 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Thomas Reischl, PhD and Nicolle Stec. Health Behavior & Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 109 Observatory Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, 734 763-5568, reischl@umich.edu
This presentation describes a neighborhood-based program that engages volunteer adults to watch and protect children as they walk to school and back home again at five public elementary schools in Flint, Michigan. The adult volunteers are trained by the public school district office of school safety to look for safety risks to school children and to report potential problems to elementary school staff using two-way radios. Many of the adult volunteers patrol the walking routes of children wearing bright orange jackets and caps with the program logo. Other volunteers watch children from their homes.
The evaluation methodology was developed by partners involved with the Flint Youth Violence Prevention Center, including school district personnel, a health system sponsor partner, and neighborhood activists. The presentation will describe the process and outcome evaluation procedures. The outcome evaluation methods include a school safety survey completed by 4th and 5th grade children at the five program schools and at five comparison schools that are matched geographically and demographically. Using the school safety survey, the students reported their perceptions of safety risks, safety assets, and the number of unsafe situations in November, 2002 for the first few months of the school year (pretest). The same students will complete the same survey in May-June, 2003 (posttest).
The data analyses reported in this presentation will include descriptive data on the student’s responses on the school safety survey items and repeated measures analyses comparing changes in safety perceptions among students at the program schools and at the comparison schools.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: School-Based Programs, Physical Activity
Related Web page: www.sph.umich.edu/yvpc/
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Flint Youth Violence Prevention Center, Prevention Research Center of Michigan, Flint Community Schools
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.