Examining the mental health status and experiences of harassment and abuse during their career as a health professional working with elite athletes

In recent years, attention has been focused on athlete mental health and their experiences of harassment and abuse. Various sports organizations, such as the International Olympic Committee, have introduced strategies to improve athlete mental health and to safeguard athletes from harassment and abuse. A gap exists in the scientific literature around the knowledge of the athlete multi-disciplinary health care support team’s mental health status and experiences of harassment and abuse within the context of their work in sport. The #HowRU? project targets these knowledge gaps to ultimately inform prevention and support strategies with the objective of improving the health and well-being of health professionals whose careers are devoted to support athlete health and performance.

The objectives of the project are:

1. To understand the mental health burden of the multi-disciplinary health care team in elite sport to underpin targeted interventions to support the health and well-being of this cohort.
2. To gain insight into the safety of the sport environment of the multi-disciplinary health care team to inform prevention initiatives to improve the working environment of this cohort.

This cross-sectional cohort study will commence data collection in September 2025. The research team is comprised of 22 multi-disciplinary experts from 18 countries in addition to the core research team from Canada, Australia, Germany, including a McMaster medical student.

PI and Contact: Margo Mountjoy (mountjm@mcmaster.ca)