Professional male rugby union players' perceived psychological recovery and physical regeneration during the off-season.

We explored male professional rugby union players' experiences and perceptions of their mental and physical health and well-being across the northern hemisphere off-season. 34 professional male rugby union players participated in individual semistructured interviews (mean (SD) age=27.5 (4.3) years). Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The off-season was characterised by three phases players undergo to preserve their mental and physical health and well-being to recover from the previous season and regenerate in preparation for the upcoming season. These included decompression from previous season, cognitive detachment from the rugby environment and preparation for preseason. Successful progression through all three phases was influenced by several variables (work and life demands, contextual factors, experience level). Recovery and regeneration strategies focused on physical distancing/getting away from the rugby environment to cognitively detach. Injured players appear an at-risk subgroup for threats to mental well-being (isolation, anxiety, reduced sense of achievement) as a result of reduced or minimal time away from the workplace due to treatment obligations. Younger professionals are a subgroup at risk of overtraining/injury due to inadequate rest, especially as this group are least likely to seek support/guidance. This study is the first investigation into male professional rugby union players' experiences and perceptions of their mental and physical health and well-being across the off-season period. It highlights the distinct phases players undertake to mentally recover and regenerate and the need to consider education and support for potential at risk subgroups.

Cohort profile: The UK COVID-19 Public Experiences (COPE) prospective longitudinal mixed-methods study of health and well-being during the SARSCoV2 coronavirus pandemic.

Public perceptions of pandemic viral threats and government policies can influence adherence to containment, delay, and mitigation policies such as physical distancing, hygienic practices, use of physical barriers, uptake of testing, contact tracing, and vaccination programs. The UK COVID-19 Public Experiences (COPE) study aims to identify determinants of health behaviour using the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation (COM-B) model using a longitudinal mixed-methods approach. Here, we provide a detailed description of the demographic and self-reported health characteristics of the COPE cohort at baseline assessment, an overview of data collected, and plans for follow-up of the cohort. The COPE baseline survey was completed by 11,113 UK adult residents (18+ years of age). Baseline data collection started on the 13th of March 2020 (10-days before the introduction of the first national COVID-19 lockdown in the UK) and finished on the 13th of April 2020. Participants were recruited via the HealthWise Wales (HWW) research registry and through social media snowballing and advertising (Facebook®, Twitter®, Instagram®). Participants were predominantly female (69%), over 50 years of age (68%), identified as white (98%), and were living with their partner (68%). A large proportion (67%) had a college/university level education, and half reported a pre-existing health condition (50%). Initial follow-up plans for the cohort included in-depth surveys at 3-months and 12-months after the first UK national lockdown to assess short and medium-term effects of the pandemic on health behaviour and subjective health and well-being. Additional consent will be sought from participants at follow-up for data linkage and surveys at 18 and 24-months after the initial UK national lockdown. A large non-random sample was recruited to the COPE cohort during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, which will enable longitudinal analysis of the determinants of health behaviour and changes in subjective health and well-being over the course of the pandemic.

What influences student experience of Graduate Entry Medicine? Qualitative findings from Swansea School of Medicine.

BACKGROUND: The Graduate Entry Programme (GEP) in Medicine delivered by Swansea University (currently in collaboration with Cardiff University) accepts students from a diverse range of academic backgrounds with no restriction in relation to the field of first degree. There is a growing body of literature, predominantly quantitative in nature, regarding the influence of academic background on student achievement but little published information on students' views. AIM: To examine students' views regarding the extent to which previous higher education and wider life experience influence their student experience on the GEP course. METHOD: Recruitment from three student cohorts and group interview data followed by descriptive thematic analysis of anonymized data. RESULTS: Data themes were: (1) previous study experience and its impact on present student experience; (2) the impact of life experience; (3) the impact of the present study on life experience; (4) skills, status and difference; (5) characteristics and expectations of the course; (6) finances and (7) next steps. Previous study experience had little impact on present student experience. However, previous life experience, with time between first degree and GEP, clearly enhances the learning experience. Added maturity and early clinical contact enables students to manage the challenges of the course and the NHS environment despite financial strain and heavy coursework. CONCLUSIONS: Analysing students' views is informative and provides richer insight into experience and expectations than that accessible from quantitative data alone.