School Segregation In Milwaukee, New Insights Into Child Concussions, Wisconsin Could Face Potential Doctor Shortage

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• Milwaukee Has One Of The Most Segregating School District Borders In The Country

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  A new report looks at how school district borders separate students from high-income and low-income households. Our guest tells us about a Milwaukee school district border, which was found to be one of the most segregating in the country.

• When Can Kids Get Back Into Mental And Physical Action After A Concussion?

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  A Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin physician shares new research on concussion recovery for kids–and when children can get back to school and sports after suffering a concussion.

• Getting Back In The Game Following A Concussion

  Concussions have held a prominent place in news cycles as more research surfaces about the effect that these injuries have — especially children.

  Much of the conversation leads to questions like, “How soon after a concussion can a child return to activities, such as schoolwork or sports?” Collective wisdom has held the belief that rest and relaxation were critical to healing the brain following a concussion. However, a new report published this month by the Journal of the American Medical Association-Pediatrics shows that parents might be able to let their children get back into activities sooner than previously thought.

  The new report is based on research from doctors in the United States and Canada which looked at the concussion symptoms of more than 60 participants within the first 10 days following the incident. What the researchers looked for were symptom spikes, which are symptoms that increase from one day to another.

  But what they found was that symptom spikes were actually quite common in the early days of recovery, regardless of the activity level, either physically or mentally. And high-intensity mental activities in particular, like going back to school or doing homework, had the potential to increase symptoms.

  “Your symptoms may get a little worse if you go back to school,” said Dr. Danny Thomas of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But the good news is most of those symptom spikes resolved within 24 hours. And the kids had a normal recovery at 10 days.”

  Thomas was part of the team that researched symptom spikes following a concussion. He said while parents might be concerned about reintroducing their children to school or sports following a concussion, it might actually be somewhat beneficial for the brain to get some stimulation.

  “Both physical and mental activity are really important things to be monitoring after a concussion,” he said. “But what we’re finding is that over-restriction has a downside as well as a blanket—letting them return back to contact sports. So, we have to find that sweet spot where kids will actually use their brain, engage their body in physical exercise, which is really helpful for the brain in recovery, but also not put themselves at increased risk or overstressing their system.”

  Thomas said that the general timeline for a child to get back into a normal routine is first established by determining that the child doesn’t have a more significant injury than a concussion—usually a more severe brain injury or brain bleeding, which would be determined by a doctor.

  Once it’s established that it’s a concussion, the body and brain should rest for a day or so and the brain will naturally want to take it easy, according to Thomas. However, he advised getting back into a routine in order to help the process along, such as taking short walks around the block. And once a child is reintroduced to school, parents can ask for certain accommodations, such as more time for school work, to acclimate following a concussion.

  But, some precautions should take place if the child is involved in a competitive sport, even if the child is tolerating school and some physical activities, he said.

  “There’s something call the ‘stepwise’ return to play,” Thomas said. “Which is a very structured increase in exercise and exposure to contact and head impacts until you’re ready to be cleared to participate in competition.”

• Wisconsin Could Run Short On Doctors

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  A new report shows that Wisconsin could face a shortage of doctors over the next couple of decades. We’ll learn what should be done to attract and retain physicians, and why the state is facing a shortfall.