Healthy Communities Approach to Increase Pedestrian Safety

Status: Past Project
Year: 2013
Location: National
Client: Nonprofits, Government organizations
Services Provided: Training and Technical Assistance
Technical Expertise: Healthy Eating, Active Living, Other


The Safe States Alliance (SSA) is a national non-profit organization and professional association whose mission is to strengthen the practice of injury and violence prevention at the state and community level. HRiA was funded by the SSA to provide a unique, extended training program for four statewide multi-sector Action Teams. These teams were to maximize the impact of their state pedestrian injury prevention programs. The 3-day training was an opportunity for the Action Teams to enhance skills, learn new strategies, and plan collaboratively to create healthier and safer communities for pedestrians.

The training focused on building capacity to improve pedestrian safety via local multi-sectoral teams. Team strategies leveraged existing local programs and partnerships to address the specific community needs deemed to be priorities. Embedded in the training program were resources for the Action Teams to deliver the same content and an abbreviated training to their constituents at the local level. Each component of the training program was designed to be modeled and replicated by Action Teams in their own local-level trainings. The Action Team training included Pre-training Exercises, a Training-of-Trainers Workshop, and Post-Training Exercises. Pre- and Post-workshop Exercises were custom-designed and facilitated to maximize and extend learning and application of targeted new skills. Elements of the training program included:

  • Pre-Workshop Assessment and Exercises
  • Building Capacity: Training-of-Trainers Workshop (3 days)
  • Healthy Communities Framework: Establishing a Shared Vision with a Pedestrian Safety Lens
  • Diversity and Health Equity
  • Collaborative Leadership
  • Planning for Sustainability
  • Community Visioning, Assessment, Action Planning, and Evaluation
  • Approaches to Environmental Strategies and Policy Development
  • Effective Communication Planning
  • Post-Workshop Exercises and Follow-up

As a part of the training program, the multi-sector teams worked together to develop their plans for implementation once they returned to their respective states, including the identification of local communities where they would focus their efforts, which activities or elements of the training they would implement, and how they would evaluate their efforts.