HEADCHECK Health

05/27/2026

Can you trust AI chatbots for concussion advice? 🤔

People turn to ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI tools for health answers every day, but are those answers actually trustworthy?

A new study (Tykocki, 2026) put 5 of the biggest AI chatbots to the test on concussion questions.

The good news: the medical information was mostly accurate.

The bad news: it was written at a level that most patients would struggle to understand. Think dense, jargon-heavy paragraphs when what people need is clear, simple guidance.

No AI passed the bar for truly accessible health communication, and none should be used as a standalone source of medical advice.

Full study here:

Generative AI is rapidly entering patient education workflows, yet its safety profile for concussion management remains undefined. Utilizing the CHART framework, this cross-sectional audit assessed five platforms, specifically isolating retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) architectures against stan...

05/20/2026

"I didn't want to lose playing time."

That's the #1 reason kids as young as eight give for hiding a suspected concussion and staying in the game.

A study (Bretzin et al., 2022) found that about 1 in 8 youth athletes kept a suspected concussion to themselves, and the pressure they felt mirrors what we see in high school and college athletes.

The culture starts at a younger age than we may have thought. Are we addressing it early enough?

Full study ➡️

Ten percent of youth athletes self-reported at least 1 diagnosed SRC. However, they also described continuing to practice or play in a game after a suspected SRC. Reasons for nondisclosure at this age were similar to those reported in high school and collegiate athletes. Recent researchers suggested...

05/15/2026

The SNS - Sports Neuropsychology Society Concussion & Brain Health Symposium is one of our favourite weekends of the year! Find us at our booth and let's talk about how we're helping teams manage concussions the right way.

05/14/2026

New episode of HEADCHECK Health Talks is live!🎙️

We sat down with Randy O'Shaughnessy, President of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL)'s Prairie Football Conference and a 25-year junior football veteran, to talk leadership, player safety, and what real culture change looks like in a collision sport.

Randy shares how league-wide concussion data helped one PFC team trace a spike in head injuries back to a single practice drill — and cut their numbers in half once they stopped running it.

A must-listen for anyone in sport administration, coaching, or athlete safety!

Listen now 🎧 https://na3.hubs.ly/y0sZ7y0

05/13/2026

The associations that get player safety right are not the ones with the most volunteers or the toughest rules.

They are the ones with better systems.

Here are the three things that separate them. Swipe through.

Download The Oversight Shield, our full playbook for MHA leaders: https://na3.hubs.ly/y0sVdy0

05/12/2026

Not every head injury leads to a concussion. If, within 24-48 hours of logging a suspected or diagnosed concussion, an athlete is determined not to be concussed, record a Status Change Note to maintain accurate records and keep everyone aligned.

05/08/2026

Ice hockey isn’t just Canada’s game. It’s also the leading cause of reported concussions among boys aged 5–14.

According to a Government of Canada report, hockey accounts for the highest number of sport-related brain injuries in this age group.

Meanwhile, For girls aged 10–19, ringette accounted for the highest number of reported concussions and other TBIs.

Dive into the data 📊 https://na3.hubs.ly/y0sybq0

04/27/2026

Seventeen associations surveyed. The same pattern, every time.

Injuries discovered after the fact. Reports filed when a parent follows up. Return-to-play decisions that vary by team, by game, by whoever is standing on the bench that day.

This is not a people problem. The people are doing the work.

This is the Oversight Gap.

We published a report on it. If you run a minor hockey association, it will feel familiar.

Read it free: https://na3.hubs.ly/y0rNjk0

04/25/2026

No parent wants their child to suffer a concussion while playing sports, but the reality is, they can happen. Being prepared makes all the difference.

To help you respond effectively, reduce risks, and support your child’s recovery, we’ve put together a simple checklist of what to expect if your child experiences a sports-related concussion.