Head Injury Prevention Program

Project Summary:

This collaborative project aims at increasing awareness around sport-related concussions. Research shows that in organizational sports, soccer ranks high in concussion risk. Our program aims to promote safe techniques that prevent injuries to the head and neck, including rules for play that can ultimately protect our youth.

Until recently, athletes were treated for a concussion only if there was some noticeable trouble such as loss of consciousness, nausea, dizziness or bleeding after receiving a blow to the head. Recent evidence, however, reveals permanent damage to the brain of athletes who had shown little or no visible signs of a brain injury. The negative symptoms include permanent deficits with speech, memory, logical reasoning, motor dexterity, and concentration. Based on research, an untreated concussion makes the athlete more prone to a second injury because an early return to play impedes with the recovery time that is essential to allow the injured brain to heal. In professional soccer leagues, coaching personnel use a series of mental exams and balance tests to determine a head injury, sideline the player for some recovery, and define a schedule for return to play. In non-professional leagues, however, there is little in terms of research, training for volunteer coaches or a systematic approach that screens young athletes for head trauma. It is our impression that our educational program can improve sensitivity around the need to train coaches and athletes so that there is better use of prudent techniques on the field.  

The project provides a collaborative approach to transfer what is known about head trauma screening to sport around brain injury, awareness and education for coaches and players, and the prevention of injury. The project will create:  

• Awareness of head injury for coaches and players.
• Training to do effective on the field and bench screening (SCAT2).
• Injury prevention by providing a reliable and easy to use tool to stop early return to play and the occurrence of more pervasive injury.
• An evidence-based strategy to inform policy around the type of play, e.g., cessation of heading the ball in soccer without appropriate training (research will collect brief pre- and post-season assessments of players’ cognitive and motor skills and examine relationships with head injury).  

Advisory Team:

• Dr. Elena Antoniadis - RDC Psychology Instructor
• Dr. Scott Oddie - RDC Rural Health Research Chair
• Jill Pattison - RDC at U of C Research Student
• Colleen Lameris - Executive Director, Red Deer City Soccer Association
• Dr. Peter Wass - Clinical Neuropsychologist
• Bill Orchin - Coach and Parent Stakeholder  

For more information contact: Dr. Scott Oddie or phone 403-342-3310.