Toward a Minnesota model for brain health in youth sports

This Grand Challenges project is a new collaboration between six researchers across five different units, all focused on various aspects of traumatic brain injury. In 2011, Governor Dayton signed into law a new set of protocols to govern the treatment of concussions experienced by youth athletes in Minnesota. But we know little about the quality of information and effectiveness of treatment provided to student-athletes, including potential disparities of treatment across ages, sports, or regions. Nor do we know if students are receiving the care they need to succeed in the classroom (i.e., “Return to Learn”) after concussion incidents. The University of Minnesota is well poised to provide an interdisciplinary response to fill these research gaps, inform policy, and improve the health of Minnesota’s youth athletes. The project has four interrelated objectives: (1) to establish a campus-wide working group on traumatic brain injury (TBI); (2) to conduct a pilot study on the implementation of Minnesota’s 2011 sports concussion law and on current practices in the identification, evaluation, and treatment of youth sports concussions; (3) to host a statewide summit, in partnership with community partners, to disseminate best practices and identify statewide needs; and (4) to develop grant proposals to secure funding in order to create a Minnesota Model for addressing the challenge of youth sports TBI.