"We're all in the same boat together": exploring quality participation strategies in dragon boat teams for breast cancer survivors

Background: Dragon boat offers an opportunity to increase physical activity (quantity participation) in breast cancer survivors; however, quality participation experiences have yet to be explored. Quality participation is one's subjective perceptions and experiences. While there is evidence to suggest dragon boat may offer a quality experience, further exploration is needed. Purpose: Guided by a conceptual framework to promote a positive, quality experience in parasport context, the purposes were: (a) to explore strategies that are used to foster elements of quality participation in dragon boat teams for breast cancer survivors and (b) to understand the context in which these strategies are implemented within these teams (i.e., quality participation conditions). Materials and methods: After completing a guiding questionnaire, current and previous leaders on dragon boat teams completed a structured, follow-up telephone interview. Transcripts were thematically analyzed inductively and deductively mapped onto a framework. Results: Leaders fostered quality participation through elements of challenge and mastery and conditions of the social and physical environments. Facilitating strategies included creating friendly competition, using social media to celebrate success, creating mentorship opportunities and being outside, respectively. Conclusions: Future research is encouraged to explore identified strategies for consistency to gain a clearer understanding of quality experiences within dragon boat.