NATA Now

Professional skater, Olympic gold medalist, author, philanthropist and Johnson & Johnson Keynote Speaker Scott Hamilton graces the cover of the June NATA News. In his cover story, “Finding Longevity,” p. 10, he details his journey to the Olympics and life after winning gold.

Each year, an average of 25 million lightning flashes strike the ground in the United States. Worldwide, lightning annually accounts for an estimated 24,000 deaths and approximately 240,000 injuries. Since lightning is more prevalent in the afternoon and the evening during the late spring through fall, the NATA created a lightning safety handout (pdf) which was published in the June NATA News.

By Jeremy Hawkins, PhD, ATC, ATP Director, Colorado Mesa University

During National Athletic Training Month, members embraced the 2016 theme, “A Safer Approach to Work, Life and Sport,” and helped raise awareness of the profession in creative and impactful ways.

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.