Injury Prevention Program To Focus on Disadvantaged and Minority Children
CINCINNATI -- Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati is one of only two organizations in the United States to have receiving funding this year from the American Trauma Society's Physician's Council to develop an injury prevention program.
With the $10,000 award, Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati will develop and evaluate an injury prevention program focusing on disadvantaged and minority children between the ages of 2 and 5 and their families.
The program will address the various ways in which children are injured through interactive educational efforts in collaboration with Head Start sites in Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Fire Division.
"Unintentional injury remains the leading cause of death among children," says Victor Garcia, M.D., director of Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati Trauma Service and principal investigator for the research award.
"Disadvantaged and minority children are twice as likely to die in a car crash, four times more likely to die from drowning, and five times more likely to die in a fire.", says Dr. Garcia. "We believe that a Head Start-based family safety program will result in increased use of safety devices and a decrease in the incidence of unintentional injury."
Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati will present a safety curriculum consisting of injury prevention activities appropriate for preschoolers in three Head Start programs in the city of Cincinnati.
In addition, trauma service and Head Start teachers will educate parents, giving them hands-on experience with safety devices such as child safety seats. Parents also will receive weekly newsletters.
Children's Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati Injury Prevention coordinators will conduct family safety fairs, consisting of five hands-on learning stations, in the three Head Start programs. The Cincinnati Fire Division will participate in these safety fairs.
Each Head Start site will be compared to another Head Start program that does not include the safety interventions to determine whether the injury prevention program is effective.
Co-investigator of the grant is Joseph E. Zins, Ed.D., professor of early childhood and special education in the College of Education at the University of Cincinnati. Research coordinator of the grant is Barb Tuchfarber, R.N., M.S., of the Trauma Service.
Contact Information
Jim Feuer,
jfeuer@chmcc.org
