Workshop to address head injuries in sport

No matter what code you're talking about, football is a fast-paced sport that participants play with little or no protective head gear, making head injuries inevitable.

With the start of the Australian rules and rugby league seasons only weeks away, Monash University’s Department of Occupational Therapy, Epworth Monash Rehabilitation Medicine Unit and Alfred Health’s Occupational Therapy Department are hosting a workshop on mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussion.

Led by Professor Barry Willer, a world authority on TBI, the workshop will review the current guidelines for return to sport and discuss the consistency of these guidelines to the physiologic characteristics of post concussion syndrome.

Professor John Olver, from the Epworth Monash Rehabilitation Medicine Unit, said the workshop was a perfect opportunity for those with both a practical and theoretical interest in brain injury treatment and management to hear from one of the leading researchers in the field.

“Professor Willer is an internationally renowned researcher in the field of community integration following brain injury, with his more recent work focussed on post concussion syndrome and mild TBI and return to play guidelines in professional sports,” Professor John Olver said.

“He is the author of the first return to play after concussion guidelines for the International Olympics which were first introduced in 2000 at the Sydney Olympic Games. Participants will gain a lot from his insight.”

During the workshop in Melbourne, Professor Willer will discuss his research findings that suggest mild traumatic brain injury and concussion are primarily physiologic in nature. He will also explain the use of provocative exercise testing as a reliable and valid approach to assessment of readiness of return to competitive sport, work or school.

The Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion Workshop will be held at the Monash Lecture Theatre, 5th Floor, Alfred Centre, Alfred Hospital Commercial Rd, Prahran from 8.45am, Thursday 23 February, 2012.

For full details on the workshop, visit the Monash website.