Concussion Awareness Toolkit

Summary

September 25th is Alberta Concussion Awareness Day, which falls within National Concussion Awareness Week (September 22 to September 28, 2024). Alberta shares a commitment with other provinces and territories to profile the importance of concussion awareness. The Alberta Concussion Awareness Day was established to increase concussion awareness by providing credible evidence-based information and resources to encourage action across Alberta. This day is for everyone with a role in healthy active living – sport and recreation participants, parents, coaches, organizers, educators and more!

How You Can Help

You can help raise awareness about the Alberta Concussion Awareness Day efforts by:

• Promoting evidence-based information and resources about concussions available at the following website: www.sportmedab.ca/aca. By sharing accurate and reliable information, you can empower others to make informed decisions.
• Share and engage with the Alberta Concussion Awareness Day social media posts to increase the visibility of the campaign's message and reach a wider audience.

What You Can Encourage Others To Do

• Motivate your network to join the cause and amplify the message of Alberta Concussion Awareness Day. Encourage others to share their story about concussions and how it has affected themselves and their loved ones.

SHARE YOUR CONCUSSION EXPERIENCE HOW TO PARTICIPATE MY CONCUSSION EXPERIENCE CONCUSSION EXPERIENCE PDF

Sample Posts & Graphics

To help make it easier to share concussion awareness information, we've prepared these captions you can use. Take a look below, and discover the various types of important information you can quickly share in your communities.

SAMPLE GRAPHIC #1 SAMPLE GRAPHIC #2 SAMPLE GRAPHIC #3 SAMPLE GRAPHIC #4 SAMPLE GRAPHIC #5 SAMPLE GRAPHIC #6

Captions

1. The Alberta Concussion Awareness Day is for everyone with a role in healthy active living – sport and recreation participants, parents, coaches, organizers, educators, and more! For more information visit: www.sportmedab.ca/aca
2. September 25th is Alberta Concussion Awareness Day! Learn how to recognize and respond because concussions can happen to anyone. For more information visit: www.sportmedab.ca/aca

True or False

1. You have to lose consciousness to have a concussion. False! Most concussions involve disorientation, but not a loss of consciousness.
2. You have to completely rest until I can resume some activities. False! The 2012 consensus guidelines recommended complete rest after concussion. But research in the last few years has shown that resting and using the guideline of “symptom limited activity” (reducing the amount of activity if symptoms get worse) is important.
3. If I have a concussion, it will lead to permanent brain damage. False! There are many causes to degenerative brain disease. Scientific studies are learning about the relationship between concussions and brain disease and while there is a relationship, a concussion does not cause brain disease.
4. There are ways to prevent concussions. True! Research has shown that protective equipment, exercise, and sleep are ways to improve brain health and help speed up recovery.
5. Sports has the highest rate of concussion. False! An Alberta study determined that the highest rate of concussion is from falls at 35.8% and sports-related is the second highest rate of concussion at 22%. Followed by: motor vehicle incidents (9.7%), violent acts (7.4%), bicycle related (3%), riding animals (1.9%), and off-road vehicles (1.7%).

Statistics

1. There are an estimated 200,000 concussions sustained annually in Canada – Source: SCSC, Evidence, 20 February 2019, 1855 (Dr. Charles Tator, Director, Canadian Concussion Centre – University Health Network).
2. Sports-related concussion is “among the most complex injuries in sports medicine to diagnose, assess and manage.” Source: McCrory et al., Consensus statement on concussion in sport—the 5th international conference on concussion in sport held in Berlin, October 2016 (2017) p.839
3. There is an estimated 1 in 5 lifetime risk of sustaining a concussion – Source: Dr. Carolyn Emery, Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre
4. In Alberta, 14% of male high school students and 10% of female high school students report at least one concussion in the past year. – Dr. Carolyn Emery, Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre
5. In youth, 30% of concussions are recurrent and 30% of youth will suffer symptoms for months. – Dr. Carolyn Emery, Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre
6. Did you know that 37 Albertans Sustain a Concussion Each Day? That is 13,579 concussions per year being diagnosed in Alberta’s emergency departments. This is only a fraction of the concussions sustained as it does not include concussions treated at physicians’ offices, walk-in clinics, or those not recognized or treated. September 28th is Alberta Concussion Awareness Day! To learn more about the most common type of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) visit: www.sportmedab.ca/aca
7. Who Experiences the Highest Rates of Concussions? People of all ages get concussions, but some age groups experience higher rates of concussion. Alberta residents between the ages of 10 and 24 had the highest average number of concussion emergency department visits and the highest rates of concussion. Overall, males have a higher concussion rate than females until the age of 39. Over 40 years of age, the concussion rates for males and females were similar. For more concussion resources visit: www.sportmedab.ca/aca