862 BO49 – A framework to engage community members in the design and evaluation of an evidence-based strategy for head injury prevention in youth sports

Background Youth represent the greatest number of sports participants but often participate in community organizations with limited resources and volunteer coaches, making implementation and enforcement of injury prevention strategies challenging. Objective Develop an evidence-based multi-component intervention and implementation plan to reduce head impacts and concussion risk in youth American football practices, using a community-engaged and co-design approach. Design A stakeholder team met monthly to co-design an intervention program and implementation plan. Two football teams pilot tested the program. Setting Community youth football league Participants Stakeholder team (n=12) of youth and high school (HS) coaches, league and school administrators, parents, an athletic trainer, and local university player development director. Two youth football team coaches (n=12). Interventions Intervention targets: (1) improve knowledge and skills of coaches in effective practice planning and use of safe drills, (2) change attitudes and beliefs toward contact in practice. The intervention program included use of guided practice plans, resource booklet aligned with state guidelines for contact in practice, pre-season coaches' clinic, and peer mentorship. Main Outcome Measurements Acceptability of Implementation Measure (AIM), Feasibility of Implementation Measure (FIM), minutes of live contact Results Over 5 months, >90% of stakeholders attended program development meetings. HS coaches were identified as key to development and implementation of intervention materials and early adopters. Youth coaches feel the program is acceptable (4.5/5) and feasible (4.4/5) and participation in the program resulted in 69% less time spent on "live" contact per practice in the season's first three weeks compared to controls. Conclusions Community members are willing to engage in co-design of injury prevention strategies for youth sports. Early pilot testing indicates the program is acceptable and feasible among the target population. Engaging community stakeholders is an effective strategy to create and implement evidence-based injury prevention programs in youth sports. Acknowledgements NIH NICHD K25HD101686