by Jessica Pasley
Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt will allocate funding from a $120,000 grant from Kohl’s to support the child passenger safety initiative — Kohl’s Stay Seat Smart Program.
The proposed Kohl’s Stay Seat Smart Program seeks to use a multipronged approach that addresses car seat misuse through education, community outreach and a media campaign to bring about enhanced knowledge and desired behavioral change.
The most vulnerable populations would be targeted through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Head Start programs, refugee groups and public school systems.
In Tennessee, the rate of car seat misuse is estimated to be 82%, according to the Tennessee Highway Safety Office.
“The main objective of the program is to increase awareness among parents, caregivers and elementary school children about proper car seat use, best practice and state laws,” said Purnima Unni, MPH, CHES, manager, Pediatric Trauma Injury Prevention at Children’s Hospital.
“Kohl’s support has played a vital role in helping us enhance knowledge about child passenger safety among these vulnerable populations.”
Through the Kohl’s Stay Seat Smart Program, Children’s Hospital plans to conduct at least 113 workshops and classroom sessions and educate more than 150,000 community members through outreach events.
The number of people impacted has been one of the key drivers for Unni and her colleagues at Vanderbilt.
Since 2003 Kohl’s has donated more than $2 million to Children’s Hospital.
Go here to learn more about the program.
