Concussion education reporting and training (CERT)

INTRODUCTION OF THE PROBLEM: According to McCrory et al., (2017) a sports related concussion is a traumatic brain injury induced by biomechanical forces (pp. 839). It is estimated that up to 1.9 million of those reports account for adolescents and children (Bryan et al., 2016, as cited in Halstead et al., 2018). Despite the high prevalence, many adolescent athletes have limited knowledge regarding concussions and even with the knowledge they refuse to report their possible concussion to a coach or another authority figure. A professional’s knowledge and self-efficacy to identify and treat a possible concussion are key components in the recovery and safety of the adolescent athlete. PROPOSED INTERVENTION: To address the above area of need, this author is proposing the Concussion Education Reporting and Training (CERT) program. The primary stakeholders participating in the program will be adolescent athletes participating in team-based sports for their respective schools and school-based staff. The adolescent athlete portion will be divided into two sections. The first section will be with the entire team to educate them on signs and symptoms of concussions, management, return to play guidelines, and the importance of reporting concussions. The second part will be provided to selected members of the team identified by the coaches. This phase will focus on implementing strategies to increase their reporting of concussions and encouragement of teammates to report their concussions. DESIGN: Qualitative and quantitative data will be collected through pre and post survey, comparison of reporting concussions through the seasons, and semi-structured interviews with participants. CONCLUSION: Supported by evidence found in literature, this program has the capability to educate and promote concussion awareness that will prevent devastating outcomes for your student athletes impacting their quality of life and will provide staff with the means to effectively manage student athletes’ concussions to maintain their independence and return to full participation in athletics and academics