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Strengthening the evidence base for maternal and child health programs

New: MCH Best strategies database for sample ESMs

Evidence Tools
MCH Best. NPM 7: Injury Hospitilization

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Strategy. School-Based Interventions

Approach. Conduct outreach, education campaigns, and trainings in school-based settings.

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Overview. Findings from numerous studies suggest that universal school-based interventions that target multiple risk behaviors.1 Risky behavior has been linked to multiple causes of injury; thus, these interventions have a high likelihood of trending positive to prevent injury.

Evidence. Moderate Evidence. A systematic review of 67 articles found evidence that school-based interventions "can be effective in improving a number of health outcomes."2 Programs based on this strategy are likely to work. This strategy has been tested more than once and results trend positive overall. (Read more about understanding evidence ratings).

Target Audience. School-based/Students.

Outcome. Injury Prevention and Safe Behaviors. For detailed outcomes related to each study supporting this strategy, click on the peer-reviewed evidence link above and read the "Intervention Results" for each study.

Examples from the Field. There are currently 11 ESMs across all states/jurisdictions that use this strategy directly or intervention components that align with this strategy. Access descriptions of these ESMs through the MCH Digital Library. You can use these ESMs to see how other Title V agencies are addressing the NPM.

Sample ESMs. Using the approach “Conduct outreach, education campaigns, and trainings in school-based settings,” here are sample ESMs you can use as a model for your own measures using the Results-Based Accountability framework (for suggestions on how to develop programs to support this strategy, see The Role of Title V in Adapting Strategies):

Quadrant 1:
Measuring Quantity of Effort ("What/how much did we do?")

  • Number of people (students/parents) participating in a school-based seatbelt campaign.
  • Number of schools participating in a child safety seat campaign.

Quadrant 2:
Measuring Quality of Effort ("How well did we do it?")

  • Percent of people (students/parents) participating in a school-based seatbelt campaign.
  • Percent of schools participating in a child safety seat campaign.

Quadrant 3:
Measuring Quantity of Effect ("Is anyone better off?")

  • Number of people who report using a seatbelt after participating in the school-based program.

Quadrant 4:
Measuring Quality of Effect ("How are they better off?")

  • Percent of parents who report using seatbelt after participating in the school-based program.

Note. ESMs become stronger as they move from measuring quantity to measuring quality (moving from Quadrants 1 and 3, respectively, to Quadrants 2 and 4) and from measuring effort to measuring effect (moving from Quadrants 1 and 2, respectively, to Quadrants 3 and 4).

Learn More. Read how to create stronger ESMs and how to measure ESM impact more meaningfully through Results-Based Accountability.

Reference:

1,2 Children's Safety Network. Evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies for child and adolescent injury prevention. Education Development Center (2019).

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number U02MC31613, MCH Advanced Education Policy, $3.5 M. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.