Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation
You’re doing it again! You may recall two stories from our 2012 No Limits Newsletter that described how Holland Bloorview’s clinicians and nurses are generating a great deal of interest by identifying effective pain assessment tools to help improve quality of life for children with disabilities.
Returning kids to safe play after concussion Holland Bloorview’s Centre for Concussion Research is one of the first in the world to focus on pediatric concussion It is estimated that minor hockey players in Ontario alone experience approximately 36,000 concussions every year. That translates into two to three hockey players per team. According to research, concussions can impact daily life in the short and longterm, and in some instances lead to early death.
This work was made possible by your donations. It gets better. Thanks to your visionary support, the Ontario government is taking notice. The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is so impressed with the work that it is interested in partnering with Holland Bloorview to help accelerate its plan to develop clinical practice guidelines so that kids with disabilities throughout the province may benefit. This includes pain assessments tools for children with cerebral palsy who are unable to communicate verbally. Your donations play a critical role in bringing breakthrough findings from the lab to the community. Thank you for helping to change the world for children at Holland Bloorview, and across the province too!
NEWSLETTER 2013
Photo: Sean, research participant, Dr. Michelle Keightley, Clinician Scientist
Sixteen-year-old Sean remembers his first concussion, sort of. He was chasing a puck at full speed when two opposing players tripped and body checked him, sending him head first into the boards. What followed was a blur. Sean sustained a significant concussion. At the time, he was 12 years old. Sean’s story is not unusual.
Despite the frequency of sportsrelated concussions, very little is known about its impact on young brains. Holland Bloorview, with the help of its donors, is developing one of the world’s first assessment tools and treatments for kids with concussion. Sean was fortunate. His hockey team was participating in a study with what was then called the BrainFit Lab, which is now part of Holland Bloorview’s new Centre for Concussion Research. Led by Dr. Michelle Keightley, a Clinician Scientist, with support from Dr. Nick Reed, a Clinical Research Associate, the Lab was conducting baseline studies on young hockey N O LIMITS — NEW S L ETTER 2013