219875 Clean Air at Schools: Engines Off!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Sabrina Williams , Department of Environmental Health, City and County of Denver, Denver, CO
Clean Air at Schools: Engines Off (CASEO) is a partnership between local governments, county school districts, regional air quality planners and non-profit organizations in Metro Denver. CASEO's objective of reducing air toxics exposures at schools is accomplished by retrofitting school buses with emissions control technologies, as well as implementation of a behavior change program targeted at eliminating idling of personal vehicles. CASEO was piloted at two elementary schools during the 2008-2009 school year. Additionally, a third school was selected as a control location in order to test the efficacy of social marketing as a mechanism for behavior change relative to traditional campaigns, which primarily rely on dissemination of information through printed signage and materials. Baseline measurements demonstrated that prolonged, excessive idling occurred at all locations; moreover, the majority of emissions were attributable to personal vehicles. Strategies to reduce idling were developed based on a needs assessment of the target audiences and included signage, as well as utilization of direct and indirect social interventions at the schools. Post implementation measurements recorded a statistically significant decrease in the duration of idling (min/vehicle/day) at all three sites; additionally, the fraction of vehicles idling (%/day) was decreased at both schools utilizing the social marketing approach. The control site, however, showed a 13% increase in the relative total number of idling vehicles. This demonstrates that social marketing is an effective strategy for producing behavior change and that its results can significantly exceed those of traditional outreach campaigns.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
The main objective of the Clean Air at Schools: Engines Off (CASEO) was to demonstrate that community-based social marketing is an effective methodology for behavior change programs focused on idle reduction. Assessment of this objective was achieved by measuring the behavior pre and post program implementation and determining whether statistically significant changes occurred. The results of the CASEO pilot were then used to design a model idle reduction program that could be implemented at any school.

Keywords: Social Marketing, Air Quality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I was a key member of the CASEO pilot team and was the individual primarily responsible for program development and implementation.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.