P3B172: Injury Prevention Focus and Reach of the Readnplay for a Bright Future Program in Southcentral Appalachia

Background: Injuries are a leading cause of death in children. Effective approaches to communicating injury prevention information and resources to families are needed. In 2011, ReadNPlay for a Bright Future was first designed by physicians and community partners in Southcentral Appalachia. The program was developed to be a multi-level, multi-component advocacy project to engage families and communities in supporting the health, safety, and well-being of children in the region. This was done through fostering engagement around child injury prevention with: providers and patients at encounters, families at home, and communities at outreach events. The foundation of the program is a book series for families in English and Spanish that is distributed during well-child visits. My Baby Book, the Healthy Active Living Tips booklet, and A Safety Hero Adventure books contain content on injury prevention. The books include an emphasis on child passenger safety, distracted driving, water safety, poisoning prevention, electrocution prevention, firearm safety, tobacco exposure prevention, and safe sleep. Education on these topics was then incorporated into ReadNPlay community events, support groups (Mommy & Me), and social media (ReadNPlay Facebook page) as an extension of clinic counseling for families.

Project Description: The purpose of this project was to examine the reach of ReadNPlay injury prevention programming across its many target areas. Book distributions; community event, trainee, and support group participants; and social media reach were all tallied.

Discussion: Between 2012 and May 2022, approximately 7000 English and 400 Spanish ReadNPlay books with content on injury prevention were distributed. Additionally, 917 medical student and resident trainees have been involved with the ReadNPlay program outreach during this time. From January 2015 to May 2022, ReadNPlay community events had a total of 32,972 participants, and ReadNPlay support groups had 520 attendees. From January 2017 to May 2022, injury prevention messages shared via the ReadNPlay Facebook page reached an increasing number of individuals each year with a total reach of 924 people. To date, community events have had the largest reach within the ReadNPlay program.

Conclusion: The ReadNPlay’s use of children’s books and its multi-level, multi-component program approach align with current recommended effective injury prevention approaches and achieved greater reach over traditional office counseling alone. Future research should assess the reach, acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of the ReadNPlay program, including a new ReadNPlay Baby Book mobile application and website, injury prevention video series, book bus, ambassador program, and new books themed around child abuse and maternal mortality prevention.