2003 OCT 20 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Health educators play a crucial role in preventing injuries, the leading cause of death among children and youth in the United States. More than 70% of all deaths among those 10-24 years old result from injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes, unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide.
A special supplement to the American Journal of Health Education presents studies and education programs proved effective in reducing the toll of a broad range of injury-related issues, including bullying, motor vehicle crashes among teen drivers and suicide. The supplement also outlines comprehensive school health guidelines to prevent unintentional injuries, violence and suicide.
The Injury Center of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cosponsored the supplement along with the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau (HRSA).
'Public health moves from data to action, and health education is an essential part of any comprehensive approach to preventing injuries and disabilities,' said Sue Binder, MD, director of the CDC Injury Center. 'Public health education can be used to encourage individual behavior change, it can be a major contributor to changing social norms, and it can help create policy changes that save lives.'
The AJHE supplement gives health educators strategies to apply in schools and communities, such as:
1) Suicide Prevention - Describes the magnitude of the suicide problem among young people in the United States and outlines opportunities for prevention. Authors suggest that establishing crisis services and a trained cadre of gatekeepers might be one way to provide a 'safety net' for youth in a crisis. Screening efforts combined with educational efforts may also be an effective way to identify and focus on these high risk youth.
2) Teen Driving - Outlines a strategy combining graduated driver licensing with persuasive communications between parents and teens to reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes among teens. Currently, teen crash rates are higher than those for any other age group. The authors discuss the Checkpoints program designed to increase parental limits on teens' early driving, especially the first year of driving. Through the use of parent-teen education and skills training using videos, newsletters and a parent-teen driving contract, the program helped to alter parents' understanding of teen driving risks and the benefits of restricting teen driving. The authors reported that the Checkpoints program helps manage teens' unsupervised driving at night, teen passengers and hi-speed road driving during the first 3 months after licensure.
3) Pedestrian Safety - Points to the potential role of parents and community members in preventing child pedestrian injuries. Parents are willing to volunteer time and money to improve their communities, but they often do not know how they can make these changes in their neighborhoods. The authors found that parents are generally aware of education, enforcement, and environmental changes needed for pedestrian safety, but do not know which strategies work best. The authors suggested that health education can facilitate dialogue with communities about the pedestrian injury problem and potential solutions.
'Public education lies at the core of Department of Health and Human Services initiatives to reduce the nation's high rates of obesity, asthma and diabetes. This special supplement shows how health educators in schools and communities also can be used to help prevent injuries and violence,' said Elizabeth M. Duke, PhD, HRSA administrator.
This article was prepared by Health & Medicine Week editors from staff and other reports.
