Social cohesion through football: a quasi-experimental mixed methods design to evaluate a complex health promotion program

A quasi-experimental cohort study design with treatment partitioning involving four study sites. The study employs a 'dose response' model, comparing those with no involvement in the Football United program with those with lower or higher levels of participation. A range of qualitative and quantitative measures will be used in the study. Study participants' emotional well being, resilience, ethnic identity and other group orientation, feelings of social inclusion and belonging will be measured using a survey instrument complemented by relevant data drawn from in-depth interviews, self reporting measures and participant observation. The views of key informants from the program and the wider community will also be solicited.The complexity of the Football United program poses challenges for measurement, and requires the study design to be responsive to the dynamic nature of the program and context. Assessment of change is needed at multiple levels, drawing on mixed methods and multidisciplinary approaches in implementation and evaluation. Attention to these challenges has underpinned the design and methods in the Social Cohesion through Football study, which will use a unique and innovative combination of measures that have not been applied together previously in social inclusion/cohesion and sport and social inclusion/cohesion program research.Australia accepts more than 13,000 refugee and humanitarian immigrants annually[1]. Worldwide there were 42 million displaced people, including 15.2 million refugees by the end of 2008 [2]. There is evidence that refugee families are highly vulnerable to social isolation in their countries of resettlement [3]. The difficulties of refugee settlement are well documented, including the need to learn new languages, negotiating differing cultural and societal values, emotional trauma, loss or separation from family and torture or life-threatening events preceding arrival [3-6]. The Australian government and public are in the midst of