Street soccer programme participation: Experiences of young people with psychosis

Abstract

Aims: This exploratory, qualitative, study aimed to identify why young people who had experienced psychosis consistently decided to attend the Street Soccer programme. Method: Patients using the early psychosis tertiary mental health service who were regularly attending the Street Soccer programme at the time of data collection were invited to participate in this exploratory qualitative study. Out of eight people invited, six young people agreed to be participants. All participants engaged in a one-to-one, semi-structured interview, which was recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis to reveal key themes related to the research question. Results: The key themes revealed from the thematic analysis included: needing to be encouraged to join the group; feeling welcomed and encouraged; gaining personal benefit (getting outside the house, getting fit, feeling less anxious) and increased desire to participate in new activities. Conclusions: Participation in the group programme was not dependent on participants having established treatment goals to initially attend but rather on persistent encouragement to attend by a health worker. The participants continued to attend the Street Soccer programme due to the group culture, and the tangible benefits they perceived were a result of their attendance.