Living with the Aftermath: Family Experiences of Managing Concussion and Sport-Related Head Injury

Sport-related head injury is increasingly recognized as a public health concern, but research has predominantly focused on acute injury and individual recovery. Far less attention has been paid to how concussion and cumulative head injury are experienced and managed within families over time. In particular, the invisibility of concussion, the labour required of families to secure care, and the role of fragmented systems in shaping long-term harm remain underexplored. This study examines family experiences of living with and responding to the long-term consequences of sport-related head injury.

MethodsA qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews with family members of individuals who had experienced sport-related head injury (n = 10). Participants included parents, partners, spouses, and adult children. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke's approach. Analysis was iterative, inductive, and interpretive, focusing on patterned meaning across cases rather than prevalence.

ResultsThree interrelated themes were identified: (1) Struggling for recognition of an invisible injury, (2) Family advocacy as expected and exhausting labour, and (3) Fractured systems and preventing further harm. Families consistently described early identified recognition that something was wrong, which was repeatedly dismissed and/or minimised by medical, educational, and sporting institutions. The lack of recognition compelled parents and partners to assume prolonged advocacy roles, including care coordination, risk management, and crisis response, often in the absence of guidance or support. Health, education, and sport systems were experienced as siloed and reactive, with intervention frequently triggered only by crisis rather than functional impairment.

ConclusionsFamily experiences of sport-related head injury are shaped by the interaction between invisible injury, unrecognised expertise, and fragmented systems. Long-term harm is socially and institutionally produced through delayed recognition and the routine transfer of responsibility onto families, highlighting the need to reconceptualise concussion as a condition with enduring family-wide consequences.