Head Injury Prevention Program:

Phase II KANSAS

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS   PROGRAM AREA(S)
  Targets Hard-to-Reach/At Risk Populaion   Injury Prevention
Youth Programs
 
TYPE OF JURISDICTION
  State
 
TARGETED POPULATION(S) JURISDICTION SIZE
  Students   2,554,047

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

The leading cause of long term disability and death among teenagers and young adults is head and spinal cord injury. More than 5,000 head and spinal cord injuries occur each year in Kansas alone. The burden to Kansas residents is more than $50 million. Nearly 50 percent of all head and spinal cord injuries occur in motor vehicle crashes, where safety belts and safety helmets could have a positive effect on the outcome.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of Phase II of the Head Injury Prevention Program is to reduce the number of head and spinal cord injuries occurring as a result of motor vehicle crashes. Specific objectives include:

Educating junior and senior high school students and others about the causes and consequences of head and spinal cord injury

Raising awareness about disabilities and disability issues to encourage risk management behaviors

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

In the first phase of this project, a staff member from the Head Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas and a volunteer from Kansas City traveled throughout Kansas conducting 70-90 prevention education programs annually. This process helped introduce the issue of head and spinal cord injury prevention to schools, but it also proved limiting in the amount of time spent with each school.

Phase II is a localization plan that emphasizes the identification, recruitment and training of local volunteer presenters in communities throughout Kansas. Presentations include

Head Injury Prevention Program:

Phase II (cont'd)

appearances by survivors of head and spinal cord injuries, as well as explicit information on the causes and physical, emotional, and financial consequences of these injuries. Students are taught the importance of using safe behavior to prevent head and spinal cord injuries from occurring.

Phase II also includes reinforcement of the prevention message through pre- and post-prevention activities within the schools. Schools are asked to participate in at least three prevention activities. This statewide, community supported effort is designed to educate students about the importance of prevention activities. Phase II has expanded the number of schools involved in Head Injury Prevention activities, and therefore, the number of students reached. An added benefit of the localization plan is an increase in community awareness and involvement.

RESULTS

From June through September 1993, there were 8 presentations made, reaching 744 students. During the 1993 to 1994 school year, 50 presentations were made, targeting 3,504 young people. In the 1994-1995 school year, the total number of presentations increased to 92, with the prevention message reaching 9,386 students. Response from both students and teachers to this program was very favorable. Personal testimonies from survivors of head and spinal cord injuries made the greatest impact on audiences and led participants to examine their own behavior more closely.