The purpose of this paper is to summarise the methodology for the 5th International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport. The 18 months of preparation included engagement of a scientific committee, an expert panel of 33 individuals in the field of concussion and a modified Delphi technique to determine the primary questions to be answered. The methodology also involved the writing of 12 systematic reviews to inform the consensus conference and submission and review of scientific abstracts. The meeting itself followed a 2-day open format, a 1-day closed expert panel meeting and two additional half day meetings to develop the Concussion Recognition Tool 5 (Pocket CRT5), Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5 (SCAT5) and Child SCAT5.

. Health professionals' perceptions of cultural influences on stroke experiences and rehabilitation in Kuwait. Disability and Rehabilitation, 34(2), 119-127. AbstractPurpose:-The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of health professionals who treat stroke patients in Kuwait regarding cultural influences on the experience of stroke and rehabilitation in Kuwait. Health professionals interviewed were from a variety of cultural backgrounds thus providing an opportunity to investigate how they perceived the influence of culture on stroke recovery and rehabilitation in Kuwait.Method:-Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 12 health professionals with current/ recent stroke rehabilitation experience in Kuwait, followed by thematic analysis of the verbatim transcripts.Results:-The health professionals identified several features of the Kuwaiti culture that they believed affected the experiences of stroke patients. These were religious beliefs, family involvement, limited education and public information about stroke, prevailing negative attitudes towards stroke, access to finances for private treatment, social stigma and the public invisibility of disabled people, difficulties identifying meaningful goals for rehabilitation, and an acceptance of dependency linked with the widespread presence of maids and other paid assistants in most Kuwaiti homes.Conclusion:-To offer culturally sensitive care, these issues should be taken into account during the rehabilitation of Kuwaiti stroke patients in their home country and elsewhere.

It is known that patients' self-efficacy in rehabilitation can be strengthened through a number of strategies such as goal-setting and feedback. This study suggests that for Muslim patients in Kuwait, health professionals also need to be mindful of their need for religious empowerment. Implications for Rehabilitation Muslim religious beliefs may influence self-efficacy in stroke patients in the Kuwaiti context. Patients who regard themselves as working in partnership with their God may feel empowered and more confident to achieve goals in rehabilitation. Patients who regard their stroke as a divine punishment may have lower self-efficacy. Health professionals might support religious patients to retain a sense of their unimpaired moral selves (e.g. by enabling religious observance) as a means of enhancing self-efficacy in rehabilitation.

Religious faith is central to life for Muslim patients in Kuwait, so it may influence adaptation and rehabilitation. This study explored quantitative associations among religious faith, self-efficacy, and life satisfaction in 40 female stroke patients and explored the influence of religion within stroke rehabilitation through qualitative interviews with 12 health professionals. The quantitative measure of religious faith did not relate to life satisfaction or self-efficacy in stroke patients. However, the health professionals described religious coping as influencing adaptation post-stroke.Fatalistic beliefs were thought to have mixed influences on rehabilitation. Measuring religious faith among Muslims through a standardized scale is debated. The qualitative accounts suggest that religious beliefs need to be acknowledged in stroke rehabilitation in Kuwait.

. Life satisfaction and self-efficacy in patients affected by a first stroke living in Kuwait: A two-phase study. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 29(6), 443-456. AbstractLife satisfaction and self-efficacy are important aspects of stroke rehabilitation. Previous research focuses on Western stroke survivors, neglecting the stroke experience in the Middle East. This research was conducted in Kuwait, and entailed both quantitative and qualitative phases to obtain a more comprehensive, clinically relevant understanding of self-efficacy and life satisfaction during stroke rehabilitation in this culture. The aims were firstly to investigate relationships between self-efficacy and life satisfaction in female patients affected by stroke (Phase 1), and secondly, to explore health professionals' views regarding the importance of self-efficacy and possible strategies for enhancing self-efficacy during rehabilitation, through semi-structured interviews (Phase2). Significant correlations were found between patients' general self-efficacy, and psychosocial adaptation self-efficacy following stroke. Self-efficacy (both general and psychosocial adaptation) showed significant correlations with life satisfaction poststroke. Health professionals (more than half of whom were physiotherapists) recognized the importance of self-efficacy within stroke rehabilitation and identified five main ways to increase self-efficacy during stroke rehabilitation. These were to: motivate and encourage patients, provide more education about stroke and rehabilitation, identify change, offer a high quality environment and therapy, and set goals. In conclusion, psychosocial self-efficacy was identified as having a stronger relationship to life 2 satisfaction compared with general self-efficacy within this sample of Kuwaiti female patients. Health professionals suggested various strategies for enhancing self-efficacy and thereby life satisfaction post-stroke during the rehabilitation process in Kuwait.Despite the collectivist culture of Kuwait, the findings indicate that patient's own confidence and sense of responsibility for progress may be relevant to rehabilitation.