After following a pair of University of Montana researchers for more than a year, Montana PBS is set to share their work examining concussions with a documentary that will air next week.
“Concussion: Answers in the Blood?” is the story of the work being done by Dr. Tom Rau and Dr. Sarj Patel from UM’s Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Rau and Patel received a $300,000 grant in 2014 from Head Health Challenge, which is funded by General Electric and the National Football League.
The documentary is scheduled to premiere on Montana PBS at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and is slated to air again at 7 p.m. Nov. 12, at 10 a.m. Nov. 15, and at 5 a.m. Nov. 16. The documentary will also be available to watch online at watch.montanapbs.org starting Saturday, Nov. 14.
Montana PBS producer John Twiggs said the subject of concussions has been getting more and more attention in recent years because of increased awareness about the effects blows to the head can have on athletes.
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One of the issues he explored in the documentary is that diagnosing concussions still relies heavily on observing the symptoms of an athlete. Part of the UM scientists’ work is trying to develop a blood test that would be able to more accurately diagnose a concussion.
Twiggs said the station is also producing educational materials to go along with the documentary.
“It will be things like shorter segments that teachers can play in class and then be able to reference and discuss,” he said.
In addition to the work being done by the UM researchers, the documentary also includes the real-life experiences of a pair of Missoula athletes as they recovered from concussions.
“At the same time, we wanted to go out in the field to see what was happening,” Twiggs said.
The documentary team began following athletic trainers and coaches, including staff of the UM women’s soccer team and the Hellgate High School football team. Through sheer happenstance, soccer player Payton Agnew and Hellgate football player Bridger Skillicorn both became central figures of the documentary after suffering concussions last season.
“The way it happened was I was basically following their trainers to see what was happening, and both of them kind of got concussions right in front of me,” Twiggs said.
The athletes section of the documentary focuses on the process of their return to playing sports, including the decision of whether to play again at all.
“You’ve received an injury, now what can you do to resume your activities in a healthy way?” Twiggs said. “What's the safe way back for you to resume a normal healthy life and not suffer long-term effects from that?”
Twiggs said he learned while filming the documentary that the model of concussion support and resources in Montana is “kind of upside down,” with the youngest athletes, including those in high school, having the least amount of help available to them.
“I followed the trainer at Hellgate. He’s one person, and he oversees 300 athletes in the fall,” he said.
While trainers at all levels are very cautious and conservative when it comes to the possibility of concussions, Twiggs said, they are still often making an educated guess.
Rau and Patel’s research is still ongoing, and Twiggs said it is likely Montana PBS will follow up with them in some way in the future to see where their research has taken them. One thing he’s interested in is what the reaction from the NFL will be when the conclusions of scientists like the ones at UM are presented.
“What happens when you give them the answer they don’t want to hear?” he said.