Effectiveness of an education platform (GoHuddle) for increasing likelihood of coach concussion communication with athletes.

Research suggests coaches play a central role in establishing a context conducive to concussion reporting, particularly via direct verbal communication about concussion. Informed by qualitative interviews and stakeholder feedback, we developed a web-based concussion education platform for collegiate coaches (GoHuddle). The goal of GoHuddle is to encourage concussion safety-supportive coach communication using behavioral modeling and experiential learning. We then conducted a pre-post survey study to examine the impact of engaging with the platform on coach concussion communication, with outcomes of: a) Expected likelihood of communicating with athletes about concussive symptom reporting b) Expected likelihood of pressuring medical staff to return athletes to play and c) Belief in the usefulness of engaging in the communication described in a and b (i.e., response efficacy). We also assessed feasibility and acceptability of the platform in the collegiate sport context. The platform was sent to 435 coaches at 5 institutions and 334 (77%) completed surveys (70% male, 37.8 years mean age). After completing GoHuddle, coaches had 2.5 greater odds of expecting to discuss concussion with their team (OR 2.53, p<0.001). Response efficacy for talking about concussion also increased significantly post-intervention (OR 3.78, p<0.001). No significant change was seen in expectancies regarding pressure on medical staff to return athletes to play "as soon as possible." A high proportion (82%) of coaches would recommend this platform for coach concussion education. In conclusion, this study suggests GoHuddle is a feasible and acceptable approach to coach concussion education, and use of this platform holds promise for shifting coach communication about concussion.