Method

6.1. Design

This was a non-experimental mixed-methods evaluation using post-training questionnaires and qualitative interviews to follow up with participants. The evaluation aimed to assess how ACEawareness training had resonated with staff working in the sports sector, the potential to develop the training further in the industry and what (if any) changes had occurred following the training. The evaluation did not consider outcomes (see limitations in 6.5).

6.2. Procedures

At the workshops, participants were briefed about the aims of the evaluation, provided with an information sheet and asked to complete a permission-to-contact form to indicate willingness to be contacted by a researcher from the Public Health Wales Evaluation and Impact Team for a semistructured interview after the workshop. During the day, participants were asked to fill out a generic training evaluation form at the end of the workshop.

Out of the 21 individuals who attended the workshops, 14 agreed to be contacted, and following an invitation email, 7 agreed to participate in a semi-structured interview over the telephone. Interviews were conducted between January and February 2019, either face to face or by telephone, took on average 20-30 minutes. All participants provided informed consent before participating. One individual had declined to have their interview audio-recorded, therefore with the participant’s permission, detailed field notes were taken and used in the thematic analysis of data. Interviews were transcribed verbatim.