Citation

Jennissen CA, Sweat S, Wetjen K, Hoogerwerf P, Denning GM. J. Agromed. 2017; 22(4): 364-375.

Affiliation

a Department of Emergency Medicine , Roy J and Lucille A Carver College of Medicine , Iowa City , Iowa , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/1059924X.2017.1358228

PMID

28742465

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: All-terrain vehicle (ATV)-related deaths and injuries continue to be a significant problem. Influential change agents such as agribusinesses could be important partners for improving safety behaviors among rural ATV users. Our objective was to determine how effectively an injury prevention project could engage agribusinesses through the postal service and to assess their willingness to display a safety poster.

METHODS: 1244 agribusinesses received an ATV safety poster and a postcard survey by mail. A randomized sampling of these businesses was surveyed by telephone 4-7 weeks later. Telephone survey questions included whether they recalled receiving the poster, and if so, whether, where and how long the poster was displayed.

RESULTS: 106 postcards were returned. Of the 192 eligible business persons contacted by telephone, 89% agreed to participate. Approximately one-third of telephone survey participants recalled receiving the poster. Among these, 81% with walk-in customers posted it, and 74% still had it displayed 1 month later. Of participants who did not recall receiving the poster, 83% stated they would have displayed the poster. The cost of displaying each poster in a business was 16.6 cents/day during the first month. Final costs/day would be much less because of continued display.

CONCLUSION: A high percentage of agribusinesses displayed or would have displayed an ATV safety poster, and most displayed it beyond 1 month. Unfortunately, participant recruitment via postal delivery alone was challenging. Nevertheless, mass mailing of injury prevention materials to be displayed in the retail setting may be a low cost method for raising safety awareness.

Language: en

Keywords

Agribusiness; all-terrain vehicle; farm; injury prevention; rural