UW Sports Health & Safety Institute

Background

Led by Dr. Stanley A. Herring, the UW Medicine Sports Health & Safety Institute (SHSI) seeks to optimize the health and safety of young people participating in recreation/sports. Dr. Herring is a UW clinical professor in the Departments of Rehabilitation Medicine, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, and Neurological Surgery. He is medical director of Sports, Spine and Orthopedic Health for UW Medicine and co-medical director of the Sports Concussion Program, a partnership between UW Medicine and Seattle Children’s. Dr. Herring was a major contributor to the successful passage of the Zackery Lystedt Law.

SHSI provides research, advocacy and information for providers, coaches, parents, players, trainers, sports leagues and policy-makers related to the health and safety of young athletes. Specific areas addressed include concussion, sudden cardiac arrest, sports injury and recovery, nutrition and supplements, and mental/social health.

Challenge

SHSI needed to design and develop a website and associated messaging to effectively communicate with all stakeholder groups across the youth sports community in order to:

• Raise awareness of issues and opportunities
• Create behavioral change
• Improve quality, access and timeliness of information
• Address and dispel myths
• Assist in making better informed decisions
• Engage participants in shared decision-making
• Educate and certify on standards and best practices
• Advance clinical research
• Establish supporting practices and policies
• Facilitate knowledge sharing

Outcome

Stoke worked with SHSI to build a position around the organization’s core mission of providing balanced information about the benefits and risks of youth sports. Stoke managed a comprehensive website building process including sitemap creation, content messaging, and direction of web design and development. The SHSI website launched in 2016, and is helping to inform the important health decisions athletes, parents, coaches and health professionals make every day.