Rehabilitation in Sports Clubs: Exploring the Perspectives of Employees, Volunteers, and People with Type 2 Diabetes on Public-Civil Rehabilitation

People with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) are generally encouraged to be physically active and are often invited to participate in rehabilitation programmes promoting exercise. However, these programmes seldom result in lasting changes in exercise behaviour, which has led municipal rehabilitation providers to work increasingly with civil society organisations, such as sports clubs, in hopes of providing structure and social support that keep people engaged after their rehabilitation programmes conclude. Such collaborations seem logical from
the vantage point of the municipal health care system that is tasked with preventing diseases and promoting health. However, although the programmes potentially impact the lives of many, we know little about the lifeworld perspectives of the people involved. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore the reasons of rehabilitation employees, sports club volunteers, and people with T2D for partaking in collaborative public-civil rehabilitation programmes. The presentation will be based on observations and focus group interviews with these parties, conducted as part of a multiple-case study of public-civil rehabilitation
programmes in the Municipality of Aalborg, Denmark. Preliminary findings suggest that there are considerable discrepancies in how municipal employees and sports club volunteers view the collaborations. Furthermore, people with T2D have their own reasons for participating in rehabilitation programmes and
sports, related to both disease, health, and enjoyment among other things. Drawing from the works of Jürgen Habermas, we discuss how to handle the discrepancies between system and lifeworld perspectives and argue for an increased focus on communication and deliberation of reasons in public-civil rehabilitation.