Jacquie van Ierssel PT, PhD, MScRehab, BScPT, BPE, FCAMPT, SPC Diploma, CAFCI

Founder, R2P™ Concussion Management

Since 2013, I have provided evidence-based concussion management education to over 1000 clinicians globally.  

Biography

Dr. Jacquie van Ierssel is a CAMPT physiotherapist and postdoctoral fellow at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Her ongoing research focuses on improving how to measure balance and functional outcomes following concussion to aid clinical decision-making regarding recovery and return to sport. Her research has been published in high-impact peer reviewed journals. In her doctoral research she developed the Concussion Recovery Questionnaire (CORE-Q), a concussion-specific measure of the functional capacity that measures how long a person can perform a task before the onset or worsening of symptoms. Jacquie founded R2P™ Concussion Management to promote a systematic and evidence based approach to best-practice concussion assessment and treatment has instructed over 1000 healthcare professionals globally. She is an expert panelist for the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation Living pediatric Concussion Guidelines, and has contributed to the WSIB mTBI program of care guidelines. She has been a clinical instructor at the University of Toronto Department of Physical Therapy and is past chair of Sport Physiotherapy Canada, Ontario Section. As an invited speaker at many professional conferences, Jacquie has spoken about the evidence-based management of concussion across the country.

She graduated from the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto in 1998, after first obtaining a Bachelor of Physical Education degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1994.  She also holds an MSc (Rehabilitation) from McMaster University, where her research focused on return to sport following ACL reconstruction.  Jacquie has gone on to complete the highest level of post-graduate diplomas in both advanced orthopaedics and sports physiotherapy, earning her FCAMPT in 2004 and SPC diploma in 2007.  She has also successfully completed a competency-based certification in vestibular rehabilitation at Emory University. Additionally, she obtained her certification in acupuncture from the Canadian Acupuncture Foundation of Canada, and is a nationally-accredited certified strength and conditioning specialist and a certified sports first responder.  

As an orthopaedic and sport physiotherapist, Jacquie has over 20 years of experience working with concussed athletes from a recreational level through to and including Olympic athletes.  She has worked extensively with national sports teams to provide on-field and clinical care with Gymnastics Canada, Skate Canada, Athletics Canada, Special Olympics, and the University of Toronto. Her continuum of care included facilitating neurocognitive baseline testing, acute on-field assessment of injured athletes, management of acute and persistent postconcussion symptoms, exercise progressions, and return to school, work, and sport. 

Publications

Peer -Reviewed Publications

van Ierssel, J. (2021). Development of the Concussion Recovery Questionnaire: a self-report outcome measure of functional status following concussion (PhD Academy Award).

van Ierssel, J; Osmond, M; Hamid, J; Sampson, M; Zemek, R. (2020). What is the risk of recurrent concussion in children and adolescents aged 5-18 years? A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine. October 19

van Ierssel J, Ledoux AA, Tang K, Correll R, Yeates KO, Gioia G, Freedman S, et al. (2020). Symptom burden, school function, and physical activity one-year following pediatric concussion. Journal of Pediatrics. August: S0022-3476(20)31097.

van Ierssel J, O'Neil J, Sveistrup H, Marshall S, Graham I. (2020). A qualitative study of persons with persistent postconcussion symptoms and clinicians with concussion expertise to inform the development of a concussion-specific questionnaire. Disability and Rehabilitation. : 1-12.

O’Neil, J., van Ierssel, J., & Sveistrup, H. (2019). Remote supervision of rehabilitation interventions for survivors of moderate or severe traumatic brain injury: A scoping review. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 1357633X19845466.

van Ierssel, J., Sveistrup, H., & Marshall, S. (2018). Identifying the concepts contained within health-related quality of life outcome measures in concussion research using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health as a reference: a systematic review. Quality of life research, 27(12), 3071-3086.

van Ierssel, J., Sveistrup, H., & Marshall, S. (2018). Protocol for the mixed-methods development of a concussion-specific health-related quality of life outcome measure based on the international classification of functioning, disability and health. BMJ open, 8(7), e022240.

Published Abstracts

Canadian Physiotherapy Association. Congress Book of Abstracts: The Role of Physiotherapy in Concussion Management; June 18-20, 2015. 

Non-Peer Reviewed Publications

O’Neil, J., van Ierssel, J. Technology and telerehabilitation within the physiotherapy world. Physiotherapy Today (Summer 2017).

Acerra N., Finstad E., van Ierssel, J., Woodhouse S. Interdivisional Collaboration 1: Vestibular Rehabilitation, Clinical Tidbits. Orthopaedic Division Review 2014; 27(3).

Poster Presentations

van Ierssel, J.  Development of a Concussion-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life Outcome Measure Based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health.  University Health Network Traumatic Brain Injury Conference. (Toronto, ON, February 2018).

van Ierssel, J. Content comparison of HRQOL instruments based on the ICF Core Sets for mTBI: a systematic review. University Health Network Traumatic Brain Injury Conference. (Toronto, ON, January 2015).

Online

Concussion 101; College of Physiotherapists of Ontario, http://collegept.org/Resources/Perspectives/Concussion101

#physiohelpslives campaign; Ontario Physiotherapy Association; https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=physiohelpslives%20concussion

External Reviewer

Concussion Management: A Toolkit for Physiotherapists; Physiotherapy Alberta – College and Association

Invited Speaker

Annual General Meeting, Manitoba Orthopaedic Division and Sport Physiotherapy Canada, Winnipeg.  Most Recent Evidence and Clinical Applications of Managing Post-Concussion Symptoms; April 8, 2017

Annual General Meeting, Manitoba Orthopaedic Division and Sport Physiotherapy Canada, Winnipeg.  Acute On-Field Care of Concussions; April 8, 2017

InterACTION Annual Conference, Ontario Physiotherapy Association, Toronto. Evidence-Based Management of Concussion; April 9, 2016. 

National Congress, Canadian Physiotherapy Association, Halifax. The Role of Physiotherapy in Concussion Management; June 18-20, 2015.

Annual General Meeting, Ontario Section of the Orthopaedic Division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association, Toronto. The Role of Physiotherapy in Concussion Management; May 30, 2015.

Presentations

UHN Traumatic Brain Injury Conference 2015, University Health Network, Toronto. Van Ierssel, J. Poster Presentation: Content comparison of HRQOL instruments based on the ICF Core Sets for mTBI: a systematic review; January 30, 2015.