The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 1 - 66

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and to the classroom, and accommodations for
students who have sustained concussions.
The primary researcher opened by sharing
her own story of sustaining two concussions
while in college. Neither was sports-related,
and the ﬁrst did not receive prompt or appropriate care; her symptoms were prolonged.
The researcher then asked for volunteers to
share their experiences in either sustaining or
managing concussions, which they did at each
presentation. She then presented information
in each of the following areas: misconceptions
about concussions; deﬁnition of concussion;
prevalence; risk factors; causes, signs, and
symptoms; red ﬂags/danger signs; post-concussion syndrome; risk with second impact; returning to the classroom; returning to sports;
under-reporting of symptoms among college
students; the respondent's role as campus staff
(what to do if you witness the injury, what to
do after the injury); and possible academic
accommodations.
The presentation lasted for one hour and
concluded with a time for participants to ask
questions and share experiences. After the
trainings, the researcher answered questions
and provided attendees with a packet of resources which contained the researcher's and
her supervisor's contact information; a Signs
and Symptoms Checklist (CDC, 2015); a twopage document with more detailed elaboration
on signs and symptoms; a ﬂowchart mapping
the progression of a return to academics; a
list of suggested accommodations adapted
from the Oregon Concussion Awareness and
Management Program (OCAMP) and Slocum
Sports Concussion Program (OCAMP, 2011);
a symptom wheel (Colorado Department of
Education, 2012); and a list of Web-based re-

66

sources containing links to legislative updates,
research articles, school-wide training guides,
and information for parents, school staff, and
athletic staff.

Follow-up Information
The researcher continued dissemination of
information via email through MailChimp,
a free marketing email service that tracks
HTML email campaigns, so the researcher
could track if emails were being opened.
Emails included a fact, tip, and/or resource
regarding concussion to supplement the information provided during the face-to-face
training. Emails were designed to provide
crucial, eye-catching information at a glance;
across mailings, an average of 73% of these
emails were opened by recipients. Further,
if the staff member had a student who sustained a concussion, he or she was told during
training to follow the typical response protocol of informing the university's Department
of Public Safety. If the student who sustained
a concussion continued to experience persistent academic issues, the staff member was to
direct them to services provided by the university's disability services ofﬁce.

TRAINING OUTCOMES
Results from the pre-training questionnaires
indicated that many college staff already had
some knowledge about concussions, such as
general signs and symptoms. On the pre-training questionnaire, the residence life staff's
average percentage correct score was 69.53,
and the recreation center staff's average percentage correct score was 73.62, a statistically
signiﬁcant difference, t(250) = -2.587, p = .010.
Thus, staff working in the recreational facility

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 45, No. 1

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