UCARE-Kids: Understanding priorities and challenges in childhood concussion care from injury through to community reintegration in Western Australia: the perspectives of individuals, families, healthcare providers and educators.
What is the aim of the study?
The project is trying to learn more about how children and young people recover after a concussion. We want to know about how children (8-17years) are treated after a concussion injury and how they manage getting back to playing, school, sport and seeing friends. We also hope to talk to parents, health professionals, teachers and other people who have helped you, to hear their thoughts on your recovery. We hope what we learn from this study will help improve treatment options and make it easier for kids and young people to get back to normal after a concussion in future.
About the study
This qualitative research study involves online interviews with children/adolescents who have experienced a concussion and their parent/guardian, and interviews or focus groups with health professionals and educators of children and adolescents with a history of concussion. Interviews will be conducted remotely via online videoconferencing and focus groups will be conducted face-to-face or online depending on participant preferences and availability. Online interviews will go for ~30-45 minutes and focus groups will be ~60 minutes duration.
Who can participate?
Children and adolescents (aged 8-18years) who have experienced a concussion in the last two years
Parents of young people who have experienced a concussion in the last two years
Teachers who have worked with children and adolescents after concussion
Health professionals who care for children and adolescents that have had concussion
What will happen to your information?
Research data will include demographic data collected via REDCap, where electronic consent to participate in the project will also be collected, audio recordings of interviews and electronic copies of field notes from focus groups and transcripts.
Online Interviews
Video semi-structured interviews and focus groups will be conducted via Zoom and audio-recorded. Zoom is a cloud-based HD meeting service for high quality video conversations and screen sharing at work and at home. Zoom is used across both clinical and research settings and complies with the Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act (HIPAA) legislation. Participants will be provided with a meeting link via email which will include the unique meeting ID and password for joining the video interview.
Face-to-face focus groups
Audio from face-to-face focus groups will be recorded using a study-specific digital voice recorder. Recordings will be transferred to a secure Curtin research drive and stored in a de-identified format. Back up files will be created to ensure an accurate audit trail and record of data analysis is kept. Electronic copies of field notes, transcripts, and summaries will also be stored on this drive. These files will be held in a password protected folder only accessible on the network drive by the primary and associate investigators.
All interview transcripts will be stored using NVivo database. The NVivo database will be accessible by all primary and associate investigators on the project via the secure Curtin University folders. The audio recordings of interviews will be stored in a secure Curtin University folder until after the findings have been published to enable cross-checking or revisions if necessary.
When will the study conclude?
31st December 2025
Who do I contact for more information?
Dr. Jemma Keeves
jemma.keeves@curtin.edu.au
Additional Information
Kids Participant Sheet Parents Guardians