The Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation has brought together experts, sports clubs and federations for a conference on concussions in sport, raising awareness and looking at the latest medical advancements in this field.
More than 50 people gathered for this first conference at the Meridien Beach Plaza on 13th October. The Foundation, alongside its partners in the medical sector, wanted to strengthen the sharing of information on concussions and microtraumas in the sports world, the treatment of which is crucial.
The event featured expert speakers in the subject of concussions including Dr. Nicolas Capet, Neurologist at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre (CHPG), Dr. Yann-Erick Claessens, Doctor and Head of the Emergency Department at the CHPG, Dr. Renaud David, Psychiatrist at the Center Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice and expert for the French Football Federation, the National Rugby League and the Federation of Combat Sports and Martial Arts, and Prof. Pierre Fremont, Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation at the Faculty of Medicine, Laval University in Quebec. As a clinician and researcher, he has developed extensive expertise in implementation issues related to concussion prevention, detection and management in settings ranging from youth developmental sport to international competition.
A number of representatives from sports entities, such as clubs and associations, came to listen to their expert opinions.
Professor Pierre Fremont, a recognised specialist in Canada and around the world, insisted on the need for prevention and detection among young sports people, especially those engaging in contact sports.
For Dr. Nicolas Capet, “it is important to emphasise that concussions are frequent events in the lives of athletes exposed to contact, but they rapidly develop favourably in the vast majority of cases if their care is organised. The optimal management of these seemingly innocuous traumas is based on a specific multidisciplinary care system but also on the information and training of sports educators, school teaching teams and parents from early childhood.”
Through the Sport and Education program, the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation works to relay the positive values of sport and to promote health through sport. For several years, the Foundation has also supported initiatives related to concussions, in particular with the British association Love of the Game, which funds the research and development of solutions to help in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of concussions and related issues.
Photo above credit: Eric Mathon, Prince’s Palace