IFCK | Current Projects | Past Projects

IFCK: Past Projects

IFCK Philadelphia strives to adopt and implement evidence-based programming followed by evaluation and assessment of the impact of individual interventions in our target communities.

Home Safety

Home injury prevention programming includes development and presentation of home safety workshops, home safety checks with an emphasis on childproofing, and distribution and installation of home safety devices. In 2002, our culturally sensitive programs reached over 700 families.

Efforts to reduce injuries in the home include:
  • Ronald McDonald House Charities/ SafeKids Home Safety Checks
  • Allstate Home Safety Community Workshops
  • Emergency Department Home Safety Education
  • Home Safety Seminars
  • Social service agency staff
  • Primary Care staff at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia community clinics
  • Educating teen parents
  • Specific programs targeted to: Muslim African Americans , community elders who are functioning as second time parents
Evaluation of our Home Injury initiatives

Data collected from a home safety study in our Emergency Department showed that families who received home safety supplies and education increased their safety knowledge and skills by 6%.

Findings for our community-based home safety workshops demonstrated a 12% increase in safety knowledge and skills. Findings were presented at scientific meetings. (2002)

Supporters of home safety initiatives include:
  • SafeKids of Southeastern Pennsylvania
  • Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House
  • Philadelphia McDonald's Restaurants
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • People's Emergency Center
  • Philadelphia Housing Authority
  • Philadelphia Department of Public Health
  • Home Depot
  • American Trauma Society

Bicycle/Scooter/Skateboarding Safety

These programs aim to promote safe cycling practices, helmet distribution and fitting, safety item distribution, and bike checks.

Efforts to reduce injuries while cycling include:
  • Helmet Safety Mini-Grants with the Department of Health (2000, 2001)
  • Ronald McDonald House Charities Bike Wise in West Philadelphia
  • HELP Philadelphia, a transitional housing program for homeless families.
  • Hospital-based helmet distribution
  • Community-based Safety education
  • Bike skill testing
  • Helmets for High Risk Riders
Implementation
  • Targeting children injured in a biking accident for helmet distribution and safe cycling education
  • Enhanced Helmets for High Risk Riders (HHRR) and Community Helmet Outreach programs through collaboration with HUP, in connection with University of Pennsylvania Bridging the Gaps summer interns and outreach to University students. (2002)
Evaluation of our Bicycle, Skateboard and Scooter Safety Initiatives
  • An observational study to learn about helmet use pre- and post- intervention found no difference in helmet use rates between control and intervention neighborhoods before or after the intervention.
  • Our next step is to understand the attitudes and behaviors that contribute to helmet non-use to develop a behavior-based, theory driven intervention.
  • In 2002, IFCK conducted an analysis of two years of data from the Helmets for High Risk Riders (HHRR) program to study the associations between parent rules and access to safety equipment, and children’s use of safety equipment
Supporters of bicycle safety initiatives include:
  • The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Emergency Department
  • TraumaLink
  • SAFE KIDS of Southeastern Pennsylvania
  • Philadelphia Department of Health
  • Neighborhood Bike Works
  • Street Smart, Philadelphia Department of Public Health
  • Bridging the Gaps
  • Medical students from the University of Pennsylvania
  • HELP Philadelphia

Pedestrian/Playground Safety

IFCK’s pedestrian and playground safety programming relates to increasing community awareness of the impact of pedestrian injuries, pedestrian safety education, and creation of safe places for children to play (rather than in the street)

Pedestrian Injury Prevention Efforts:
  • National Walk Your Child to School Day (2000, 2001)
  • Talking with children in the community to understand challenges they face as pedestrians
  • Working with older children (7th graders) to devise a neighborhood-specific safe walking program that they will teach to the children most at danger according to the injury data (3rd graders)
  • Pediatric Pedestrian Injury Evaluation
  • Safe Space Evaluation
  • Built a 9600 sq. ft. playground at the S. Weir Mitchell Elementary School (2004) - This school was identified as an ideal location for a new playground due to the high incidence of pediatric pedestrian injury in the area as well as a high commitment by the school and community to invest in a safe space for their children to play.
  • Walk Wise pedestrian curriculum
  • Retrieved 7 years of Philadelphia Police Department pedestrian injury data for geomapping. (2002)
  • Production of an educational video on street safety for vulnerable populations (Hattie Mae &Thelma's Safety Adventure) (2003)
  • Implemented and evaluated a pedestrian safety curriculum and teacher's guide geared for African-American urban elementary students.
Supporters of pedestrian safety programming include:
  • AAA
  • Philadelphia Street Smarts
  • Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
  • Philadelphia Public School District
  • Harrington Elementary School
  • William C. Bryant Elementary School
  • Henry C. Lea Elementary School
  • Mitchell Elementary School
  • American Trauma Society
  • Pennsylvania Department of Health

Child passenger safety

Programs to reduce motor vehicle passenger injuries
  • Allstate Safe on the Road Project (2002)
  • Participation in first car seat checking event in the region (2005)
  • Collaborated with Early Head Start program at CHOP to inform and assist with compliance to the Pennsylvania Child Restraint law. (2004)
Research:
  • Partners for Child Passenger Safety research used to support Pennsylvania booster seat legislation 2003
  • National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, Indefinite Quantities Contract
  • Investigate barriers to car seat and booster seat use within hard to reach populations
  • Develop interventions to increase appropriate child passenger restraint use
  • Focus groups held at IFCK Philadelphia, Arkansas, Baltimore, and Cincinnati (2006)
  • Wrote grant to study a novel social marketing approach to increasing seat belt use among 8- to 15-year old car occupants. (2005)

Interpersonal violence

Programs to reduce interpersonal violence>
  • Envysion:- Empowering Non-Violence Youths Strengths in Our Neighbhorhoods / Camera Club (2003-4)
    Through this program, children learn photography and writing skills and, while discussing their photographs, learn about new ways to appreciate and advocate for their community.
    Goals of this program included improved self-awareness, self-esteem, and violence prevention.
  • Youth Peer Education Project
Supporters of violence prevention programming include:
  • Bartram Beacon After School Program

Our Research