Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jun 18;16(12):2159.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph16122159.

"When I Go There, I Feel Like I Can Be Myself." Exploring Programme Theory within the Wave Project Surf Therapy Intervention

Jamie Marshall  1   2 , Paul Kelly  3 , Ailsa Niven  4
Affiliations

"When I Go There, I Feel Like I Can Be Myself." Exploring Programme Theory within the Wave Project Surf Therapy Intervention

Jamie Marshall et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Mental health issues in young people are a priority for health and social care. Surf therapy is an innovative intervention that may help address this health burden globally. While increasing evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of surf therapy, there has been limited exploration as to how it achieves its outcomes. Such theoretical exploration is important for service optimisation, monitoring and proliferation. This research aimed to adopt, for the first time, a rigorous grounded theory approach to explore underlying programme theory within the Wave Project surf therapy intervention. Participants (n = 22, 14 males and 8 females; mean age = 14 years, SD = 3.5, range 8-23) were interviewed about their intervention experiences. Data were analysed through constant comparative analysis and memo writing. Two core categories reflected mediators by which surf therapy may achieve its outcomes: "Self-Selected Pacing and Progression While Surfing" and "Creation of Emotional and Physical Safe Space at Beach". Three antecedent (linking known inputs to core categories) and three consequent categories (linking core categories to associated outputs) were also identified. These demonstrate theorised pathways from known inputs to associated outcomes within the intervention. These important findings provide plausible evidence on how to optimise the Wave Project's delivery in tackling mental health burden.

Keywords: grounded theory; mental health; physical activity; programme theory; qualitative research; surf therapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author was employed by the Wave Project at the time this research was carried out. This work consisted of coordinating the intervention at a site not featured in the study. No additional payment was offered for the work which was carried out in spare time as part of an MSc at the University of Edinburgh. The authors do not believe this led to a conflict of interest but wished to declare in the interest of transparency

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Preliminary logic model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Location of interview sites including sites not sampled.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Logic model s howing mechanisms of action.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Visualisation of different waves at beach.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe Copenhagen Healthy Living: What is a Healthy Lifestyle? [(accessed on 15 March 2018)];1999 Available online: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/108180/EUR_ICP_LVNG_01_0....
    1. Vos T., Barber R.M., Bell B., Bertozzi-Villa A., Biryukov S., Bolliger I., Murray C.J. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 301 acute and chronic diseases and injuries in 188 countries, 1990–2013: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease study. Lancet. 2013;386:743–800. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60692-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. McManus S., Bebbington P., Jenkins R., Brugha T., editors. Mental Health and Wellbeing in England: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2014. NHS Digital; Leeds, UK: 2014. [(accessed on 15 October 2017)]. Available online: http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB21748.
    1. Lam L., Riba M. Physical Exercise Interventions for Mental Health. Cambridge University Press; Cambridge, UK: 2016.
    1. Ahn S., Fedewa A. A Meta-analysis of the Relationship Between Children’s Physical Activity and Mental Health. J. Pediatr. Psychol. 2011;36:385–397. doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsq107. - DOI - PubMed