Ohio AAP and Ohio Children’s Trust Fund Continue Partnership for Safe Sleep Education Campaign
Columbus, OH (PRWEB) November 21, 2014 -- The Ohio Children’s Trust Fund has agreed to extend their contract with the Ohio Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (Ohio AAP, [http://www.ohioaap.org) to raise awareness and provide safe sleep education to parents and caregivers throughout Ohio. The new contract, which began November 1 and continues through June 30, 2015, provides $75,000 to continue the campaign that originally started in 2013.
“The Ohio Children’s Trust Fund is excited to continue partnering with the Ohio AAP to provide safe sleep education and resources to Children’s Hospitals, pediatricians, parents and caregivers,” explained Kristen Rost, Executive Director, Ohio Children’s Trust Fund. “The tragic deaths from unsafe sleeping practices are completely preventable and it is essential that we do everything that we can to prevent Sudden Infant Death. Working together, we can ensure that those who come into contact with infants receive a consistent message about safe sleeping practices that will help to reduce Ohio’s infant mortality rate.”
The Ohio AAP safe sleep campaign utilizes a three-pronged approach to raise awareness and provide education around the AAP’s updated safe sleep recommendations:
1) Work with Children’s Hospitals to increase compliance with the AAP recommended safe sleep environments so they are not only talking about, but also modeling safe sleep practices for the parents and caregivers of hospitalized infants.
2) Provide resources to pediatricians so that they can provide guidance to parents during office visits throughout the very critical first three months of an infant’s life.
3) Work with community partners including the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund, the Ohio Department of Health, the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, the Ohio Hospital Association, and others to educate parents and caregivers about the ABCs of Safe Sleep through traditional media, social media and grassroots efforts. To encourage use of a safe sleep environment, the contract provides for more than 2,000 infant sleep sacks that will be given away to parents/caregivers who register to win on their website (http://www.ohioaap.org/safesleep).
“Death due to unsafe sleep environments is a tragedy that still happens far too often in Ohio. We are grateful for the support of Ohio Children’s Trust Fund, which will allow us to continue working to raise awareness and provide education that will help reduce the infant mortality rate in Ohio,” said Melissa Wervey Arnold, Executive Director, Ohio AAP. “The work we have done over the past year is resulting in behavior changes, and we must continue to beat the drum and help people understand that there are simple practices that can significantly reduce the risk of losing an infant to unsafe sleep environments.”
For more information about infant safe sleep and Ohio AAP’s safe sleep initiatives, visit: http://www.ohioaap.org/safesleep
The Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (Ohio AAP) promotes the health, safety and well-being of children and adolescents so they may reach their full potential. The Ohio AAP works to accomplish this by addressing the needs of children, their families, and their communities, and by supporting Chapter members through advocacy, education, research, service, and improving the systems through which they deliver pediatric care. For more information, visit http://www.ohioaap.org.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Melanie Farkas, 614-846-6258, mfarkas(at)ohioaap(dot)org
Melanie Farkas, Ohio AAP, +1 614-846-6258, [email protected]
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