Academics all over the world have been working tirelessly for years developing evidence based injury prevention programs. After all of their hard work, what is the best approach to ensure that this vital information can be used by the people working closely with athletes?
This blog entry is inspired by an article which addresses an important question in the field of injury research. The article is entitled 'Preventing lower limb injuries: Is the latest evidence being translated into the football field?' It was published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 12 (2009), 452 - 456, by authors Twomey, D., Finch, C., Roediger, E., and Lloyd, D. G.
Academics spend years and plenty of $ working hard to firstly identify the extent of an injury problem, determine the factors and mechanisms which play a role in the occurrence of the sports injury, and developing preventative measures which can then be evaluated for their effectiveness (as described by the 'sequence of injury prevention' by Van Mechelen et al.,(1992)).
The authors of the above named article report that there is accumulating international evidence that lower limb injuries in sport can be prevented through targeted training that incorporates structured warm-up, balance training, side-stepping/cutting skills and jump/landing training. All coaches from the nine Sydney Australian Football League Premier Division teams completed a questionnaire about their knowledge and behaviours in relation to delivering training programs, including their uptake of the latest scientific evidence for injury prevention. Questionnaires were validated by direct observation of coach-delivered training sessions. From the evidence collected, the authors concluded that current football training sessions do not give adequate attention to the development of skills most likely to reduce the risk of lower limb injury in players.
So why aren't the coaches getting the message? In the AFL, whole Sports Science departments in most clubs are all over the current literature and many Sports Science staff travel overseas to observe international practices. In other divisions of football, who is responsible for staying abreast of the latest findings? The paper reported that the responsibility for injury management in the SAFL clubs who were part of this study tended to rest with club medical support staff but for reasons unknown, the information isn't being translated to the coaches and staff who can put it into practice.
The authors raise the important question of how then, is important injury prevention information best disseminated to coaches?
Professor Caroline Finch from Monash University, Australia, one of the authors of the above mentioned paper is also one of an expert group of academics undertaking a large study to address that very question. The objective of the 1.7 million dollar research project is to develop and deliver a sports safety programme and evaluate the resources needed for its effective uptake in community sport.
After development and refinement of evidence-based safety guidelines for lower limb injury in Australian Football, a delivery plan for this information will be developed. Outcomes will be evaluated across three delivery modes over 2 years.
Mode 1: Football League 1 will receive a supported evidence-based injury prevention program. The support for the program will be informed by an earlier phase of the project but is expected to include written and electronic resources, telephone support, visits by the research team, direct assistance with programme delivery for a limited number of training sessions and education of coaches and club personnel.
Mode 2: Football League 2 will receive the evidence-based injury prevention program with minimal implementation advice and no support.
Mode 3: Football League 3 will not receive the program but will have their current practices monitored to provide a baseline against which to compare injury prevention outcomes from Leagues 1 and 2.
The project is underway and is scheduled for completion in 2014. The bottom line is, researchers know these injury prevention programs work, but these programs are no good if no one actually does them. This project aims to ensure that upon completion, there is a definitive answer as to how to get this important information to the people who are best placed to use it.
