Implementing injury Prevention training Routines in Teams and Clubs in youth Team handball

Musculoskeletal injuries are common in youth athletes and cause both physical and mental health problems. Physical and psychological injury prevention training is effective in reducing injuries but has had limited public health impact because it is not widely or properly implemented. The lack of involving end-users at the individual and organizational levels is a main contributor to insufficient implementation.

In “Implementing injury Prevention training ROutines in TEams and Clubs in youth Team handball (I-PROTECT)”, we integrate behavioral and social science theories with medicine and public health perspectives in collaboration with community youth handball. We identify the facilitators, among stakeholders at multiple levels, that can help embed injury prevention training into regular training routines in youth handball. Researchers and end-users co-create the novel I-PROTECT intervention featuring evidence-based, theory-informed, and context-specific physical and psychological injury prevention training for youth handball. We investigate whether the I-PROTECT intervention, along with tailored implementation strategies, work under real-world conditions and will be part of regular handball practice.