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The incidence of concussions and potential for long-term health effects has captured the attention of the media, general public, medical professionals, parents, and obviously the athletes themselves. Concussions have been blamed for a variety of mental and physical health issues. The athletic trainer is at the forefront of the concussion management team, as they are typically on the scene when the concussion occurs and are often the first medical personnel to evaluate and, hopefully, remove the athlete from activity. There has been controversy of late regarding the influence of coaches in the care of concussed athletes. Therefore, a move to the “medical model” of sports medicine management can go a long way in resolving conflict of interest issues regarding the care of concussed athletes. A comprehensive concussion team and protocol are also essential to providing the highest level of care. This article takes a closer look at concussion management in the collegiate arena, with a particular focus on Princeton University.

Sport psychology services were provided at the 1991 U.S. Olympic Festival. A consultation model was employed that included aspects of the traditional medical model and a more proactive preventive approach. Consultations were delivered using a “professional/clinical” style (i.e., emphasis on expertness, empathy, warmth, and congruence). Two sport psychologists provided 85 formal consultations to more than 300 athletes, coaches, staff members, and others from 16 different sports. Process and outcome evaluations suggested that these services were very well received. Eleven recommendations are provided for delivery of sport psychology services at future Olympic events.

This hermeneutic phenomenological study sought to understand the experiences of physical activity and aging with a disability. Six women with physical disabilities, including cerebral palsy (n = 2), acquired brain injury (n = 1), and spinal cord injury (n = 3), and between the ages of 22-37 years (mean age = 28 years) participated in the study. Their experiences were captured by way of semi-structured interviews. Each participant completed two interviews that were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. The thematic analysis revealed three themes: experiencing something normal, loss of physical freedom, and maintaining function through physical activity. Implications of the findings were discussed within the context of health promotion and Verbrugge and Jette’s (1994) socio-medical model of disablement.

We consider three issues concerning unexpected difficulty in the acquisition of motor skills: terminology, diagnosis, and intervention. Our preference for the label Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) receives justification. Problems in diagnosis are discussed, especially in relation to the aetiology-dominated medical model. The high degree of overlap between DCD and other childhood disorders appears to militate against its acceptance as a distinct syndrome. In this context, we emphasize the need to determine whether incoordination takes different forms when it occurs alone is combined with general developmental delay or with other specific disorders in children of normal intelligence. Studies of intervention have mostly shown positive effects but do not, as yet, allow adjudication between different sorts of content. We suggest that the study of DCD and its remediation would benefit greatly from the employment of the simple but rich paradigms developed for the experimental analysis of fully formed adult movement skills.

The purpose of this study was to explore the multiplicity and complexity of identity construction for elite disabled athletes within the arena of disability sport. This involved in-depth semistructured interviews that explored the experiences of 21 British and Taiwanese elite disabled athletes from the sports of powerlifting and track and field. The results indicate that both societal perceptions based in the medical model of disability and the participants’ impaired bodies play a key role in their identity formation and sense of self-worth. The study also highlights the role that success in international disability sport can have by offering potential for positive subjectivity, a changed self-understanding, and an increased sense of personal empowerment. Finally, the notion of multiple identities also appears to be supported by the research participants’ narratives.

The purpose of this article is to expand the literature on case formulation as a clinical tool for use within exercise psychology, generally and lifestyle behavior change interventions, specifically. Existing research offers limited support for the efficacy of current physical activity behavior change intervention strategies, particularly in the long-term. The present paper argues that intervention strategies need to pay greater attention to the complex and individualistic nature of exercise and health related behaviors. It has been suggested that existing intervention designs tend to conform to a medical model approach, which can at times potentially neglect the complex array of personal and situational factors that impact on human motivation and behavior. Case formulation is presented as a means of encouraging a dynamic and comprehensive approach to the development and implementation of practical interventions within the health behavior change field. The adoption of these clinical techniques may facilitate the careful consideration of variations in the development, manifestation, and maintaining mechanisms of problematic behaviors (e.g., inactivity). An overview of case formulation in its different forms is presented alongside a justification for its use within exercise psychology.

The U.S. Olympic Committee’s Sports Medicine Council decided in 1987, for the first time, to assign a sport psychologist to the medical team of the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival. This article describes the outcome of providing sport psychology services at the Festival. A brief history is given of the relationship between sport psychology and the U.S. Olympic movement, and the current status of sport psychologists within the Olympic movement is described. An analysis is provided of the types of services requested at the Festival, the referral sources, the major sports served, and several illustrative case examples describing athletes. Two models influenced the delivery of sport psychology services at the Olympic Festival, the medical model and the consultation model, and the advantages and disadvantages of each are discussed. Based upon the Olympic Festival experience, a consultation model may be appropriate for sport psychologists working in such a setting. The paper concludes with some suggestions regarding the training of students in the theory of effective consultation, drawing upon the knowledge base of industrial-organizational and medical psychology.