Understanding and optimising helmet-related and other health and social effects of the first North American university campus skatepark

ABSTRACT

Skateboarding has growing societal uptake, as seen through its inclusion in 2021’s Summer Olympics. To promote positive health and social outcomes, skateparks are being developed around the world. A challenge in optimising skateparks’ benefits lies in reducing injury risk, particularly head trauma. This study occurred at the University of British Columbia Skatepark (July–September 2019) with the goal of identifying and theoretically contextualising facilitators and barriers to helmet use. Participants (total n = 54, 92.6% male) were interviewed (n = 54) and surveyed (n = 27). We performed thematic analysis on the transcripts, finding that barriers to helmet use included helmet discomfort, low perceived risk of injury, cultural norms, and style, and facilitators included a belief that helmets promote safety, higher-risk skating activities, older and younger ages, and role modelling. We propose a conceptual model showing multiple points of intervention to promote skatepark safety beyond helmet use alone, integrating theories of sociology, social psychology, and public health.

KEYWORDS:

• Skateboarding
• helmet use
• sport behaviour
• sport safety
• skatepark

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Nathaniel Etheridge “Ridge” Frank-White, Pieter and Robin Beyers, and Arik and Aviv Milner for their inspiration and activism as children, taking the first steps leading to making this off-street skatepark a reality. We would also like to thank the University of British Columbia for having the open-mindedness and generosity to make this whole remarkable ecosystem, including the University Neighbourhoods, skatepark, and the training and research ecosystem of the coauthors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Data collection and analyses for this project were unfunded.

Notes on contributors

Jenny Xue

Jenny Xue, MD, is a family physician and GP psychiatrist in Vancouver, BC. She is passionate about using lifestyle medicine to treat and prevent disease, for both individuals and populations. Her research interests lie in applying preventive approaches through public health and medical education interventions.

Sebastian Swic

Sebastian Swic, MD, is a resident physician in anesthesiology.

Jennifer Brazeau

Jennifer Brazeau, MD, MPH, is a family physician practicing in multiple rural communities across British Columbia. She has a special interest in utilizing her background in public health to focus on preventative care.

Erica Frank

Erica Frank, MD, MPH, FACPM is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Affiliate Professor in the Faculty of Arts, at the University of British Columbia. She is also the Inventor/Founder of www.NextGenU.org, the Principal Investigator of Healthy Doc = Healthy Patient, and a Board member of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War.