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Project
Characteristics |
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Multi-Faceted
Intervention
School and Community Focus
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Program
Areas |
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Occupant
Protection
Youth Programs
Child Passenger Safety |
Type of Jurisdiction |
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State (Rural communities) |
Targeted
Population |
Parents
Caregivers
Community Members
Children ages 4-8 years |
Jurisdiction
Size |
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86,000-99,000
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Funding |
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CDC: $450,000
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Contact |
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Debra Douglass, MS, CHES
NYSDOH
Bureau of Injury Prevention
Riverview Center
150 Broadway, 3W
Albany, NY 12204
(518) 473-1143
djd04@health.state.ny.us
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Digest
Listing
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NEW YORK
"Gimmee a Boost!" A
Multi-Faceted Community and School Intervention to Increase Booster Seat Use
in Rural Communities
(PDF Version)
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
In
New York State, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death and
hospitalization among children between 4 and 8 years of age. Although
booster seats reduce injury risk to children by 59 percent compared to those
using only safety belts, fewer than 20 percent of children from ages 4 to 8 used booster seats in 1999. The counties
participating in “Gimmee a Boost!” project were targeted because they had
death and hospitalization rates significantly higher than the state rate.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The goal of
“Gimmee a Boost!” A Multi-Faceted Community and School Intervention to
Increase Booster Seat Use in Rural Communities is to reduce motor vehicle
crash deaths and hospitalizations in the target counties by increasing
booster seat use.
The project’s objectives include:
-
Identifying
barriers and reasons for non-use and determine baseline booster seat use
rates;
-
Developing,
implementing and determining the effectiveness of individual and combined
program components by comparing baseline and post-intervention booster
seat use rates;
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Promoting agency
collaboration to increase community knowledge and awareness of booster
seats; and
-
Distributing booster
seats to children in need and educating parents on their proper use in two
counties.
STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES
“Gimmee a
Boost!” uses components of the Health Belief Model to create both a public
education and awareness campaign and a school campaign targeting grades K-3.
The project implemented the following strategies to achieve its goals:
-
Managed project
activities at the state level with the support of local project
coordinators certified as Child Passenger Safety Technicians.
-
Implemented all three
program components in one county; a second county conducted the public
education and awareness campaign coupled with the booster seat
distribution program; a third county implemented the school-based
campaign.
-
Collected booster seat
use data through interviews with parents and guardians of 4- to 8-year-olds in each county before and after the interventions.
-
Collected booster seat
observational data after the interventions.
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Aired three
announcements on local radio stations and distributed corresponding
brochures to agencies and organizations that provide services to families.
Each contained a booster seat hotline number.
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Distributed booster
seats to financially disadvantaged families.
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Enlisted the help of
local law enforcement and public health staff to perform for kids.
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Created an interactive
presentation and performed songs specifically developed to foster a
positive image of booster seats for children in grades K-3.
-
Used child volunteers
to demonstrate safe riding practices during the presentations.
-
Supplied parents and
classroom teachers with educational materials to reinforce safety messages
conveyed during the presentation.
RESULTS
As a
successful intervention to promote booster seat usage, the “Gimmee a Boost!”
campaign achieved the following results:
-
Distributed booster
seats to over 800 disadvantaged children in two counties.
-
Increased reported
booster seat use and observed seat use in the three target counties. The
largest increase occurred in the county that instituted all three
components (from 21 percent to 53 percent).
-
Increased knowledge
of safe riding practices among first and second graders who attended
presentations. Post–test results showed that students retained this
knowledge 6 months later.
-
Aired 2,214 radio
announcements over 12 radio stations and distributed 30,000 brochures to
parents and community members in two counties.
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Provided project data
that supported a new law requiring appropriate restraints for children
ages 4-7 effective March 27, 2005.
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Identified reasons
for booster seat non-use such as the belief that a child is too big or
old for a booster seat, lack of knowledge about the injury risks
associated with using only safety belts, resistance by children to using
them, and lack of a law to enforce their use.
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