Overview of the program
The Australian Concussion Guidelines for Youth and Community Sport have been designed to provide clear and consistent guidance on concussion for parents, teachers, coaches, sideline staff and others involved in youth and community sport. The set of guidelines provided by this program provides information on how to recognise and manage concussion from the time of injury through to a safe return to education, work and playing sport. The program is intended for the general public and for individuals participating in youth and community sports where healthcare practitioners are less likely to be available to diagnose and monitor symptom progression of individuals with concussion. The program is funded by the Australian Government aimed to bring together the most contemporary evidence-based information and present it in a format that is appropriate for all individuals.
Aims to:
- provide access to up-to-date evidence-based information on concussion for all Australians
- provide improved safety and health outcomes for all individuals who suffer concussive injuries while participating in sport
- assist Australian sporting organisations to align their policy and procedures to the most-up-to-date scientific evidence
- protect the integrity of sport through consistent application of best practice protocols and guidelines
- provide a platform to support the development of a national policy for the management of concussions in Australia
- Provide clarity of message and consistency of message in articulating recommendations to stakeholders in sport.
Critique
In order for this program to successfully make an impact on society and the number of concussions young athletes experience it needs to address the four domains of the Socioecological Model. This program successfully meets the individual domain extremely well. The program provides an in-depth explanation on how concussions and head injuries work including: What concussion are, Concussion Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Risk reduction and prevention, Concussion management, Rehabilitation, long term brain health and more. Not only this, but it also includes an advanced return to sport framework including a protocol for those with multiple suspected concussions which helps provide depth to individuals understanding of the issue and how to deal with overall increasing their education. This will improve young peoples, coaches, and family’s self-efficacy when it comes to managing and dealing with concussions and head injuries in person. Without the amount of information that has been provided, coaches and families would struggle to understand the importance of a concussion causing self-doubt for an individual.
The program also includes an extensive list of different rules and regulations that need to be obeyed by in order to keep a safe physical environment as well as individual safety and self-efficacy. If the program did not contain the guidelines that it does, then the program would not successfully protect youth communities from experiencing long term brain damage as well as creating a barrier for young athletes from having high self-efficacy. Not only this, but the program is also funded by the Australian Sports Commission (Policy). However, the program primarily relies on their guidelines to enhance the effectiveness of their program and make an impact on different social and youth communities, schools, and sporting clubs.
The program highlights the economic impact of concussions on local communities. “Victorian data estimated the concussion-related hospital admissions cost $2 million per year costing $1,583 per admission.” By doing this, the program is creating a relationship and connection between different communities in order to make a change overall creating a healthy social environment. The program also successfully campaigns the program as it is formally written in a Position Statement spreading awareness of the program and what it is trying to do as well as building trust with the intended audience. It would be a good idea for the program to advertise further by posting on Facebook to reach sporting communities based on Facebook.