Grant: Collaborative Health Research Projects (NSERC partnered)

Concussion is a major public health concern. Despite increased recognition of the serious health impacts of concussion, the number of injuries is rising. The presentation of symptoms after a concussion can have a significant impact on a child/youth's participation in daily life, including at school and in sport. While child/youth specific guidelines exist to help navigate return to activity (RTA) and return to school (RTS), they are poorly understood and adhered to in general practice. Most existing concussion management Apps, of which there are only a few, aim to provide education and some method for recording and tracking symptoms. These Apps are information dense, lack user interaction and fail to integrate child/youth patterns of activity with symptom exacerbation to provide guidance about RTA- and RTS based on evidence-based guidelines. The proposed project aims to create a concussion management platform that incorporates and streamlines all aspects of concussion management and monitoring. The platform will be interactive and provide children and their families with more autonomy, knowledge and control of their recovery trajectories, increasing overall adherence. Features of the platform include symptom monitoring, cognitive testing, and real-time activity monitoring and feedback. Feedback will allow the child/youth to immediately adjust activity level to prevent symptom exacerbation and longer recovery time.