Public Health Agencies and Policy Implementation in Sport and Physical Activity: Re-thinking partnerships and priorities

The chapter considers the breadth of public health responsibilities for national and local public health agencies, and the pressure on resources to address population wide public health issues and health inequalities. Central to the consideration of the impact of public health agencies is the recognition of their powerful advocacy of the ‘health agenda’, which transcend health agencies boundaries and influences wider national and local public policy priorities in education, transport, community (local government), and sport. The chapter specifically focuses upon the rationales for promoting physically active lifestyles and physical activity promotion by both public health agencies and a diverse web of wider organisations that contribute to the public health agenda. The mantel of physical activity promotion has been adopted by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Sport England (SE), where the health and wellbeing agenda adds wider legitimacy to traditional rationales for government intervention in sport. In turn SE use their influence and resources to shape the wider health agenda within the sports landscape. The chapter considers the implications of the diffused implementation approaches for PA that transcends sectoral and organisational boundaries of public, private and voluntary sector organisations, and that shared responsibility for physical activity at the interface between health and sport creates hyper-complexity and significant challenges for policy makers and practitioners