Transformational Leadership, Psychological Safety, and Concussion Reporting Intentions in Team-Sport Athletes

Background/Objectives: The present study examined the predictive relationships between transformational leadership, psychological safety, and concussion reporting intentions. Interviews were used to understand the impact of the coach and teammates on the team environment and how this might lead to greater concussion reporting in team-sport athletes. Methods: This study employed a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design. 233 team-sport athletes (n = 160 males, n = 73 females, mean age = 19.83 years, SD = 3.15) completed quantitative measures of transformational leadership, psychological safety, and concussion reporting intentions, while five participants (n = 2 males, n = 3 females, mean age = 18.40 years, SD = 0.55) were subsequently interviewed about their experiences. Results: Quantitative results indicated that transformational leadership predicted a psychologically safe environment (p < 0.001), and social norms for team-sport athletes predicted concussion reporting intentions (p < 0.001). Qualitative findings highlighted the important role that coaches and teammates play in creating an open environment that encourages concussion reporting. Education and awareness were also seen to further develop such an environment, while athletes identified several barriers to reporting symptoms of concussion. Conclusions: The findings from this study provide researchers and practitioners with preliminary evidence that can shape the design of interventions to support the development of a team environment that can promote concussion reporting and, thus, prioritise player healt

The Development and Content of Movement Quality Assessments in Athletic Populations: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-Analysis

Abstract Background Despite their prominence in the sport and human movement sciences, to date, there is no systematic insight about the development and content of movement quality assessments in athletic populations. This is an important gap to address, as it could yield both practical and scientific implications related to the continued screening of movement quality in athletic contexts. Hence, this study aimed to systematically review the (i) developmental approach, (ii) movements included, (iii) scoring system utilised, and (iv) the reliability of movement competency assessments used in athletic populations. Methods Electronic databases (SPORTDiscus, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus) were searched for relevant articles up to 12 May 2023. Studies were included if they reported data about the developmental approach, movements included, scoring system utilised and reliability of assessment in an athletic population. A modified Downs and Black checklist was used to measure study quality. Results From a total of 131 identified studies: (i) 26 (20%) described the developmental approach of an assessment; (ii) 113 (86%) included descriptions of the movements included; (iii) 106 (81%) included a description of scoring system and criteria; and (iv) 77 (59%) studies included reliability statistics. There were 36 assessments identified within these studies, comprising 59 movements in total. Each assessment scored movement quality through a Likert or binary classification system. Conclusion First, the results demonstrate that choosing an appropriate movement quality assessment in an athletic population may be a complex process for practitioners as the development approach, movements included and scoring criteria vary substantially between assessments. Second, academics could use these results to help design new assessments for novel applications that meet rigour and reliability requirements. Third, these results have the potential to foster guidelines of use for the reliable assessment of movement quality in athletic populations

Flexible grant schemes: a systematic scoping review

Background: Governments can take a range of approaches to funding public health initiatives. One way is through grant-making to other organisations to support the delivery of programs, projects, services, or activities. There is a growing interest in non-traditional approaches to grant-making, including flexible grant schemes. While there is no universally accepted definition of flexible grant schemes, they are commonly understood as granting models that are, unlike traditional granting models, designed to be adaptable to the needs of grantees by allowing them more flexibility in the use of funds, project timelines or objectives. Interest in flexible grant schemes is, in part, a response to criticisms of traditional granting models that are often deemed inadequate to support multi-sectoral and place-based responses to complex public health problems. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no attempts to map the available evidence on flexible grant schemes. Therefore, this systematic scoping review aimed to explore the literature on flexible grant schemes, interpretations of flexibility across the grant schemes, the extent to which and how grant schemes have been evaluated, and key factors associated with the perceived success of grant schemes. Methods: A systematic search of academic and grey literature was conducted through eight databases. We followed a widely used five-phase methodological framework for scoping reviews and utilised PRISMA-ScR Checklist to enhance the methodological rigour of the review. Results: Out of 10,368 screened documents, 38 publications met the inclusion criteria. Fourteen of the 38 publications were related to public health, and 28 were published after 2010. We found a lack of clarity and consistency in the interpretation of flexibility in the included studies. Three dominant, interrelated themes were identified: adaptation, autonomy, and coordination. Five publications were self-described as evaluations, a range of service-level or infrastructure outcomes were examined, and findings were generally positive. Seven factors were identified as being associated with the perceived success of flexible grant schemes: collaboration and partnership building, staff capacity, clear and effective communication, alignment among diverse stakeholders, uncertainty, accountability, and administrative burdens. Conclusion: We found that the number of publications on flexible grant schemes has substantially increased since 2010. Although interest in flexible grant schemes has increased, there is a lack of clarity and inconsistent interpretations of ‘flexibility’. We suggest greater clarity in grant guidelines to improve communication and alignment across grantees and funders. The capacity of grantees and funders to implement and administer flexible grant schemes was identified as critical to their success, suggesting that investment in capacity development is needed. Finally, there are few published evaluations of flexible grant schemes, and robust evaluations are needed to determine their effectiveness and advance the evidence base. Clinical trial number: Not applicable