Safe Kids Canada

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Advocacy 101Reducing Injuries
Presented by Rebecca Nesdale-Tucker, Safe Kids
Canada Date November 2005
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About Safe Kids Canada

• National focus
• Community involvement of 2,000 plus injury
  prevention partners across Canada
• Evidence-based content and strategies
• National injury prevention program of the
  Hospital for Sick Children founded in 1992
• National Expert Advisory Committee
• Corporately funded founding sponsor Johnson
  Johnson Worldwide

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Our Main Goals

• To increase public awareness of knowledge and
  action regarding proper safety practices
• To advocate for measures that will create safer
  environments and improve compliance with proper
  safety practices
• To stimulate local action by providing services
  to those working in injury prevention at the
  community level
• To provide and promote child injury prevention
  strategies and tools to targeted audiences

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Advocacy - Definition

• Advocacy is for injury prevention is.
• The deliberate and strategic use of
  evidence-based information, the media, experts,
  human and other resources can shape the injury
  prevention policy landscape.

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Advocacy 101

• Injury prevention advocates can take action to
  make Canada the safest country in the world to
  live, learn, play and travel
• Reducing injuries efficiently requires a
  multi-faceted approach combining the three Es
  - education, engineering and enforcement
• Safety requires healthy public policy, a safe
  built environment, safe product design,
  well-enforced laws and regulations

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Policy advocacy activities can include

• background documents
• letter writing
• public speaking
• working with the media
• collaborating with other groups who can help to
  influence policy
• meeting with decision-makers

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Safe Kids Canada - Advocacy

• The goal of our advocacy efforts is to promote
  evidence-based child injury measures through
  policies, standards, codes, laws and enforcement
• Safe Kids Canada works with government and
  industry - with the support of our partners and
  the public - to create safer environments and
  improve compliance with safety practices

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Examples Safe Kids Canada

• In the past couple of years, our shared advocacy
  successes have included
• Product Safety Advocating for the ban of baby
  walkers and yo-yo balls
• Provincial Legislation Promoting helmet
  legislation and booster seat legislation
• Regulation and Standards development Advocating
  for tap water scald provisions in Canadas
  Building Codes
• Advocating for government leadership in health
  promotion and injury prevention

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Advocacy - Steps

• Define the problem
• Identify Solutions
• Find out who has the power to make the decision
  and who has influence
• Identify resources
• Create an action plan define strategies
• Choose your timing
• Implement and monitor
• Celebrate your successes

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Defining the Problem

• A problem is
• A situation that creates hardship/difficulty for
  an individual or a group. A problem becomes an
  issue when brought to attention and becomes a
  public concern
• An issue should be defined so that it
• Is easily understood
• Mobilizes people to act

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Identifying Solutions

• What can be done about it?
• What will it cost?
• Who will pay?
• What would it cost to do nothing? (consider human
  as well as economic costs)
• Example Injuries cost Canadians 14.7 billion
  annually in health care costs and lost
  productivity. We are asking for a federal
  investment of 50 million per year for a national
  strategy. If the proposed strategy were to
  reduce injuries by just 1 it would pay for
  itself three times over.

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Decision-makers

• Find out who has the decision-making power
• Who makes the decision?
• Who influences the making of the decision
• Figure out what they can and can not do for you
• Sell it!...
• What are the incentives and disincentives - for
  them?

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Identify Advocacy Resources

• Human
• Financial
• Tools
• Partners
• Partners who are champions have personal stories
  based on life experiences might be especially
  effective

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Identify Advocacy Approach

• What kind of profile best suits your resources
  and the issue?
• Low Behind the scenes, share info, advise
• Medium Public info, meet with politicians,
  public speaking, letters to the editor
• High Media campaigns, letter writing campaigns
• Consider tone also...

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Create an Action Plan

• Target people
• Target dates
• Delegate tasks
• Strategy development
• Who, how, where, when
• Assess the Risks and Opportunities

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Choose your Timing

• What is your window of opportunity?
• Understand the timing and the process for making
  the decision
• Best to try to influence choice before a decision
  is finalized
• It will likely be more difficult to reverse a
  decision once it has already been made
• For example Will the issue be effected by
  election timing

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Documentation Examples

• Background documents, such as Safe Kids Canadas
  report Booster Seat Use in Canada and our bike
  helmet position statement, can be effective in
  framing the issue.
• Evidence-based
• Defines problem
• Provides solutions
• Available at www.safekidscanada.ca

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Letter-writing Examples

• Baby walker ban letter campaign directed at
  Health Canada, Product Safety
• Rail Safety Mayors, MPPs, MPs
• Bike helmet legislation partner letters sent to
  Ministers of Transport across Canada
• Booster seat legislation Safe Kids Canada sent
  letters to all MPPs in Ontario. Members of PedNIG
  of RNAO wrote letters of support

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Meetings Example

• With Politicians Build Rapport
• Learn what you can about them and their record on
  issue before you go
• Position yourself as a resource
• Be organized to provide key messages and
  information (facts sheets, briefing notes)
• Position the issue in the context of politicians
  constituents, party platform etc
• Try to keep meeting small, be aware of how much
  time you have
• Debrief, prompt follow-up with letter thank you

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Media - Examples

• Make friends with the media
• Prepare key messages
• Participate in interviews,
• Release information to the press,
• Create a public service announcement..
• For examples press releases please visit
  www.safekidscanada.ca media

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Letter to the Editor - Example

• Letters to the editor
• Getting your response to an article/ issue
  published
• Be quick, be brief (less than 300 words)
• Refer to trigger piece
• Lead with most important point
• Try to close with something snappy to reinforce
  your key argument
• Copy to decision-makers as appropriate

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Letter to the Editor, November 5, 2004 Printed in
The National Post

• Re April Lindgren and Scott Stinsons article
  Critics decry nanny state helmet bill
  November 5, 2004
• Safe Kids Canada strongly supports bicycle
  helmet legislation as a proven strategy, in
  conjunction with sustained education and
  enforcement programs. Head injuries represent
  two-thirds of cycling-related hospitalizations
  and three out of four deaths due to cycling. A
  head injury can permanently change the way an
  adult or a child walks, talks, plays and thinks.
  Bike helmets are known to reduce brain injury by
  up to by 88. Education alone is not enough.
  Provinces with bicycle helmet legislation have
  had a 45 reduction in the number of
  bicycle-related head injuries in children. Why
  should bike helmet legislation extend to adults?
  It is a public safety issue. Legislation should
  cover all cyclists -- both adults and children --
  because all cyclists are at risk of head injury.
  Research has shown that legislation is effective
  in increasing helmet use and reducing head
  injuries while not discouraging bike riding.
  National surveys have found that Canadians
  support bike helmet legislation for all ages.
  Like seat-belt wearing, helmet use saves lives at
  a minimal cost and inconvenience. Enormous
  costs are associated with cycling injuries
  including hospital-related costs, ongoing costs
  for rehabilitation and support services for brain
  damaged individuals. Helmets are widely
  available for purchase for 15-20 dollars. These
  social costs far outweigh the price of helmets.
  Each dollar invested in a helmet saves 30 in
  societal costs. Because other wheeled sports,
  like in-line skating, carry similar risks,
  experts believe that helmets are just as
  essential for these activities as they are for
  cycling. Safe Kids Canada strongly recommends
  helmet use for all wheeled sports such as in-line
  skating, scooters and skateboarding as well as
  for cycling. Pamela Fuselli, Director of
  Programs and Services, Safe Kids Canada

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Collaborations Examples

• Work with other groups who can help influence
  policy pool your resources, share key messages,
  create critical mass. Who shares your concern
  about the issue?
• Examples
• SKC partner networks
• Canadian Coalition for Public Health in the 21st
  Century
• SKC Committee work NORP, CSA
• National Injury Prevention Strategy

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Implement and Monitor

• Just do it!
• Learn as you go
• Review and adjust as necessary

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Tell your story

• Document your advocacy work.
• Speak about it in public so that others can learn
  from it. (Like at our next national conference!)
• Remember to take time to celebrate your
  successes.

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Celebrating successes
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Next steps A safer Canada

• Advocacy is a tool we can use to effectively
  improve safety in Canada
• We can take simple actions as individuals, as
  organizations and in partnership to translate
  injury prevention knowledge into policy
• Lets challenge decision-makers to make Canada
  the safest country in the world

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Taking Action

• We can all take action now and advocate for
  injury prevention measures.
• Thank you