English version was translated into the languages of the pilot countries (Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Slovenia, Spain) using an online AI-based translation tool; each translation was completed by native translators from the pilot organisations.

Results: The six-language ‘Icehearts Europe Implementation Guide’ consists of four main operative phases plus insights from Icehearts Finland and is freely available on the Icehearts Europe website.

Conclusions: Developing an operational tool that facilitates the transfer of a best practice requires a collaborative process, sharing of experience and expertise between stakeholders through a teamwork characterized by the comprehension of the underlying characteristics of the practice and their possible adaptation to new contexts.

Practical implications: The guide will provide operational information and basic guidelines for EU grassroots sport organisations seeking to implement the programme within their respective contexts to promote the health and well-being of disadvantaged youth.

Funding: EU4Health Programme 2022.

Additional Authors

Name: Antonella Gigantesco
Affiliation: Italian National Institute of Health, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Monica Valli
Affiliation: Italian National Institute of Health, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Pierluigi Faella
Affiliation: Italian National Institute of Health, Italy/University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Sara Giordano
Affiliation: Italian National Institute of Health, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Debora Del Re
Affiliation: Italian National Institute of Health, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Isabella Cascavilla
Affiliation: Italian National Institute of Health, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Roberta D’Angelo
Affiliation: Italian National Institute of Health, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Simone Digennaro
Affiliation: University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Alice Iannaccone
Affiliation: University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Saska Benedicic Tomat
Affiliation: International Sport and Culture Association, Denmark
Presenting Author: no
Name: Fiona Chambers
Affiliation: University College Cork, Ireland
Presenting Author: no
Name: Samuele Tonello
Affiliation: EuroHealthNet, Belgium
Presenting Author: no
Name: Kaija Appelqvist-Schmidlechner
Affiliation: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland
Presenting Author: no
Name: Marjatta Kekkonen
Affiliation: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland
Presenting Author: no
Name: Kai Tarvainen
Affiliation: Icehearts Finland, Finland
Presenting Author: no
Name: Nelli Niemela
Affiliation: Icehearts Finland, Finland
Presenting Author: no
Name: Daniela Conti
Affiliation: Unione Italiana Sport per Tutti, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Marta Giammaria
Affiliation: Unione Italiana Sport per Tutti, Italy
Presenting Author: no
Name: Simone Christiansen
Affiliation: DGI, Denmark
Presenting Author: no
Name: Priit Jõe
Affiliation: SPIN-programme, Estonia
Presenting Author: no
Name: Mojca Markovič
Affiliation: Sports Union of Slovenia, Slovenia
Presenting Author: no
Name: Alfonso Cevallos
Affiliation: Fútbol Más, Spain
Presenting Author: no
Name: Giovanni Capelli
Affiliation: Italian National Institute of Health, Italy
Presenting Author: no

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