Promoting Bike Helmet Safety for Urban Children Through a Culturally Tailored Educational Video Intervention

Abstract

Bicycle-related falls are a significant cause of mortality and morbidity. Use of bicycle helmets substantially reduces risk of severe traumatic brain injury but compliance with this safety practice is particularly low in urban children. We recruited eleven 8- to 15-year-old youth to participate in focus groups to inform the creation of a video promoting helmet use. Key emerging themes included that youth were responsible for keeping themselves safe and that most youth had cell phones with cases to protect them. A video was created that linked the concept of use of cases to protect phones to use of helmets to protect heads. Soliciting information from urban youth was helpful for developing this educational video.

Facilitators and barriers to bicycle helmet use: A qualitative evidence synthesis

“… Focus group discussions only[ 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 ] In-depth interviews only[ 41 42 43 ] Both focus groups and in-depth interviews[ 44 45 ] Mixed-method design[ 46 ] Focus group and observation[ 47 ] Interview and art project artefacts[ 48 ] …”

“…In majority of the studies, the participants were children or adolescent teenagers,[ 34 35 36 38 39 41 47 48 ] and in three studies, they were parents. [ 37 40 42 ] Two studies had bicycle helmet coordinating committee members, public safety officers, elected officials, bicycle retailers, parent–teacher organization members[ 43 44 ] as participants, and one had bike sharing system members and car drivers.…”

“…[ 45 ]All included studies were conducted in high-income countries. Studies were conducted in schools[ 34 36 46 47 48 ] or in the community,[ 35 37 38 39 40 41 42 44 45 ] and one study didn’t report the study setting. [ 43 ]…”

Evaluation of a Culturally Tailored Educational Video Intervention to Promote Bike Helmet Safety for Urban Children: A Pilot Study

“…Given the lack of educational programs for urban youth, our research team created a youth-informed, culturally relevant educational video on bike helmet safety. The video was created based on input from focus groups with Baltimore City youth using methodology previously described (Ryan et al, 2019). The development of the video utilized theoretical constructs from social learning theory and the health belief model as well as principles of health equity with a goal of creating a prevention strategy that promoted youth empowerment and participation.…”