Although bicycle, pedestrian, and wheeled sports collisions are one of the leading causes of death and severe injury in children, there are currently no empirically-based, easily implemented prevention programs targeting comprehensive bicycle, pedestrian, and wheeled sports safety skills for children grades 4-8. Data from this age group indicate that multi-component interventions targeting peers, school staff, child, and family are optimal to effectively change the safety behaviors of older children. This project will develop an interactive multimedia program to enhance bicycle, pedestrian, and wheeled sports safety skills for children in grades 4-8, for use in both school and home settings. The Phase I prototype covered 2 of the critical safety skills required for safe navigation on foot and by bike in the community: (a) understanding complex traffic patterns, and (b) appropriate helmet use. In Phase II programs for additional targeted groups (parents, and school staff) will be developed, and the interactive safety program will be expanded to include: (a) a comprehensive set of safety skills (e.g., maintaining bike equipment, group riding, and crash avoidance) across urban, suburban, and rural environments;(b) school-wide implementation guidelines;(c) classroom activities;and (d) expansion materials for parents. The critical features of this project are the utilization of interactive media for tailoring the instructional presentation to the individual user, the incorporation of instructional design features that have been shown to achieve maximum learning, the application of safety skills in video-based examples of real-life traffic situations, and age-matched video modeling. The program will be grounded in behavior change theory and will incorporate computer-based assessment with remediation to ensure content mastery. Phase II of the project will evaluate the efficacy of this comprehensive school-wide program in a large-scale clinical trial with 40 middle schools.

Public Health Relevance

Bicycle, pedestrian, and wheeled sports crashes are a leading cause of unintentional childhood injury in the United States. Preteens and early adolescents are particularly vulnerable to this public health problem. This program has the potential to reduce injuries in this population by increasing the practice of safe walking and biking behaviors.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Small Business Innovation Research Grants (SBIR) - Phase II (R44)
Project #
5R44HD057672-04
Application #
8235084
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-RPHB-C (10))
Program Officer
Haverkos, Lynne
Project Start
2008-04-15
Project End
2014-02-28
Budget Start
2012-03-01
Budget End
2014-02-28
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$624,498
Indirect Cost
Name
Oregon Center for Applied Science, Inc.
Department
Type
DUNS #
783579782
City
Eugene
State
OR
Country
United States
Zip Code
97401