Athletic trainers play a pivotal role in patient care because for the majority of athletic trainers they have a daily relationship with their athletes. When athletes suffer from a concussion there has to be a support system that the athlete can lean on in order to help maintain their grades as well as recover from their injury. In research from Kasamatsu et al. (2016) researchers
In research from Kasamatsu et al. (2016), titled “examining academic support after concussion for the adolescent student-athlete: Perspective of the Athletic trainer.” In this paper, the researchers found that less than half (44%) of Athletic Trainers had a “return to learn” policy in place. Yet, 84% of those surveyed recommended a gradual return to learn. Within the policies that athletic trainers would like to see implemented change in course load and changes to their attendance.
When implementing the return to learn policies the athletic trainers also were asked about who should be the point person to oversee the return to learn policy. surprisingly the athletic trainer was the top choice for monitoring their academic progress followed by a school counselor and nurse. Furthermore, when monitoring the athlete’s health and recovery the athletic trainer was the top choice followed by the principal or assistant principal and then the athletic director.
Additionally, it is very interesting to look at the researcher’s findings on who the athletic trainers talk to most often as their choices for point people to monitor the athletes don’t exactly align with who the AT’s talk to at the time of the survey.
This article ultimately tells us that athletic trainers need to implement plans that they think would help athletes. Furthermore, the Rocky Mountain Youth Sports Medicine Institute developed a guide that could be helpful to everyone involved in the care of a concussed athlete. You can find that guide here.
You can read more about the research article here.
