Delaware Coalition for Injury Prevention
TBI * and Spinal Cord Injury Prevention Team
Team Leader:
Virginia R. Corrigan, MSN, RN
Member Agencies:
University of Delaware College of Health and Nutrition Sciences, Christiana Care Trauma Program, Division of Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities, State Council for Persons with Disabilities Brain Injury Committee, Brain Injury Association of Delaware, Office of Children with Special Health Care Needs, Delaware US Attorney’s Office, and Delaware Office of Highway Safety.
Key Objective:
Our goals are to
- Decrease the number of brain and spinal cord injuries suffered by Delaware citizens and
- Improve quality of life for those who have suffered these injuries and prevent further injury.
Key 2007 Project Name:
ThinkFirst Delaware: Media Project, Concussion Education and Shaken Baby Syndrome Education
Brief Project Description:
Every Delaware hospital trauma program has been provided with ThinkFirst materials and invited to join these best practice community injury prevention programs.
In 2008, the ThinkFirst programs reached 17,135 high school students and young adults, 365 juvenile offenders through partnership with the US Attorney’s Office, 1,800 elementary school students, and 4,275 parents and teen drivers in partnership with the Office of Highway Safety.
The ThinkFirst Media Contest, being launched in February 2009, will make students in every high school in Delaware aware of the long term effects of brain and spinal cord injury and will encourage every student to develop Public Service Announcements to help educate other students about how to keep safe and avoid brain and spinal cord injuries.
Because of its success, the concussion program will become a train-the-trainer program in 2009. Shaken baby syndrome will be addressed using “Baby Mikey,” a realistic infant with a see-through skull so participants can see the damage done to the brain when a baby is shaken.
Project Outcome:
ThinkFirst program pre- and post-testing indicate significant increases in knowledge and changes in attitude and self-reported behaviors. Four teenage young women were unhurt in a high speed crash because they had all been wearing seat belts after participating in ThinkFirst. Hosts of the juvenile offenders program find the program to be “essential for these young men and women.” Audience evaluations of the Graduated Driver License Parent Orientation Program indicate that “every parent needs to be exposed to this information before they let their teen drive.” The concussion program will be extended at the request of the target audience.
* Traumatic Brain Injury
