Peer-reviewed article
Living with the aftermath: family experiences of managing concussion and sport-related head injury.
Daly E, Ryan L ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This peer-reviewed qualitative study examines how families experience and manage the long-term consequences of sport-related head injury and concussion. Through interviews with 10 family members, the research identifies three main themes: difficulty getting medical recognition of invisible injuries, the burden of family advocacy and care coordination, and fragmented health and education systems that fail to respond proactively. The study concludes that long-term harm results from delayed institutional recognition and the transfer of responsibility onto families.
Key points
- Families consistently described early recognition that something was wrong, but this was dismissed or minimised by medical, educational, and sporting institutions
- Parents and partners assumed prolonged advocacy roles including care coordination, risk management, and crisis response, often without guidance or support
- Health, education, and sport systems operated in silos and responded reactively only to crises rather than to functional impairment
- Concussion is characterised as an invisible injury whose long-term consequences are not adequately recognised by institutions
- Long-term harm is described as socially and institutionally produced through delayed recognition and routine transfer of responsibility to families
Limitations
This study focuses on family experiences in a specific context (sport-related head injury) and does not provide epidemiological data on prevalence or incidence of concussion in children. The small sample size (n=10) and qualitative methodology limit generalisability beyond the participants' experiences.
Abstract
Introduction Sport-related head injury is increasingly recognised as a public health concern; however, research has predominantly focused on acute injury and individual recovery. Far less attention has been paid to how concussion and cumulative head injury are experienced and managed within families over time. In particular, the invisibility of concussion, the labour required of families to secure care, and the role of fragmented systems in shaping long-term harm remain underexplored. This study examines family experiences of living with and responding to the long-term consequences of sport-related head injury. Methods A qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews with family members of individuals who had experienced sport-related head injury (n = 10). Participants included parents, partners, spouses and adult children. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke's approach. Analysis was iterative, inductive, and interpretive, focusing on patterned meaning across cases rather than prevalence. Results Three interrelated themes were identified: (1) Struggling for recognition of an invisible injury, (2) Family advocacy as expected and exhausting labour, and (3) Fractured systems and preventing further harm. Families consistently described early identified recognition that something was wrong, which was repeatedly dismissed and/or minimised by medical, educational, and sporting institutions. The lack of recognition compelled parents and partners to assume prolonged advocacy roles, including care coordination, risk management, and crisis response, often in the absence of guidance or support. Health, education, and sport systems were experienced as siloed and reactive, with intervention frequently triggered only by crisis rather than functional impairment. Conclusions Family experiences of sport-related head injury are shaped by the interaction between invisible injury, unrecognised expertise, and fragmented systems. Long-term harm is socially and institutionally produced through delayed recognition and the routine transfer of responsibility onto families, highlighting the need to reconceptualise concussion as a condition with enduring family-wide consequences.