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McGinn is hardly alone in her experience. An estimated 225,000 Canadians suffer concussions annually, with many of them turning to Dr. Google for help. There, they will find alleged “cures” that include everything from chocolate milk to cod liver oil to protein supplements.

“We have a serious problem with concussion recovery in this country,” McGinn says. “There isn’t a consensus on management. Patients are really still in the dark.”

To bring light to the issue, McGinn serves as executive director of the EMPWR Foundation, a charitable movement dedicated to the advancement of concussion recovery in Canada. The foundation boasts a star-studded list of board members and ambassadors including: Gabriel Landeskog, captain of the Colorado Avalanche; Dara Howell, Olympic gold medallist in freestyle skiing; and Adriano Belli, who spent 12 years in the NFL and CFL.

The goal is to help the 225,000 Canadians concussed annually to navigate their recoveries under the care of a trained medical professional. Even family doctors – some with little in the way of resources or training in concussion management – can benefit from a simple-to-read list of milestones that chart a patient’s return to school, work or sport.

“We do need to keep in mind these are trained physicians, and they’re very good at their jobs,” says Michael Hutchison, an EMPWR board member and director of concussion program at the David L. MacIntosh Sport Medicine Clinic at the University of Toronto. “But I think it’s safe to say they are lacking the available tools and consistency in messaging about what to do. “