Sport for Confidence and Boccia England produce guide
Social Enterprise, Sport For Confidence, has partnered with Boccia England, the National Governing Body for Boccia, to produce an evidence-based guide. It is endorsed by The Royal College of Occupational Therapy, detailing how boccia can be used as an assessment and intervention tool for occupational therapy practice.
Disabled people and those with long-term health conditions are much less likely than non-disabled people to be physically active. Sport England’s 2016 ‘Active Lives Survey’ reported that more than 74 per cent of the general population was ‘active’ or ‘fairly active’. These figures decrease dramatically amongst disability groups. The survey found, 59 per cent of people with two impairments and 49 per cent of people with three or more impairments were inactive.
As a result, disability groups do not fully benefit from the many social, physical and mental health benefits associated with an active lifestyle. It is therefore considered a priority that occupational therapists integrate sporting activities for their therapeutic potential and also for their role in enabling people with a variety of impairments to build a resilient habit of being more active.
In response to this, Boccia England has commissioned Sport For Confidence to produce a guide suggesting how the sport can be used by occupational therapists as a therapeutic activity, for a wide range of client populations in a variety of ways.
Speaking about the Guide, Lyndsey Barrett, Senior Occupational Therapist and Founder at Sport For Confidence, says:
“Sport For Confidence already delivers six Boccia sessions every week across five sporting venues, typically attracting more than 100 people with various impairments both known and unknown to services.
“The purpose of the guide is to equip occupational therapists and students with skills, knowledge and confidence to embed Boccia into their professional practice. Sport For Confidence is already evidencing a wide range of life changing outcomes amongst its service users, some of which are detailed in the guide and include: working with individuals with depression, developing social communication and interaction skills and improving hand function and upper body strength.”
To launch the guide, Sport For Confidence, Boccia England and The Royal College of Occupational Therapy are hosting an event on March 6 at the Basildon Sporting Village in Essex. Speaking about the event, Dan Bentley, gold medal Boccia Paralympian, from Boccia England, says:
“We are really excited to become the first National Governing Body to officially bring together professionals from the sport and health sectors in this way and reach people with a wide range of impairments. Boccia is already proving successful as an assessment and intervention tool through the work Sport For Confidence has been delivering across Essex and the Guide makes it possible to enable more people to benefit.”
The event will provide final year occupational therapy students, National Governing Bodies (NGBs), coaches and leisure operators with an opportunity to see Boccia sessions taking place with some of Sport For Confidence regular service users and meet with representatives from all the organisations involved. Julia Skelton, Director of Operations at the Royal College of Occupational Therapy and Dan Bentley, will be addressing delegates and the event will conclude with a networking lunch.
Steve Mitchell, Director at Sport For Confidence, says:
“Having evidenced the positive impact of our Sport for Confidence programmes, we are confident that there are opportunities for many other NGBs and national organisations to develop a similar resource to be used on a sport specific basis when working with segments of society who are under-represented in traditional sport and physical activity settings. We would welcome an opportunity to talk to any representatives who are keen to explore opportunities."
