Sport Participation & TBI
Co-creating, implementing and evaluating a community-based peer-run physical activity program to enhance exercise and sport participation for adults with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury
Objectives
Leisure physical activity and sport can be a non-stigmatizing and effective approach to improve community integration after traumatic brain injury (TBI), but it can be difficult for these individuals to engage in physical activities. Physical activity and sport programs for individuals with TBI must be specifically tailored.
The objectives of the proposed research are thus to co-create components of a community-based peer (CBP) program program, and implement the chosen outcome measures in a feasibility study to evaluate critical and practical information needed for a future formal randomized control trial to test the CBP program’s effectiveness.
Our team will use a participatory-action research approach, integrating the perspectives of researchers with world renowned expertise in the fields of brain injury, community integration, physical activity and sport. Also collaborating are key partners including persons with lived experiences with TBI, community-based peer program participants, the downtown Montreal YMCA, and the Association Québécoise des traumatisés crâniens.
This project is based on a previous study of physical activity experiences of individuals with TBI initiated in collaboration with the downtown Montreal YMCA in January 2017. This pilot program involving 12 participants with TBI was the first to promote physical activity and sport participation for individuals with TBI in Montreal.
Publications
Quilico, E. L., Alarie, C., Swaine, B. R., & Colantonio, A. (2022). Characteristics, Outcomes, Sex and Gender Considerations of Community-Based Physical Activity Interventions after Moderate-to-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: Scoping Review. Brain Injury, 36(3), 295–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699052.2022.2059815
Quilico, E., Swaine, B., Sweet, S., Duncan, L., Wilkinson, S., Alarie, C., Bonnell, K., & Colantonio, A. (2020). What Makes a Community-Based Physical Activity Program Successful for Adults With Moderate-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury? Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 101(12), e155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2020.10.091
Quilico, E., Wilkinson, S., Duncan, L., Sweet, S., Bédard, E., Trudel, E., Colantonio, A., & Swaine, B. (2022). Participatory co-creation of an adapted physical activity program for adults with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury. Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fresc.2022.900178
Investigators
Colantonio, A. (PI), Swaine, B., Duncan, L., Sweet, S., Wilkinson, S., *Quilico, E. (Co-Is), Brodeur, P., Trudel, E., (Collaborators)
Funding
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Insight Grant – Sport Participation Research Initiative

