Mental health service provision in elite sport: An evaluation of the Australian Institute of Sport Mental Health Referral Network
Creators: name: Pilkington, Vita
name: Walton, Courtney C.
name: Gwyther, Kate
name: Rice, Simon
name: Butterworth, Matthew
name: Burattin, Nicole
name: Boland, Sonia
name: Cross, Gemma
name: Purcell, Rosemary
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2025
Subjects: subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Science Policy
subject: Mental Health

description: While research on mental health and wellbeing in elite sports has increased, there are few studies regarding models of care for responding to mental health needs in this population. The Australian Institute of Sport established the Mental Health Referral Network (MHRN) service in 2018, initially focused on mental health care for elite athletes only, but subsequently extended to include elite coaches, high-performance support staff and sports administration staff. This study used a convergent mixed-methods service evaluation to examine service users’ experiences with the care provided by the MHRN. The quantitative component comprised an online survey with n = 84 service users (athletes, coaches, high-performance support staff, and sports administration staff). The qualitative component comprised semi-structured interviews, analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, with a subset of n = 20 athletes, coaches, and high-performance support staff. Service users indicated high satisfaction with the support received and valued the no-cost, timely access model of care provided by practitioners with expertise in elite sport. Most participants (88.3%) positively viewed the practitioners being external to (i.e., not affiliated with) their daily training environment. This helped alleviate concerns about mental health stigma, confidentiality breaches, and potential consequences of disclosing mental ill-health (e.g., deselection) within their sport settings. Service users also emphasized the need to consider longer-term pathways for more intensive support where necessary, in addition to considering the long-term sustainability of the MHRN to ensure continued access to support. Findings may inform sporting organizations in their decision-making about service delivery models and future service development activities. The Mental Health Referral Network, operated by the Australian Institute of Sport, was viewed favorably by service users (elite athletes, coaches, and staff). They valued timely, flexible, no-cost access to support from external clinicians with expertise in elite sport. Accessing external support was preferred to help-seeking within the sport setting. Elite athletes, coaches, high-performance support staff, and sports administration staff benefit from having access to confidential mental health support from a network of practitioners with expert knowledge in elite sport and its associated stressors.Offering access to external mental health support can help to address barriers to help-seeking that exist within elite sport settings, such as confidentiality concerns and potential ramifications of help-seeking (e.g., negative social appraisals, deselection). Elite athletes, coaches, high-performance support staff, and sports administration staff benefit from having access to confidential mental health support from a network of practitioners with expert knowledge in elite sport and its associated stressors. Offering access to external mental health support can help to address barriers to help-seeking that exist within elite sport settings, such as confidentiality concerns and potential ramifications of help-seeking (e.g., negative social appraisals, deselection).