Drowsy Driving: A Health Promotion Teaching Tool Proposal Essay

Drowsy Driving: A Health Promotion Teaching Tool Proposal This paper is a proposal for a health promotion teaching tool to raise awareness of the dangers of drowsy driving and to provide some tips and hints to help people reduce their risk and increase their safety while driving. The target audience is primarily the status post motor vehicle accident patient recovering as an inpatient on the medical/surgical unit of New London Hospital. However, there may be a useful spill-over effect and this tool could also be used by families and visitors to the Medical Surgical unit. The tool would be available on the medical/surgical unit of the hospital in the form of a tri-fold color pamphlet, placed in a hallway between the patient rooms and the rehabilitation gym. The expected outcome is that after picking up and reading the tool, patients would be more aware of the risks and hazards of drowsy driving and make choices to reduce their risk and increase their personal safety when driving. DROWSY DRIVING In the past several decades, our society has grown from a ‘one for the road’ attitude to a zero tolerance approach to driving while intoxicated. A quick look at the evening news shows us that many different states considering measures to prevent texting while driving, and ‘distracted driving’ is now a phase in common use. We understand the dangers of driving under the influence, texting while driving and distracted driving; however, drowsy driving continues to be a problem on our roads. Needs assessment Between 1998 and 2008, 16.5% of fatal car accidents in the US involved a drowsy driver, and 13% of non-fatal accidents where at least one person was admitted to the hospital involved a drowsy d... ... the American Medical Association .1998; 279(23):1908-1913. doi:10.1001/jama.279.23.1908. Microsoft. (2014) Test Your Documents Readability. Retrieved from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/test-your-document-s-readability-HP010148506.aspx#BM2 National Highway Safety and Traffic Administration (n.d.) Drowsy Driving and Automobile Crashes. Retrieved from: http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/drowsy_driving1/drowsy.html Tefft, B., (2012). Prevalence of Motor Vehicle Crashes Involving Drowsy Drivers, United States, 1999-2008. Accident Analysis and Prevention. 45(2012) 180-186. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1016/j.aap.2011.05.028 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2013). Healthy People 2020 Initiatives: Injury and violence prevention. Retrieved from: http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/objectiveslist.aspx?topicId=24