{"id":107824,"date":"2026-02-20T13:52:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T18:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=107824"},"modified":"2026-02-20T17:13:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T22:13:39","slug":"phd-student-aims-to-improve-concussion-rehabilitation-for-athletes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2026\/02\/phd-student-aims-to-improve-concussion-rehabilitation-for-athletes\/","title":{"rendered":"PhD student aims to improve concussion rehabilitation for athletes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former varsity hockey player Carley Jewell knows first-hand that athletes\u2019 social and mental well-being can take a hit after experiencing a concussion.<\/p>\n

Under the supervision of Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Amanda Black, the Brock University PhD student is researching how social support during concussion rehabilitation can support athletes\u2019 psychological readiness to return to sport (RTS) and sport-related activities.<\/p>\n

Concussions can happen when impact to the head, face,\u00a0neck\u00a0or body causes jarring movement of the brain within the skull.\u00a0While\u00a0metabolic changes\u00a0can\u00a0occur in the brain,\u00a0Jewell says that concussion is\u00a0primarily\u00a0a\u00a0\u201cfunctional injury,\u201d rather than a structural one, that doesn\u2019t always show up on medical imaging such CT scans and MRIs.<\/p>\n

Beyond the physical impacts of concussion, such as headaches, dizziness or neck pain, Jewell says these injuries can also leave lasting psychological and social impacts, such as diminished confidence, fear of re-injury and social isolation. Approximately\u00a015 to 30 per cent of\u00a0athletes\u00a0experience symptoms that persist longer than four weeks.<\/p>\n

While Jewell says no two concussions are the same, even when experienced by the same person, most athletes recover at home\u00a0with symptom-limited activity.<\/p>\n

\"Carley

Applied Health Sciences PhD student Carley Jewell<\/p><\/div>\n

Athletes typically follow a structured RTS strategy that gradually increases physical and cognitive exertion, ultimately re-introducing athletes to contact and unrestricted RTS. Recent consensus guidelines recommend those who are experiencing mild, brief symptoms engage in controlled activity with no risk of additional head impact.<\/p>\n

Although often necessary for rehabilitation, Jewell says time away from sport and social environments can be a difficult part of concussion recovery.<\/p>\n

Her PhD research explores how social support can play a critical role in improving athletes\u2019 sport-related concussion (SRC) rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

Jewell says social support may not necessarily change recovery timelines, but evidence suggests it can help athletes maintain their athletic identity and feel less pressure to prematurely return to sport and sport-related activities.<\/p>\n

Athletes who are psychologically ready to RTS may experience lower risk of re-injury, she says, as well as improved adherence to recovery protocols, increased confidence and lower levels of fear and uncertainty as they begin to participate\u00a0in sport again.<\/p>\n

Through her PhD research, she is working with youth hockey athletes, coaches and team-integrated care providers, such as athletic therapists, to co-develop contextually appropriate strategies for providing social support and improve athletes\u2019 perceptions of the support they receive.<\/p>\n

Her master’s research<\/a> found that the number of individuals providing support and the displays of support behaviours generally decreased across athletes’ concussion RTS strategies.<\/p>\n

Factors like the concussion visibility and the uncertainty of concussion recovery may influence an injured athlete\u2019s perception of support behaviours.<\/p>\n

Jewell says an\u00a0athlete\u2019s\u00a0role\u00a0within a team can also influence how support is\u00a0perceived. Those in less formal or lower-status roles sometimes report receiving less consistent support, such as\u00a0coaches\u00a0infrequently\u00a0checking in or\u00a0offering\u00a0limited\u00a0practical\u00a0assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re starting to see the relationship between group dynamics and how social support plays a role in concussion rehabilitation,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former varsity hockey player Carley Jewell knows first-hand that athletes\u2019 social and mental well-being can take a hit after experiencing a concussion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":107831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,188,55,1,5],"tags":[14554,28,2952,1696,996,7488,5541,1983,3325,9942],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107824"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107845,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107824\/revisions\/107845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}