Medical Student University of Michigan Medical School Warrington, Pennsylvania, United States
Background: Unintentional injuries are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in children and adolescents, particularly in underserved communities where families have limited access to conventional injury prevention interventions. Traditional interventions often are inaccessible due to cost and logistics, exacerbating injury disparities. A new approach is needed to close this gap. Objective: To deliver focused injury prevention education to preschoolers and their families in underserved communities through two innovative approaches: Pop-up Safety Town, a mobile in-person program, and Pop-up Safety Town in a Box, an injury prevention teaching kit designed for preschool teachers. Design/Methods: We created Pop-Up Safety Town, a novel approach to preschool injury prevention. Our model emphasized accessibility, inclusivity, and community engagement by partnering with Head Start centers and local volunteer organizations. We employed portable pop-up buildings, representing town buildings and roads. All children received helmets fitted by trained volunteers. We incentivized participation with snacks and age-appropriate books after all safety stations are completed (Figure 1). Pop-Up Safety Town in a Box was created to overcome the geographical and logistical limitations of in-person programming. We provided preschool teachers with a kit that included ready-made lesson plans, online teacher training, age-appropriate classroom props, and parent handouts, designed for preschool children. Results: We conducted Pop-Up Safety Town events at five Michigan Head Starts. The majority of families had not received prior education on dog bites (95%), helmet safety (90%), or pedestrian safety (88%). Participants found helmet safety (99%), pedestrian safety (95%), and dog bite safety (90%) sessions extremely or very useful. Parental discomfort with helmet fitting significantly decreased from 16% to 2%. The Safety Town in a Box curriculum was piloted at three Head Start locations, with teacher feedback summarized in Table 1. All lesson plans were rated as "helpful." Lessons were considered easy to teach with an average score of 4.4 on a scale of 1 (difficult) to 5 (very easy). Teachers were most likely to recommend the dog bite prevention lesson (4.7) but least likely to recommend helmet safety (3.3).
Conclusion(s): Pop-Up Safety Town introduces an innovative approach to delivering injury prevention education to children and families in underserved regions. Meanwhile, the curriculum-in-a-box method provides teachers in remote areas with the essential tools to deliver in-classroom injury prevention education to preschool children.
.png)