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PHOTOVOICE and Road Safety for Children in Nan Province
Rationale – Due to a high attention of children frequently exposed to vehicles, the risks vehicles pose to children, and the risks from their own behavior, Safe Kids Thailand (SKT) in collaboration with FedEx and Thai Health Promotion Foundation have developed child pedestrian safety on a child participation basis which is known as PHOTOVOICE. The project has implemented in different provinces in Thailand starting from Bangkok and extending to other provinces namely Rayong, Samutprakarn, Kanchanaburi, Chachoengsao and Nan. Nan was the first province where PHOTOVOICE project was implemented through the hospital network for child safety promotion. The hospital staff implemented the interventions in the nearby community and schools. Two major activities for PHOTOVOICE were PHOTOVOICE workshop: Train the Trainer, and the PHOTOVOICE activities.
1.Train the Trainer: PHOTOVOICE Workshop.
This 1-day workshop was organized by Safe Kids Thailand provided to staff and nurses from 14 hospitals of 14 districts in Nan province. The workshop, which is similar to PHOTOVOICE workshop for children, was very interesting and unique because all participants had to act as children aged 9-12 year old in order to understand the children perceptions. With this strategy, the participants learned how to organize a workshop motivating the children and having them understand about road safety. The assessment of this workshop found that all participants rated the workshop very good as they could comprehend all the process and continue this intervention. The 14 hospitals agreed for PHOTOVOICE project contract and the grant. The implementation of the project was effective after the grant.
A grant of 15,000 baht per one hospital from SKT funded to all 14 hospitals; including Safe Kids Walk This Way Manual (adapted from the original SKW in order to be compatible with Thai culture), 30 digital cameras under loan condition, and other materials marked about pedestrian safety, such as 7,000 stickers / 705 kid T-shirts / 700 brooches / 700 copies of short movies / 700 books / 170 badges / 154 adult T-shirts / 70 copies of pedestrian safety instructions for kids / 70 copies of Photovoice manual / 14 sets of mapping the safety route game /14 sets of project label / 14 copies of CD manual. |
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2.The PHOTOVOICE Project in Nan Province
1. The project was significant at all groups. More than 1,500 people including children, parents, teachers and local authorities received great benefit from the project.
2. Data collection – The majority group of children normally travel to and from school each day by walking. The statistic of children who got pedestrian injury (10 cases) and who required hospitalization was also collected.
3. 1-day PHOTOVOICE workshop for pedestrian students who travelled to and from school. It was divided into three steps.
• Step 1: ice-breaking / songs about road safety / pre-test survey on road safety / behavior survey / expressing children’s perspectives on road environment.
• Step 2 including different interventions:
1) Teaching children about pedestrian safety through leaning activities, namely road safety, traffic sign and drawing your route to and from home-school.
2) Photography training.
3) Field Trip in the community and taking photos.
4) Photo selection by selecting at least three photos that most accurately reflect pedestrian safety concerns. Having all the children choose only one out of those three photos and describing and explaining why the chosen photo was at most risk.
5) Having children make short presentations on the photo to the entire group and discuss the risks and solutions.
• Step 3 Post test survey / expressing what the children received / review and conclusion.
4. PHOTOVOICE Exhibition - Date, time and venue was set. The exhibition was displayed at school, municipal office, market, etc. Visitors to the exhibition rated the photo at most risk that was highly required for immediate solutions.
5. Group discussion for risk improvement according to the highest rated risk photo. Stakeholders involved parents, school representatives, and relevant agencies.
6. Risk improvement funded by local authorities or community was being implemented. |
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