Safe Play Areas for Ross County Kids Project

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Other Specified Personal Exposures and History Presenting Hazards to Health
Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Fall Involving Playground Equipment, Occurrence on Farm

Interventions: Other: Playground renovation and development
Behavioral: Educational campaign

Brief Summary: Specific Aim 1 - In collaboration with partners in Ross County, renovate and develop playgrounds in Chillicothe.

Specific Aim 2 - In collaboration with partners in Ross County, promote safe play and play areas for children on farms.

Detailed Description: Injury is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity among children in the United States. Because children spend much of their time playing, it is important that they have safe play environments where they can challenge themselves and develop physically, mentally, and socially. The SPARK Project will focus its intervention in Ross County, Ohio, an area with more than 930 farms. Prior to this project, relatively little has been done to promote the prevention of injuries to children who live and play on farms.

The specific aims of this project are as follows:

* In collaboration with partners in Ross County, renovate and develop playgrounds in Chillicothe, Ohio.

* In collaboration with partners in Ross County, promote safe play areas for children on farms.

The SPARK Project will employ a multi-faceted approach to injury prevention, centered on community partnership and collaboration. Utilizing methodology that was successfully developed and implemented as part of the Community Action for Playground Safety (CAPS) Program in Columbus, the SPARK Project will combine both active and passive injury prevention strategies to reduce playground and play-related farm injuries to children in Ross County.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Playground	Playground renovation and development	The playground arm of the study will consist of playground audits and KAP surveys about playground safety in both Chillicothe and Circleville, Ohio. The intervention is Playground Safety Renovations and Development.
Farms	Educational campaign	The Farm Arm will consist of farm audits with safety checklists and KAP surveys about farm safety. The intervention is a Safety Educational Campaign.
Playground	Educational campaign	The playground arm of the study will consist of playground audits and KAP surveys about playground safety in both Chillicothe and Circleville, Ohio. The intervention is Playground Safety Renovations and Development.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Playground Hazards	Year 1 baseline to year 3 follow-up	The investigators hypothesize that the decrease in the number of identified playground hazards (comparing each playground to itself from the year 1 baseline survey to the year 3 follow-up survey utilizing a playground hazards checklist) will be significantly greater for the intervention playgrounds compared with non-intervention playgrounds in Circleville, Pickaway Co. The percentage increase in the number of playgrounds with adequate safety surfacing will be used as a proxy for playground hazardousness.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Playground and Farm Safety Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Composite Scores	Year 1 baseline to Year 3 follow-up	The investigators hypothesize that the improvement in the playground safety Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) survey composite scores and farm audits from the baseline in year 1 to the follow-up in year 3 will be significantly greater for parents residing in Ross County than for parents in the non-intervention counties (Morrow and Pickaway).The playground safety KAP survey consisted of 7 items and individuals could receive a summed score of 0-7, with a score of 7 indicating mastery of the material.