In February of 2024, Brownstone Health launched our community-based training room. We targeted athletes with sports eligible for post-secondary scholarships that may not have the budget for an offseason rehab program, or organizations that should have a trainer, but aren’t quite big enough. We are hoping to combine this with developing practitioners, or students with interest in sport medicine, into confident team trainers.
The Training Room will focus on a collaborative approach to care structured from a team-based framework. We will be creating mentorship and guidance opportunities for those working with teams and for those that are considering health care careers.
We realized that we have a substantial amount of collective knowledge and experience. The current Brownstone Health strategic plan is focused on community and sustainability. These two values have been the pillars of our work for the past few years, and have been instrumental in the groundwork of this conceptual framework. We have two main goals:
1. Train the trainer – (future start) We will create a learning environment to provide sport mentorship to health care practitioners or student interested in sideline care. We envision workshops on key topics, including pearls of being a trainer, skills practice, emergent assessment, etc. Our goal will be to focus on athlete rehab and collaboration between professions and team-specific medical. We want to help teach the newer generations the ropes, but in a practical way. Which leads into the next piece….
2. Access to knowledgeable care – Each year, we plan to select teams or organizations that we will feature and work with. For these groups, we provide expedited appointments for brand-new (acute) injuries that happen during training, rehearsal, practices, games or performances. The intent of these sessions are to allow athletes and performing artists access to quick, affordable, high-quality information right after the injury happens. We want to help prevent small injuries from getting worse!
Appointments are only available one week in advance. Most mornings, we will open additional appointments for that day. These are shorter appointments in an open teaching environment. There may be student involvement- this is located in our clinic, in the curtained area, at Brownstone Health. There is a gym adjoining this area that contains all equipment that is required. Current trainers or team personnel are welcome to attend these appointments- we want them all to be able to follow athletes through the rehab process, with more time and less pressure. We know the importance of frequent care both in the early stages of injury and closer to re-entry to competition. With the extensive university and post-graduate education of our staff, cost to care can be a barrier. Therefore, we are subsidizing the cost of this entire program.
For athletes that need a longer appointment, they could then book a regular follow-up (at regular rates) with a professional in our clinic. We are also working on direct pathways to specialists, as required. If you know of a team that would like to be featured in the future, please contact Daysha at admin@brownstonehealth.ca to discuss possibilities.
