Citation

Josse JM, Cusimano MD. Int. J. Circumpolar Health. 2006; 65(5): 385-388.

Affiliation

St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, International Union for Circumpolar Health, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

17319083

Abstract

Skiing and Snowboarding are activities which are practiced by millions of Canadians, during the winter months. The Canadian Ski Council (CSC) in 2002 stated that approximately 2.7 million Canadians are active skiers or snowboarders; this figure represents 9 % of the Canadian population (1). Furthermore, the CSC indicated, in data collected during the 2004/2005 ski season, that the most common age for skiers and snowboarders to begin taking up the sport is age 8-12.

Education is often the first step in reducing injury. In light of this fact, the ThinkFirst Foundation of Canada, a non-profit organization based in Toronto, which directs its efforts towards "preventing brain and spinal cord injury through education aimed at healthy behaviours in children and youth", has been developing an educational intervention in the form of an instructional safety video. The video, entitled "A Little Respect", is directed towards youths of 8-14 years old, and actively promotes safe alpine skiing and snowboarding behaviours aimed at decreasing the risk of an alpine-related injury.

The purpose of this pilot investigation was to determine whether an instructional video on skiing and snowboarding will serve to increase sport-specific safety knowledge in Canadian youths. We wished to assess the effectiveness of the Safety Video as a learning tool, in addition to determining whether students who view "A Little Respect" do better on a safety survey, than students who do not.

When comparing the frequencies of scores between the control and experimental cohorts, it is apparent that the experimental cohort scored higher in skiing and snowboarding safety knowledge. The next stages of this investigation would be to follow up on the pilot investigation and conduct a full-scale randomized trial.

Language: en