major sports, e. g., major league baseball’ s playoffs and World Series, aka the Fall Classic; the majority of football season and the beginning of the basketball and hockey seasons; and worldwide, the most popular sport- variously known as football, futbol, and here in the states, soccer.
The need to focus on Black and other athletes of color is that they rely on sports for fame and fortune at a higher rate than Caucasians. Black athletes also face stereotypes and bias that impact their growth, development, and upbringing, and they often have lesser access to adequate sportsrelated equipment, coaching, and medical care.
A primary care sports medicine approach is an effective strategy because it can be ideal for addressing poor health care outcomes in communities of color by addressing the physical, emotional, and social needs of this special population. It is also possible to provide for the well-being of individual athletes so that each can reach their full potential, provide medical management for athletes, provide appropriate education and counseling, as well as actively integrate medical expertise with other health care providers.
Dr. Barkley referenced the 5C’ s of positive youth development in Linda S. Thompson and Richard M. Lerner’ s work in the journal Policy, Politics, and Nursing Practice, published in 2000. The 5C’ s are:
• Competence: Individual competency and achievement and positive social and behavioral skills.
• Confidence: Clear boundaries and expectations and promoting self-image and efficacy.
• Connection: Positive links to caring adults and institutions; and the ability to contribute community.
• Character: Empathy and sense of social justice and integrity and sense of moral centeredness.
• Caring: A climate of love and caring, promotion of positive values, and encouraging health growth.
When applied to the youth and high school sports program, the equation focuses on:
• Parent / guardian education to promote healthy lifestyles.
• Collaboration with youth / parents / guardians to design culturally relevant education tools and lifestyle. Moderation strategies.
• Create a coaching plan for academic achievement.
• School coaching leads to better academic achievement and college readiness.
At the collegiate level, the desired paradigm will offer the collaboration with athletes to create a model for learning groups that addresses the sociocultural needs of athletes. A byproduct is the ability to design a coaching plan for athletes. Such learning groups will provide athlete support, social networks and coaching predicated on self-care, life after college, and navigating health systems.
The evaluation process will create an athlete-based learning health system by embedding research questions into medical care and social services; create and implement an evaluation plan to guide the program and measure success. The evaluation will also assess whether demonstrated improvement in quality of life is evident that will lead to a reduction of health disparities.
CDU College of Medicine | PG. 9