Heads up to Schools: Know Your Concussion ABCs--Increasing Recognition and Management of Concussions In School Settings

Background:  Each year, kids and teens aged 5–18 years account for an estimated 65% of emergency department (ED) visits for sports and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries, including concussions. Children and youth engage in sports and recreation activities at various times throughout school day, such as at PE class and playground/recess time. Several sports and recreation-related activities, including playground activities, are associated with the greatest number of TBI-related ED visits.[1] Students may also get a concussion when doing activities outside of school, but then come to school when symptoms of the injury are presenting.  

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[1] Gilchrist J, Thomas KE, Wald M, Langlois J. Nonfatal Traumatic Brain Injuries From Sports and Recreation Activities; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; 2001-2005

Program background:  Concussions can have a more serious effect on a young, developing brain and need to be addressed correctly. Cognitive rest is important to help students recover after a concussion and proper recognition and response to concussion symptoms in the school environment can help prevent long-term problems.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Injury Response conducted research with potential audiences to determine the structure of the school environment and education needs of school professionals regarding concussion. Based on the findings from this research, content experts, and CDC’s previous concussion initiatives, CDC created the Heads Up to Schools: Know Your Concussion ABCs materials for school nurses, counselors, teachers, and administrators. This initiative is part of a series of Heads Up projects developed for a variety of audiences. CDC conducted 42 one hour telephone interviews with school nurses, counselors, teachers, and administrators from elementary, middle, and high schools, in two phases. The first phase provided feedback on the content, design and format of materials about concussions in schools. A second phase was conducted to test revised materials. CDC also gathered feedback on distribution channels for reaching school professionals and developed partnerships with a range of national medical and school professional organizations to work together on an approach for promotion and dissemination of the materials. The Heads Up to Schools: Know Your Concussion ABC’s materials provide information to school professionals in a format that’s succinct and designed to meet their specific needs. During formative research, CDC learned that participants liked the concise, clear style of the content, but recommended changes to its organization. Participants wanted unique content for each audience and wanted designs to incorporate youth of all ages. During the second phase, participants expressed strong approval of the revised design, creative use of graphics, and the reorganization of content. 

Conclusions:  School professionals are eager for information that helps them ensure safe and nurturing learning environments for their students, in a format that meets the demands of their job. 

Implications for research and/or practice:  Materials for school professionals should be concise with simple, clear messages targeted for each audience and designs should be colorful and reflect students in grades K-12. Partnering with school-related professional organizations helps build credibility for the resources and provides effective dissemination channels for materials.