Tulane Institute of Sports Medicine launches Milestone Wellness Assessment for former NFL Players

The Tulane Institute of Sports Medicine (TISM) has once again partnered with The Trust (Powered by the NFLPA), the organization that provides former NFL players support for success in life after football. Today, The Trust, along with TISM, announced the launch of the Milestone Wellness Assessment for former NFL Players.

This new assessment was designed to round out The Trust’s Medical/Wellness service with Tulane and three other partners by providing a comprehensive health assessment administered by a team of highly regarded medical partners to players who are more than 15 years removed from playing in the NFL.

The Milestone Wellness Assessment is a set of comprehensive screenings, including but not limited to hypertension/high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular profile, orthopedic and body composition. As with The Trust’s Brain and Body Assessment, Milestone Wellness Assessments will be administered by the following medical partners of The Trust, Cleveland Clinic, Hoag Neuroscience Institute, the Tulane University Institute of Sports Medicine and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"This is yet another great partnership with The Trust and a tremendous opportunity for our medical care group to help make a difference in the lives of these former professional athletes."

- Dr. Greg Stewart

“This is yet another great partnership with The Trust and a tremendous opportunity for our medical care group to help make a difference in the lives of these former professional athletes,” said Dr. Greg Stewart, Tulane’s chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation and medical director of Tulane’s Professional Athlete Care Team.  “Our Professional Athlete Care Team understands the needs and care these former athletes need after retirement and we have a new state-of-the-art facility to meet those needs.”     

Once the assessments are completed, medical partners will provide the former player with recommendations containing a plan of action the former player can follow to ensure continuity of care at home. Annual follow-ups with their personal primary care physician or specialist will be recommended. As with each of The Trust’s programs and services, a former player must have a minimum of two credited seasons to participate in the assessment.

“We’ve spent the past three years listening to our former player population,” said Bahati VanPelt, executive director of The Trust.  “An assessment created specifically for this segment of players became apparent early on. Working closely with our medical providers, we designed the Milestone Wellness Assessment to focus on internal medicine concerns which can arise as males get older.”

This past May, in conjunction with The Trust, TISM launched the Professional Athlete Care Team (PACT) with a new clinic at the Tulane Medical Center.  PACT uses a unique care model specifically designed to meet the needs of former professional athletes. A partnership between the Tulane University School of Medicine and Tulane Health System, its focus is supporting athletes’ health and safety both on and off the field.