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Santa Rosa Junior College honored for Concussion Management Program

Santa Rosa Junior College’s (SRJC) Concussion Management Program has been named the 2014 Grand Silver winner of the NASPA Excellence Awards. Dr. Nancy Chinn and Monica Ohkubo, the collaborative leaders of the program, will be honored in March at the 2014 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

Each year, NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, recognizes the outstanding contributions of members who are transforming higher education through exceptional programs, innovative services, and effective administration. The concussion management program at Santa Rosa Junior College in Santa Rosa, Calif. was named as the 2014 Grand Silver winner of the NASPA Excellence Awards. The program was selected by a peer review process that was approved by the NASPA Board of Directors during its winter board meeting. Recipients will be honored in March at the 2014 NASPA Annual Conference in Baltimore, Md.

While sports concussions are being taken more seriously implementing concussion management guidelines that recommend computerized baseline testing has been difficult, especially at community colleges. Nancy Chinn, head injury expert and chair of the Disability Resources Department at Santa Rosa, found that only 17 percent of California Community Colleges were implementing best practices, including baseline testing.

In a collaborative effort between the departments of Disability Resources and Sports Medicine, a concussion management program that emphasizes concussion education of student-athletes and coaches, computerized cognitive baseline and post-injury testing, and in an unprecedented practice, direct referral to Disability Resources for post-injury concussion education and academic accommodations to maximize recovery and promote academic success.

Since its implementation in 2010, the program has conducted computerized baseline testing and provided comprehensive concussion education to more than 1,500 student-athletes. Additionally, more than 100 student-athletes have been diagnosed with concussion and participated in a systematic interdisciplinary approach for a safer and successful return to play and the classroom.

Dr. Chinn is the Department Chair and Acquired Brain Injury Specialist in the Disability Resources Department at SRJC, and Ohkubo is the Head Certified Athletic trainer at Santa Rosa Junior College.

 

Courtesy of Santa Rosa Junior College

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