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Practice Profile
Implementing organisation:
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Geographical scope:
International
Implementation period:
Mental Health in Elite Athletes Toolkit – 2021
Mental Health Action Plan – August 2023–2026
Primary beneficiaries:
National Olympic Committees, International Federations, athletes and their entourage.
Practice overview
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) developed a comprehensive framework for addressing mental health in sport. Building on its 2019 Consensus Statement on mental health in elite athletes, the IOC published the Mental Health in Elite Athletes Toolkit in 2021 and launched its Mental Health Action Plan in August 2023 under the message “there is no health without good mental health.”
The Action Plan is structured around five focus areas that provide a framework for sports organisations to promote mental health, prevent difficulties and improve access to appropriate support. RS4MH VCoP Good Practices updat…
Core components
1. Culture and leadership – creating organisational cultures in which mental health is recognised and supported.
2. Measurement and research – improving understanding of mental health through evidence and monitoring.
3. Mental health literacy, stigma reduction and resilience – increasing knowledge and promoting positive wellbeing.
4. Psychologically safe environments, help-seeking and early intervention – making it easier for athletes to speak up and access support.
5. Access to sport, particularly in under-resourced areas, so that more people can benefit from the positive mental health effects of sport. RS4MH VCoP Good Practices updat…
The framework is supported by Athlete365, professional education programmes such as the Certificate and Diploma in Mental Health in Elite Sport, and Olympic Solidarity.
Relevance to youth mental health and racket sports
The IOC framework provides an important international reference point for the RS4MH Policy Recommendation Guidelines.
Although the Action Plan was developed primarily in an elite sport context, its five areas correspond closely with the RS4MH ecological approach. Mental health is presented not simply as an individual athlete issue, but as something influenced by leadership, organisational culture, coaches, support systems, access to care and the wider sporting environment.
The fifth focus area is particularly relevant to RS4MH because it highlights the importance of ensuring access to sport for people in under-resourced communities, which is also an important focus of the project. RS4MH VCoP Good Practices updat…
Transfer and adaptation potential
High.
The full IOC framework does not need to be reproduced by grassroots organisations. Instead, its five focus areas can be translated into a simple club or school mental health plan.
For example, a racket sports organisation could:
– identify a person responsible for mental health and wellbeing;
– include mental health within safeguarding and organisational policies;
– provide basic mental health education for coaches and volunteers;
– create psychologically safe environments where young athletes can ask for help;
– establish clear referral and signposting procedures;
– regularly ask young people about their wellbeing and experiences;
– consider how to make racket sport more accessible to disadvantaged or remote communities.
This makes the IOC framework particularly useful as a strategic structure for clubs, schools and federations developing their own mental health policies. RS4MH VCoP Good Practices updat…
Reference sources
1. IOC – New Mental Health Action Plan (2023)
2. IOC – Mental Health in Elite Athletes Toolkit (2021)
VCoP Reflection
If your club or organisation had to create a five-part Mental Health Action Plan based on the IOC framework, what would your five priorities be?
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