|
Abstract
|
Background A strong connection exists between transportation decisions and the health of communities. Thus, it is essential for injury and violence prevention (IVP) practitioners to effectively participate in transportation decision-making. In early 2011, the Safe States Alliance conducted a workshop to:
• 'Make the case' for integrating injury issues in transportation planning;
• Understand the process, policies, and players in transportation planning;
• Advance safe transportation policies and design within state, regional and local transportation agencies;
• Enhance partnerships; and
• Increase state and local capacity to promote safety in planning and design.
Methods Prior to the training, attendees were asked to complete homework including a task about transportation planning, a pre-training evaluation, and a 'Personal Action Plan (PAP).' PAPs were to include policies or changes that participants anticipated addressing using injury prevention strategies. Following the training event, participants were given a post-training evaluation and encouraged to update and strengthen their PAPs based on new information obtained from the training.
Results Respondents reported gaining more knowledge of and comfort with every objective they were asked to rate. For example, 94% of participants indicated they felt more 'prepared and comfortable with reaching out to and building new/stronger partnerships with transportation planning and traffic engineering agencies.' Nearly all post-evaluation respondents indicated that they better understood and were more comfortable with all of the topics addressed in the training.
Conclusions or Significance Once equipped with the necessary information, IVP professionals can be empowered to effectively influence transportation decisions at state and local levels.
This is an abstract of a presentation at Safety 2012, the 11th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, 1-4 October 2012, Michael Fowler Center, Wellington, New Zealand. Full text does not seem to be available for this abstract. |