A step in the right direction
BY WENDY LANDMAN / WALKBOSTON SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR
Over the last year WalkBoston has been working with the Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital on an innovative project to engage hospital injury prevention professionals (IPPs) in pedestrian advocacy. WalkBoston initiated this effort after learning that all Level 1 Trauma Hospitals are required to undertake community-facing injury prevention efforts, but that nowhere in the US have these programs focused on pedestrian safety improvements to the built environment. We believe that engaging with hospitals and bringing the voices of health care professionals into the pedestrian safety movement holds great potential to strengthen our effectiveness. WalkBoston worked with staff at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, and Tufts Medical Center to set the stage for each hospital to develop pedestrian injury reduction projects as one element of their overall injury prevention efforts. The primary component of the project was a workshop training course on pedestrian safety and injury prevention to provide the IPPs with the necessary information and tools to determine how such an effort would be incorporated into the hospital’s injury prevention programs. Our interaction with the IPPs identified what the key safety issues are that they might address and how they could work within their hospitals to develop support among hospital leadership and staff. Based on the positive reception of the effort, WalkBoston and our Stepping Strong partners have joined forces to apply for funding to continue the effort and expand it to include partners in Chicago’s pedestrian advocacy and hospital communities. If successful, the grant would allow us to deepen the work with Boston hospitals, expand the program to the Chicago metro area, and lay the groundwork for a national effort. Stay tuned for more!
This article was featured in WalkBoston’s Spring 2022 newsletter.
————————————————————————————————
Like our work? Support WalkBoston – Donate Now!