An analysis of athletic training state practice acts and the development of criteria for a model

The purpose of this research was to analyze the effectiveness of athletic training legislation in protecting the public from harm. The study analyzed state government's existing public protection policies in regard to the athletic training profession. A further purpose was the development of criteria for model athletic training legislation.;Practice acts from the 26 states that regulated athletic training at the time of this study were obtained and a three-part analysis was conducted. In the initial qualitative analysis, a census of all the current athletic training practice acts was conducted. The practice acts were classified excellent, good, or moderate depending on the number of criteria identified in the legislation. The majority of states classified in the excellent category were states that licensed athletic trainers, while all of the states that regulated through exemption were in the moderate classification.;The second phase of the analysis examined five research hypotheses to determine if legislation was effective in safeguarding the public welfare. Catastrophic injury data and regulatory board sanctions indicated a meaningful level of public protection afforded by athletic training legislation. However, professional liability insurance rates, initial justification for legislation, and legal case decisions did not indicate a greater potential for harm to the public without regulation. Those states classified as having excellent athletic training practice acts were most effective in protecting the public from harm. No trends could be established for those states in the good or moderate classifications.;The third phase of the research was the development of model athletic training legislation. Ten criteria were presented to facilitate the writing of an athletic training practice act which protects the public from harm. The criteria were developed by the researcher and validated by an expert jury. Based upon the criteria, and using the athletic training practice acts classified as excellent in the earlier phases of the research, model statutes for an athletic training practice act were presented.