Dominic Malcolm is Professor of Sociology of Sport at Loughborough University. His qualitative research on concussion spans rugby union, football, wrestling and student sport. He is author of The Concussion Crisis in Sport (Routledge, 2020) and is currently co-editing The Routledge Handbook of Sport, Concussion and Brain Injury.
Focus:
Explore sociocultural aspects of concussion prevention and management. In recent years there has been a growing awareness of the necessity of addressing sociocultural factors related to concussion. In this respect qualitative health research has a unique role to play in revealing how beliefs about concussion are constructed by athletic populations, how social relations mediate the impact of medical and health interventions.
While this work has led to numerous calls for better concussion education and guidance, this presentation argues that these interventions are necessary but unlikely to be sufficient to invoke substantive change. The presentation ends by considering the parameters of a more holistic notion of cultural change and how this might begin to work within the para-sport context.