Cool Cat Bicycle Helmet Program MICHIGAN



PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Injuries, especially head injuries, resulting from bicycle crashes are an important cause of childhood morbidity and mortality in the United States. Approximately four percent of those injured or killed nationwide in bicycle crashes are under the age of 16. Bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent and brain injury by 88 percent. Early education intervention has a powerful influence on the health and behaviors of young people.

The number of requests to the Michigan Resource Center, Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP), for bicycle helmet programs and materials was increasing. However, bicycle helmet use was only at two percent in the state.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The main goal of the Cool Cat Bicycle Helmet Program was to increase the use and knowledge of bicycle helmets in young children and their parents. An additional goal was to increase local community involvement in bicycle helmet promotion. Objectives were to:

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

In 1994, a character-based pre-school bicycle helmet program, "Cool Cat, the Brain Defender," was designed. The materials were developed by the Department of Community Health under a grant from OHSP. The program uses a person dressed as Cool Cat who performs a skit and song to convey the safety message to the students. The presentation includes a brain board showing how helmets protect the brain. Teachers distribute a coloring book to the students along with a bicycle helmet brochure to go to the parents. A Polaroid picture of each child wearing a bicycle helmet is taken with Cool Cat.

RESULTS

Over 4,000 coloring books and stickers have been disseminated to pre-school children. Over


10,000 parent bicycle helmet brochures have been distributed to agencies. The Michigan Department of Community Health has reached more than 4,000 children with the bicycle helmet message through the Cool Cat program.

New bicycle helmet use data is currently being collected. The project is continuing with additional communities being included.