How the Study Works
Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews and the Enhanced Critical Incident Technique (ECIT), the study will engage with mTBI healthcare professionals across Canada and ask them similar questions about how they experience what works, what doesn’t and what is missing from their ability to refer and collaborate across multiple specialties in coordinated mTBI care.
About the Study
This study examines how interdisciplinary healthcare providers in Canada experience and navigate collaboration in the diagnosis and treatment of mTBI. It focuses on how care unfolds in practice, particularly at key decision points where clinical guidelines intersect with real-world constraints.
What This Study Aims to Do
The goal is to generate evidence that informs more coherent, responsive, and patient-centred models of mTBI care in Canada, grounded not only in guidelines, but in the realities of clinical practice as identified by the professionals doing the work.
The Problem
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) occupies a paradoxical place in contemporary healthcare: it is highly prevalent, yet inconsistently defined and variably managed. Globally, up to 74 million individuals sustain an mTBI each year, but incidence estimates vary widely due to differences in diagnostic criteria, reporting practices, and data systems.
Current data suggests that, at a minimum, 544, 000 Canadians aged 12+ report at least one concussion in any given year.
Compounding this issue, there is no universally accepted definition of mTBI. More than forty classification systems exist, and health authorities apply differing thresholds for diagnosis. As a result, “mTBI” often functions as an umbrella term applied unevenly across clinical settings.
Why it matters
Although many recover within weeks, an estimated 15-30% of individuals develop persistent symptoms – including cognitive, emotional and physical impairments – leading to significant disruption in functioning and quality of life. Some people with these experiences may develop Persistent Post-Concussive Syndrome (PPCS).
Some clinicians report uncertainty in diagnosis, referral thresholds and role boundaries, while patients describe disconnected services and self-navigation of care systems. Diagnostic inconsistency directly impacts care. With inconsistency, it is unclear who requires or qualifies for rehabilitation, what treatments are appropriate and accessible and how care should be coordinated across providers.
The Gap in Care
Interdisciplinary rehabilitation is widely endorsed as the standard of care for mTBI. However, in practice, clinicians often work in parallel rather than in coordination. Care decisions are frequently shaped by individual disciplinary perspectives, local resources, and informal networks rather than integrated systems.
This results in variability in:
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assessment decisions
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referral timing
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treatment planning
Patient Experience
Patients commonly describe having confusion due to:
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fragmented communication across providers
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difficulty navigating disconnected services
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the burden of coordinating their own care in new environments
This occurs despite already existing cognitive symptoms that may impair memory, processing, and comprehension. Many report feeling as though they are “falling between specialties” rather than moving through a coherent system of care.
The Research Gap
Despite the growth of mTBI research and clinical guidelines, little is known about how interdisciplinary collaboration is actually enacted in real-world practice. Existing literature is largely quantitative and offers limited insight into the relational and contextual factors shaping collaboration.
This gap is particularly pronounced in Canada, where healthcare delivery is shaped by provincial systems, referral structures, and access constraints that differ from other jurisdictions.