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Peer Concussion Education Program and Manual

The PCEP was developed in part with an award from the NCAA-DoD Mind Matters Educational Programs Challenge. The women’s soccer and men’s lacrosse teams of Chestnut Hill College participated in a pilot implementation of the program and an online program manual was developed to facilitate its broad dissemination. After reviewing the PCEP’s online manual, the NCAA-DoD Mind Matters Educational Programs Challenge Task Force awarded additional funding to conduct a multi-site randomized controlled trial of the PCEP. Ten colleges/universities across the country participated in the trial, which provided evidence supporting the feasibility of the program as well as its effectiveness with respect to increasing concussion knowledge, intention to report concussion and attitudes that support reporting.

Please click on the links below for: 1) an article describing the PCEP and its development, 2) the results of the multi-site randomized controlled trial of the PCEP and 3) to access the PCEP’s online manual.

Kneavel, M. E., Ernst, W.J. & McCarthy, K. S. (2020). Randomized controlled trial of a novel peer concussion-education program for collegiate athletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 55:5, 456-468. doi:10.4085/1062-6050-0182.19

Ernst, W. J. & Kneavel, M.E. (2020). Development of a peer education program to improve concussion knowledge and reporting in collegiate athletes. Journal of Athletic Training, 55:5, 448-455. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-212-19

Peer Concussion Education Manual

The main goal of the Chestnut Hill College Peer Concussion Education Program (CHC-PCEP) is to create a culture where student-athletes are stakeholders along with coaches, health care personnel and administrators with respect to concussion education, assessment, reporting and management.

This online manual contains all of the information and materials needed for others to implement the program at their institution. The materials, including downloadable PowerPoint presentations and activity sheets, are customizable in order to meet the unique needs of a range of institutions including colleges, universities, high schools and military units.  In addition, this manual contains video segments that describe the program from the perspectives of the interdisciplinary team at CHC responsible for its development and implementation.

Using the Table of Contents to the right, you can implement the Peer Concussion Education Program at your institution.

Table of Contents

Overview
Program Model & Rationale
5 Step Approach for Implementing the Program

  1. Form Interdisciplinary Team to Implement and Assess the Program
  2. Select Peer Concussion Educators
  3. Train Peer Concussion Educators
  4. Peer Concussion Educators Present Modules to Teammates
  5. Debrief and Asses the Program

All Training Materials and Videos
Suggestions for Modifications to Other Groups
References
About Us
Acknowledgments

Copyright 2016. All rights reserved.

This manual was principally developed by William J. Ernst, Psy.D., founding executive director of the Center for Concussion Education and Research and Meredith E. Kneavel, founding director, research and assessment for the Center for Concussion Education and Research. Members of the executive team were Lynn Ortale, Ph.D., founding director, strategic planning and marketing of the Center for Concussion Education and Research, Lynn Tubman, M.Ed., founding director of engagement of the Center for Concussion Education and Research.

Serving as peer concussion educators were Bethanie Paddock, M.S., Andrew Hildebrand ’17, Brianna Ferrell ’19, Meghan Guagenti ’18 and Matthew Pedrick.

Other contributors were Don Visher, Brendan Connell, M.S., ATC, Lynn Brandsma, Ph.D., and Sandra Dickson, M.S.

Acknowledgments

The development of the Peer Concussion Education Program was made possible, in part, with support from the National Collegiate Athletic Association – U.S. Department of Defense Mind Matters Educational Program Challenge Award.

We are grateful to many individuals and organizations for their assistance.

First, we would like to thank the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Department of Defense for their financial support and helpful suggestions pertaining to the development of the Peer Concussion Education Program.

Also, we would like to thank Emily Kroshus, ScD. and Kevin McCarthy, Ph.D. for their suggestions and assistance with program evaluation. In addition, we are grateful to Sister Carol Jean Vale, SSJ. Ph.D., President, Wolfgang Natter, Ph.D., Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Cheryll Rothery, Psy.D., ABPP, Associate Professor and Chairperson of the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology and all of Chestnut Hill College for their support.

We would also like to thank the Department of Athletics of Chestnut Hill College and the student-athletes from the Women’s Soccer and Men’s Lacrosse teams for their participation in the program. Helpful suggestions regarding adapting the program for use with military service personnel were provided by Scott Livingston, Ph.D. from the Department of Defense and LaToya L Small, MS, LT, MSC, USN, a doctoral student at Chestnut Hill College. Legal advice was provided by Christina Abbott, Esq.

Finally, we would like to thank Chelsea Farren, M.Ed. and Kristin Floyd for their expertise and assistance with developing the online manual.

Dedication

This manual is dedicated to the memory of Sandra L. Dickson. Sandy was the head women’s soccer coach at Chestnut Hill College (CHC) from 2011 until her passing in 2019 and was named the College’s first Director of Fitness and Recreation. In addition to her distinguished coaching career at CHC and Bloomsburg University, Sandy was respected for her strong work ethic, thoughtfulness and the care that she demonstrated toward her student-athletes, which are reflected in her contributions to the CHC Peer Concussion Education Program and this manual.

Legal Disclaimer

All information contained in this education online manual (“manual”) is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind and, in particular, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made or is to be inferred as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness or completeness of any such information. This manual is to be used for educational and lawful purposes only and may not be relied upon for any other purpose. No representation is made that said information is without errors or omissions which may be considered material. Under no circumstances shall Chestnut Hill College, or their, board of directors, officers, agents, employees, or counsel be liable to any person or entity for (a) any loss or damage in whole or part caused by, resulting from, or relating to any error or omission (through neglect or otherwise) or other circumstances involving the procurement, collection, compilation, interpretation, analysis, editing, transportation, transmittal, communication or delivery of any information contained in this manual, or (b) any direct, indirect, special, consequential or incidental damages whatsoever, even if Chestnut Hill College, or their board of directors, officers , agents, directors, employees or counsel are advised in advance of the possibility of such damages resulting from the use of, or inability to use, any information contained in this manual.