NATA Now

By Timothy Neal, MS, ATC, AT

Last week’s Mental Health Awareness Month blog discussed the prevalence of diagnosable mental health disorders among adolescents and college-aged students. This week’s blog will look at the tools available to help athletic trainers care for athletes of any age who are dealing with a mental health concern.

By Rachel Brown, MS, ATC

Scott Hamilton is in the people business—no matter if it’s teaching young skaters, giving his time to a worthy cause or sharing his extensive ice skating knowledge with television viewers, he works to serve, motivate and enlighten others.

In the United States, one in every four to five adolescents meets the criteria of a diagnosable mental health disorder, with 30 percent meeting criteria for an anxiety disorder, 19 percent for a behavioral disorder, 11 percent for a substance abuse disorder, 9 percent for ADHD and 3 percent for an eating disorder.

To help shed a light on the issue and empower athletic trainers with knowledge, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association will publish a series of mental health-related blogs throughout May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month.

National Athletic Training Month 2016 saw ATs far and wide promoting the profession to the public both in person and via social media. Use of the #NATM2016 hashtag generated over 12 million impressions. And the participation was not just limited to the contiguous United States. Photos that qualified for our Social Media Contest were posted from Hawaii and Alaska too. By the end of the month the contest included over 3,500 posts with another 150 that were entered in the NATM Poster Contest.

The Committee on Practice Advancement (COPA) is looking for individuals who are leaders in the field of administration to present a 15-20 minute message during the Healthcare Administrators’ Forum at the 67th Clinical Symposia & AT Expo on Thursday, June 23 from 9 a.m.-12 p.m.

We are specifically interested in the following topics:

2016 Convention Events of Interest For ATs in Emerging Settings
All locations are tentative and subject to change 
(Final locations will be provided in the 2016 NATA Convention Guide)

*Denotes registration is required

Wednesday, June 22
*Physician Practice Pre-Conference Workshop - Introduction
7:45am-5:10pm | Hyatt, Constellation F | 8 CEUs, $120 pro/ $80 student

*Physician Practice Pre-Conference Workshop - Advanced
 7:45pm-5:10pm | Hyatt, Constellation A | 8 CEUs, $120 pro/ $80 student

My Trip to Uganda with “Invisible Thread”

by Alan Kroll, MS, ATC

Self-employed

COPA Performing Arts Workgroup

by Jessica Daniels, MS, AT
Durable Medical Equipment Coordinator
Mercy Health/Wellington Sports Medicine
COPA Physician Practice Workgroup

As a certified athletic trainer, one topic I have heard many debate involves where to turn when the demands of traditional AT settings are no longer feasible. The reasons vary from person to person, but it can sometimes lead to the profession losing high quality clinicians. This blog was written to have an honest conversation about our options.