Dr. Jeff Russell, associate professor of athletic training within the College of Health Sciences and Professions at 51社区, is shining a light on a segment of concussion patients who often go unnoticed in comparison to athletes: performing artists.
Russell鈥檚 new paper highlights the risk of concussion for dance, circus, theater and film and television stunt performers, along with guidelines for treatment. It is the first-time concussion risk for film and television stunt performers that is being highlighted in scientific literature.
鈥淲hen you stop and think about how influential a field is, pretty much everybody in the world watches movies and television. This type of medium is an art form with a huge influence, but people don鈥檛 know what goes on behind the scenes to make it look so cool on television or on the movie screen,鈥 Russell said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where my role as a healthcare worker in performing arts comes into play. I understand what artists go through 鈥 I look at what they do with different eyes, and I look at it in terms of risk and what potential injuries could happen or what might be an unsafe condition.鈥
The article was released by on Oct. 29, 2020. The key findings include that dance and performing arts are highly physical activities and performers could experience a head impact from many sources, yet the scientific literature devoted to concussions in performing arts is very low in comparison to that in sports.
Russell noted that this may be due to the fact that, while everyone watches sports and can see injuries occur, injuries to stunt actors and performing artists often occur behind the scenes and away from the public view.
鈥淲hen football players are running into each other, when hockey players are skating into each other, when soccer players are heading the ball, it鈥檚 obvious to us that concussions can happen, but that is not obvious in the arts,鈥 Russell said. 鈥淭he injuries aren鈥檛 necessarily happening only during the performances because that鈥檚 just one small piece of artistic effort. Injuries happen a lot in the rehearsals or backstage behind the scenes where you can鈥檛 see them.鈥
Those with sport concussions also receive better care because their injuries are more well known. In fact, many athletes have athletic trainers on hand who are equipped to recognize concussion symptoms; however, performing artists, including stunt performers, do not always have the same healthcare resources.
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite unfortunate,鈥 Russell said, noting the lack of adequate concussion care for performing artists. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to change the way things are done, with the goal of protecting the performers while not impeding the production of the film or television program and not negatively affecting the profitability of the production companies.鈥
Stunt performers may also be more prone to remain quiet about an injury in fear of losing their job. Russell compared it to the NFL, where athletes won鈥檛 receive a pay cut if they have to sit out of games while on concussion protocol. However, for the stunt performers, if they cannot perform their stunts, they are out of a job. This means that their symptoms can go undiagnosed and untreated, which can be dangerous.
鈥淐oncussions are important primarily because they鈥檙e an injury to your brain. If you鈥檙e not taking care of your brain, that means the rest of your body won鈥檛 work right,鈥 Russell said. 鈥淚f you have a concussion and you don鈥檛 tell anybody, and keep doing what you鈥檙e doing then you have another concussion on top of it, that can be a very, very dangerous situation. One of the side effects of doubling concussions can even be death 鈥 the brain just can鈥檛 handle it and shuts down.鈥
Director of OHIO鈥檚 School of Theater Merri Biechler said that Russell鈥檚 research is changing the way that the performing arts industry views and addresses injuries.
鈥淢any theater professionals push through injury because there鈥檚 a false sense that 鈥榯he show must go on.鈥 Dr. Russell鈥檚 work requires us to slow down, to focus on self care,鈥 Biechler said.
Russell has been working with concussions in performing artists since the early 2000s after a student came to him and requested help. Since then, he has led research into the causes and risks of the injury in performers. He is also the director of OHIO鈥檚 Science and Health in Artistic Performance (SHAPe) Clinic, a facility that provides injured performing artists care from licensed athletic trainers.
鈥淭his is why I changed my career from sports medicine to performing arts medicine. I saw dancers and some other artists that were suffering injuries, but there was nobody to take care of them. It didn鈥檛 sit right with me,鈥 Russell said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 solve all the world鈥檚 problems, but I can work right here and take care of these people. So that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing now at OHIO with the SHAPe Clinic. We can鈥檛 do it for everyone, but we鈥檙e going to do it for these ones here at our University. We鈥檙e going to set an example, and we鈥檙e going to move forward and be ones that are on the cutting edge of this. Both the clinical care and the research are fundamental to this mission.鈥
OHIO鈥檚 SHAPe Clinic is a partnership between College of Fine Arts and the College of Health Sciences and Professions, and provides care to many students in the performing arts, , music, theater and the 51社区 Marching 110.
鈥淭he work being done by the SHAPe Clinic to not only support the physical needs of our performance students in theater, dance and music, but also to bring attention to the importance of access to this type of expert care and oversight in the field is extraordinary,鈥 College of Fine Arts Dean Dr. Matthew Shaftel said. 鈥淭his early socialization of often overlooked specialized care for performing artists makes a world of difference when these students transition to the professional stage and screen.鈥
This interdisciplinary collaboration has already made great strides in increasing the safety of OHIO鈥檚 theater performers.
鈥淎 few years back, an actor experienced a concussion during a performance. We allowed the actor to perform future shows within the concussion protocol and informed the audience that they would see a slightly different physical performance. The production experienced a heightened attention that literally generated something new on the stage,鈥 Biechler said. 鈥淚t was a great lesson that when we take care of our health, unique experiences are created.鈥
Russell hopes that his research work will continue to shine a light on the subpar care many performing artists鈥攏ot just stunt performers鈥攔eceive for concussions, and that eventually this will lead to changes in the industry and the care artists receive.
鈥淯ltimately, this work is about helping people,鈥 Russell said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about serving them, lifting them up, adding value to them and helping them, and if that is what your research is about, I don鈥檛 think you can do any better than that.鈥