Cultural diversity and child passenger safety.

According to this injury prevention poster, death due to a motor vehicle crash (MVC) is the number one cause of death in Hispanic and African-American populations to ages 34 and 14, respectively. A level I trauma center in Kansas City instituted an educational program to increase knowledge of child passenger and home safety in several culturally diverse populations of pregnant women. During Child Passenger Safety Week (February 2004), a baby shower was held to educate parents on child passenger safety (CPS) and home safety. The participants included 74 pregnant patients at the medical center’s obstetrical/gynecological clinic. Six language-specific programs were held in English (39 attendees), Spanish (14), Somali (6), French (3), Arabic (11), and Chinese (1). The participants completed a pretest, presented in their native language, to assess baseline knowledge of CPS and home safety. A 20-item, true/false test was designed and administered as written (English, Spanish, and French) or orally (Somali, Arabic, and Chinese) using translators. Next, the injury prevention coordinator gave a child passenger safety PowerPoint educational presentation followed by a demonstration of placing an infant in a car seat. Participants repeated the test (same questions, different order) to assess knowledge gained and then completed a return demonstration of placing an infant in a car seat. All participants received an infant car seat and home safety products at the program’s completion. During the past 3 years, this program reached more than 160 women. In evaluating the program, a few cultural issues were identified that might affect the success of the program. Long-term program goals include repeating the posttest at 6 months to assess retained knowledge and expanding the child passenger safety program for pregnant women from additional cultures and backgrounds. Trauma remains the number one cause of death and disability, crossing all barriers and ethnicity. Understanding that death and injury are preventable and can be reduced by education that is language and cultural specific, consideration is needed when designing and teaching injury prevention education. This type of program could be adapted for any area of injury prevention.