Submission Date

7-24-2015

Document Type

Paper

Department

Neuroscience

Faculty Mentor

Joel Bish

Comments

Presented during the 17th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 24, 2015 at Ursinus College.

Project Description

In recent years concussions have become a more apparent problem in youth and adolescent sports. 1 in 5 high school students will sustain a concussion during the season. Due to medical and scientific advances, the diagnosis of concussions is becoming much simpler with key markers that are signs for an injury. Returning to play too soon before an athlete is fully recovered increases the likelihood that serious and irreversible neurological deficits can occur. Symptoms for concussions are necessary to track in order for an athlete to properly report their recovery to a physician. Doctors primarily rely on a patient’s report of their symptoms to evaluate the total effect of the injury, so recovery times are often misdiagnosed. Ursinus College- Concussion Outreach Group has been created so that concussion awareness can be raised. No methods have been found to completely prevent a concussion, so educational outreach is the first step. The group has decided to utilize a website and mobile application in order to promote safe techniques of play, along with awareness of how complex and misunderstood concussions are. In order to have a better diagnosis of a concussion it is important to completely monitor symptoms, which is possible using a mobile application. The website will serve as an information database, anonymous blog for sharing experiences, and will contain profile with data entered into the application. The site will provide full details on the dangers of concussions, as well as an “Ask the Expert” section for personal questions. It is not expected that this project will ultimately stop concussions from occurring. Granting adolescents the knowledge of the dangers that exist with concussions may cause an overall change in the attitudes attributed with concussions, hopefully so that concussions are not so under diagnosed. The effort behind making the website and mobile application is motivated by the need to promote responsible play in sports, educate everyone involved with the athlete why concussions are so serious, help prevent premature return to play or academia, explain the risks behind playing certain sports, and encourage interest in future findings related to concussions.

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