College Student Experiences of Recovery from Prolonged Concussion Symptoms: Not Just a Checked Box

Abstract

<h3>Research Objectives</h3> To consider the experience of recovery from concussion from the perspective of college students with complicated recoveries. <h3>Design</h3> Phenomenological Qualitative Study. <h3>Setting</h3> University; specialty concussion clinic; virtual setting. <h3>Participants</h3> Twenty-four college students with history of concussion enrolled as mentors in a peer mentoring program for college students with concussion. <h3>Interventions</h3> Each participant completed a 40–75-minute interview using Zoom. The primary purpose of the interview was to conduct an intake interview prior to enrollment and participation in a peer mentoring program for college students with concussion. The secondary purpose was to better understand the college student experience of concussion. <h3>Main Outcome Measures</h3> Each interview was conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. Questions addressed past and current experiences as a college student with concussion, other life changes, and experiences, and peer mentoring. The current report uses the full interview for contextualization but narrows in on the phenomenon of recovery and probes for life changes and motivation for participation in a mentoring program. <h3>Results</h3> Two main themes were found: What Recovery Looks Like and Gaining Perspective: Learning to Cope. The process of recovery is framed by two subthemes: Ongoing Recovery, defined as continued steps in addressing symptoms, and Chronic Management, which describes a shift in perspective about concussion symptoms. In the second theme, students described developing strategies as well as using resources and support as major components of their recovery. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Our two main themes find that students with complicated recovery from concussion describe the use of personal skills and coping mechanisms rather than symptom resolution as central to the experience of recovery. Perceptions of recovery may be better captured in effort, capacity, or resilience measures. <h3>Author(s) Disclosures</h3> None of the authors have any disclosures.