Citation

Bevilacqua ZW, McPherson J. Front. Public Health 2023; 11: e1188741.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Frontiers Editorial Office)

DOI

10.3389/fpubh.2023.1188741

PMID

37388157

PMCID

PMC10306098

Abstract

Researchers have only recently begun to investigate Return to Learn (RTL) considerations among college students with concussion. Initial investigations were focused on academic reintegration timeframes (1), faculty and staff knowledge of concussion (2, 3), and impacts on academics (4). Since then, investigations have addressed more precise aims, namely faculty perspectives of RTL and classroom accommodations (5, 6), peer-mentoring programs for students recovering from concussion (7), the Athletic Trainers' role in RTL (8), and factors mediating reading performance (9, 10). Most recently, preliminary consensus recommendations were introduced (11), signifying that college RTL is distinct from K-12, and requires unique attention.

Consensus recommendations for college-RTL discuss routine check-ins with a multidisciplinary team (i.e., academic counselor, physician, instructor, and student-advocate) (11). Multidisciplinary teams have become a cornerstone of concussion management, yet a multidisciplinary approach in the college setting inherently encounters barriers, which have yet to be focally addressed in the literature. Specifically, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) disallows open communication between medical and academic entities on campus (12); the core characteristic of a RTL partnership. In turn, the onus of maintaining interdisciplinary communication is situated firmly with the student. To be successful, a RTL team must overcome such barriers if they hope to stay informed and properly chaperone students through a RTL protocol. To that end, we will discuss a reasonable approach to establishing communication between college-RTL team members (i.e., medical provider, disability services, faculty, etc.) in order to efficiently facilitate a student's RTL progress.

Language: en

Keywords

concussion; college; policy; disabilities; FERPA; higher education; multidisciplinary team; Return to Learn