The Valencian Department of Healthcare, from its General-Directorate of Public Health and as part of its Programme for the Prevention of Traffic Accidents, started in the academic year 1999/00 an activity for the prevention of traffic accidents and their main consequences, paying special attention to spinal cord injuries, aimed at Secondary Education students.

During the academic year 2000/01 and after an evaluation of the first months of implementation of this activity, a specific educational material was developed and used, and a group of educators was trained, for which it counted with the collaboration of the INTRAS.

From a first evaluation of this second stage in the development of the activity, a reprint of the educational material and the edition of complementary materials are being made. In this stage information of head traumas is included.

To assess the effectiveness and quality of the Programme, a selection of a simple of the aforementioned population was made, on which an evaluation was made a week before the implementation of the Programme (pre-test) and a day after its implementation (post-test). The comparison between the two measurements shoed the existence of significant profits in the beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of students related with the prevention of traffic accidents and their main consequences.

However, this kind of intervention does not guarantee the continuity of these improvements over time, being necessary to perform future similar actions in short periods of time to reinforce and consolidate the desired beliefs, attitudes and behaviours.

Development and innovation

Directorate-General of Public Health. Valencian Department of Healthcare. Valencian Government.