Patient-centered Care in Sports Medicine

It is essential that students entering health care professions be well informed about the social determinants of health and be equipped with strategies to advocate for, engage with, and communicate with patients from a variety of backgrounds. For educators, Patient-Centered Care in Sports Medicine is aligned with the Patient-Centered Care core competency outlined by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE), and it prepares students to put patient-centered care into practice as they work with diverse individuals.

Patient-Centered Care in Sports Medicine defines patient-centered care, explains its importance for every patient interaction, and shows how to model patient-centered care in daily practice. Students will come to better understand how social identities related to race, class, gender, and sexuality shape the patient–health care provider relationship, as well as how a provider’s own social identities may influence the care they provide. Self-assessment tools will help students evaluate their personal stereotypes, implicit biases, and prejudices, while patient-centered communication models provide guidance on eliciting crucial information from patients to make sure their needs are addressed.

The second half of the book offers invaluable knowledge about the largest cultural groups within the United States, the LGBTQIA+ community, and individuals with disabilities. For each culture, the discussion addresses cultural information such as primary languages and communication styles, family structure, daily living and food practices, and more. This rich discussion allows students to build cultural awareness for use in their future careers.

Throughout the text, chapter objectives, review questions, case studies, and key terms help students comprehend and retain the information presented. Athletic Training Professionals in Their Own Words sidebars feature noted athletic trainers discussing their experiences in various settings. Forms that are beneficial in health care settings—including a satisfaction survey, a facility checklist, and sample policies and procedures—are provided in the book.

Patient-Centered Care in Sports Medicine serves as an excellent guide for institutions and individual providers who desire to become more competent when working with athletes or patients from a variety of backgrounds.

René Revis Shingles, PhD, ATC, is an award-winning educator, author, and servant leader. She is a professor emeritus in the athletic training program at Central Michigan University and previously served as the program director, internship coordinator, and representative chair of the School of Rehabilitation and Medical Sciences. Shingles currently serves as president of the Board of Certification (BOC) board of directors and is the first African American to hold the position. She previously served as vice president for the BOC board of directors. She has written numerous research articles and is the coauthor, with Lorin Cartwright, of Cultural Competence in Sports Medicine.

Shingles holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a master’s degree in athletic training from Illinois State University, and a doctorate in kinesiology from Michigan State University. She has provided athletic training services for high school, collegiate, recreational, special Olympics, and elite-level athletes, including as a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team medical staff. She has received many national, regional, state, and local awards for outstanding teaching, leadership, professional service, and community service. In 2018, she became the first African American woman inducted into the hall of fame of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). She served on the NATA’s inaugural Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee as well as the LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee. In addition to her full professional life, she loves making time to mentor students.

Lorin A. Cartwright, MS, ATC, is retired from her roles as head athletic trainer, assistant principal, and athletic director at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she served for more than 32 years. She was an adjunct professor in athletic training at the University of Michigan for three years and also taught at Eastern Michigan University and Concordia University. Cartwright was the first woman to graduate from Grand Valley State University with a degree in athletic training, and she later became the first woman and the first high school athletic trainer to become president of the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association. She has been appointed by the governor of Michigan to the Michigan Board of Athletic Trainers and the Michigan Task Force on Women in Sports.

Cartwright has been an active member of the LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). She was the cochair of the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Michigan Athletic Trainers’ Society. In 2022 she was honored with NATA’s Gail Weldon Award of Excellence. In 2010, she was awarded the Outstanding Educator Award by the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association. She has been inducted into the halls of fame of Pioneer High School, the Michigan Athletic Trainers’ Society, the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association, and the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.

She has been involved in presentations on ally training, implicit bias, cultural competence in health care, and Title IX. Her articles include “Employment Discrimination in Athletic Training: A Case Study,” “Integrating Safe Space Ally Training Into the AT Curriculum,” “Minority Stress and Its Impact on Mental Health in LGBTQ+ Patients and Athletic Trainers and Patients Who Identify as LGBTQ+,” “Stressors of Sexual Minority Identity and How It Affects Mental Health,” and “Considerations in Addressing Bias to Ensure Inclusion and Healthcare.” She has authored or coauthored eight books about the athletic training profession and two ebooks on athletic training certification.