Recreational athletes are encouraged to use mental imagery by their coaches less frequently than elite athletes (Jedlic, Hall, Munroe-Chandler, & Hall, 2007). The purpose of this study was to examine whether a mental imagery workshop would increase recreational level coaches’ encouragement of imagery to their athletes when compared to coaches attending a communication workshop. The workshops provided coaches with imagery or communication information and tools as well as role-playing opportunities. Recreational sport coaches (N = 132; M age = 41.80 years, SD = 9.67) completed the Coaches Encouragement of Athletes Imagery Use Questionnaire (CEAIUQ; Jedlic et al.), Coach-Athlete Relationship Questionnaire (CART-Q; Jowett & Ntoumanis, 2004), and questionnaires assessing coaches’ demographics, confidence, knowledge, and attitudes towards imagery. These questionnaires were completed before the workshop and online four weeks later. Repeated measure MANCOVAs, controlling for sex and highest level coached, were performed comparing the coaches’ encouragement of imagery use, as well as their confidence, attitudes, and knowledge of mental imagery, across the two study groups. No group by time interactions were found for any of the five functions of imagery. However, group by time interactions were found for knowledge (F(1, 132) = 5.45, p = .02, ηp2 = .040), attitudes (F(1,132) = 4.45, p = .01, ηp2 = .055) and confidence (F(1,132),= 7.10, p = .04, ηp2 = .032) towards imagery. Paired-samples t-tests demonstrated that the mental imagery group significantly increased their confidence from baseline to follow-up (t(65) = -2.75, p = .01). Findings provide direction for designing future coach education training programs and aid in understanding recreational sport coaches’ views on encouraging their athletes to use imagery. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-04-30 10:35:41.541

Bakgrund: Kvalitetsutveckling inom vården pågår i hela världen. Internationell forskning indikerar att förbättringscoacher kan vara en framgångsfaktor i förbättringsarbetet. Det är i dag oklart hur man kan utveckla interna coacher till att stödja kontinuerliga förbättringar. Studien utvärderar ett lokalt, tvärprofessionellt coachprogam inom vård och omsorg i ett geografiskt område i Sverige med en etablerad samverkanskultur. För att främja ökad kundcentrering ingick en pensionär i programmets planeringsgrupp. Deltagarna introducerades i grundläggande förbättringskunskap och i lösningsfokuserat arbetssätt som ett sätt att bättre kunna hantera komplexiteten i vård och omsorg. Programmet utformades med åtta gemensamma träffar under perioden mars till oktober 2011.   Syfte: Att identifiera faktorer i ett lokalt coachprogram som framstår som mest väsentliga för att medarbetare i vård och omsorg ska kunna gå in i rollen som förbättringscoacher. Metod: Studien är en observerande fallstudie med inslag av aktionsforskning och en induktiv kvalitativ ansats. Deltagare i studien var blivande coacher, pensionärer, planeringsgruppen och erfarna coacher. Sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med totalt 17 personer genomfördes, samt analys av lokala dokument och fyra enkäter. Data analyserades genom en manifest kvalitativ innehållsanalys och triangulering. Resultatet validerades av samtliga deltagare i studien. Resultat: Involvering av pensionärer ansågs vara en viktig faktor eftersom det förstärkte kundfokuseringen. Deltagarna i studien poängterade att kundfokus, ett lösningsfokuserat förhållningssätt, nätverk och systemförståelse var grundläggande för utvecklingen av coachrollen. Dessa faktorer bedömdes som viktigare än de specifika förbättringsverktygen. Diskussion: De mest väsentliga faktorerna kan delas in i det som uppmuntrade till idéer, vilja, görande och uthållighet. Pensionärsinvolveringen förstärkte kundfokuseringen, och det lösningsfokuserade arbetssättet framstod som ett bra komplement till de sedvanliga förbättringsverktygen. Det vore intressant att jämföra detta program med förbättringsprogram i andra kontexter. / Background: Internal improvement coaches can support quality improvement efforts. The study is about a local interprofessional coach training program in a region in Sweden with an established culture of collaboration. The program included participants from different health care disciplines and was organized over eight days between March and October 2011. A senior citizen was involved in faculty and participated during all training sessions. The participants were introduced to basic improvement knowledge and a solution focused approach.Purpose: To explore essential elements of a local coach training program and what appears to be crucial in moving into the role of being an improvement coach.Method: The study is a mix methods case study with elements of action research and an inductive qualitative approach. Participants in the study were prospective coaches, senior citizens, the program team, and experienced coaches. Data were collected through seven semi-structured group interview sessions with a total of 17 individuals, document analysis and 4 questionnaires. Data were analyzed using a manifest content analysis and triangulation. The results were validated by all participants in the study.Results: The data suggest that the involvement of a senior citizen was essential for strengthening customer focus. Participants in the study pointed out that customer focus, developing a value base, networking skills with a solution focused approach and systems thinking were fundamental to the development of the coaching role. These factors were assessed as more important than improvement tools.Discussion: The results can be divided into those which encouraged ideas, will, execution, and endurance. Senior citizen involvement enhanced customer focus and the solution-focused approach seems to be a valuable addition to the usual improvement tools. It would be interesting to compare this program with other improvement programs or in other contexts.