Conducting injury surveillance within a youth football league required several fundamental practices of public health leadership, including stakeholder engagement, clear communication, as well as adaptive leadership skills. First, to create successful and sustainable partnerships throughout the season, it was essential to identify and engage stakeholders among the youth football league, including executive board members, coaches, parents, athletes and athletic trainers.
During the summer prior to the football season, the primary athletic trainer and I attended meetings with league executive board members and coaches to introduce the project and the role of the athletic trainer on-field and to engage in discussion surrounding the league’s needs and concerns as it pertained to the management of injuries and expectations of stakeholders (the athletic trainer, executive board members, and coaches). This was a critical step in building relationships, gaining trust, and facilitating open communication prior to the start of the season. I have personally worked with the youth football league that participated in this study for over 5 years and leveraged the success of my existing relationships as well as continued support, goodwill, and expressed interest from the league. Going into the season, we spoke with several parents and athletes participating in the youth football league to describe the study and understand their concerns related to injuries.
Throughout the season, coaches varied in their level of support for having the athletic trainer present to identify, assess, and record all injuries that occurred on field. Prior to the start of the season, we collectively decided with the executive board members that the athletic trainer would be the utmost authority in all decisions regarding return to play. We collectively leveraged the authority of the board members to communicate all expectations for injury management to the coaches and parents. The board members also served as the primary point of
53 contact and mediator when conflict arose. The athletic trainers also made an effort to create interpersonal relationships week to week with coaches and parents throughout the league and offered suggestions to manage and prevent injuries, when appropriate.
When I originally started this project, I planned to prospectively recruit athletes in a single youth football organization. Under the guidance of my practicum preceptor and advisor, it was determined that the case count would not be sufficient and adapted the IRB to include the evaluation of all injuries reported by the athletic trainer in a de-identified manner. This required clear communication of the change in protocol to the athletic trainers and redefining of expectations as they would be reporting injuries more frequently and it was critically important for the athletic trainers to provide sufficient detail about the injurious event without revealing the identity of the subject. Through this, we maintained open communication and worked collaboratively to streamline the reporting and quality control of the surveillance system.
My training in public health leadership has provided me the skills to work collaboratively with community, academic, and clinical partners in research and to lead myself and others to achieve our stated goals. It has also taught me how to lead and manage change as well as how to leverage my strengths and the strengths of others through all aspects of my work in public health. While my research is specifically focused on the prevention of sports injuries, I am confident that the skillset I have gained through this training will prepare me to be a leader of public health within this context and beyond.
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