Adjunct exercise interventions for people with mental health difficulties have
been shown to improve well-being while also increasing physical and social
health. Soccer as a team sport is a particularly apt form of group-based exercise
as it fosters social inclusion and communication skills potentially also
across cultural and socio-economic barriers. We discuss how some exercise
interventions such as those using soccer are potentially well-aligned with
concepts from Positive Psychology such as Seligman’s five elements (PERMA)
that determine “Eudaimonia” (a good life): Positive emotions (P), Engagement
and Flow (E), Positive Relationships (R), Meaning (M), and Accomplishment
(A). In the present study the perceived life improvements reported
by participants of a London-based soccer intervention “Coping Through
Football” (CTF) are analysed for content using these five elements. All but
Meaning (M) could be identified clearly; Positive Relationship (R) and Accomplishment
(A) were the most commonly reported components. The
PERMA model offers a potentially highly relevant framework to measure
changes in well-being in participants of adjunct physical exercise treatments
in mental health. Further quantitative and qualitative evaluation using the
PERMA categories has the clear potential to inform policy and funding decisions
in the growing area of psychosocial interventions in public mental health
