Community Education

Public education campaigns that increase awareness by delivering steady messages can alter behaviors and save lives. CAPC disseminates information across the Sierra-Sacramento region to raise awareness about child abuse, its risks, the factors that protect children, and the services available to prevent child abuse and heal its victims. All members of the community have access to and may benefit from this information. Outreach is accomplished through media, school and community events, speaking engagements, and print materials.

In 2007, CAPC launched its Shaken Baby Syndrome Education Campaign at Sutter Roseville Medical Center and Sutter Auburn Faith Hospital.

The immediate effects of shaking a baby, which is a common form of child abuse in infants, can include vomiting, concussion, respiratory distress, seizures, and death. Long-term consequences can include blindness, learning disabilities, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, or paralysis (Conway, 1998). A key aspect of SBS prevention is increasing awareness to parents and other caregivers about the potential dangers of shaking.

CAPC’s Hannah Rose Project is dedicated to the memory of Placer’s own Hannah Rose who died of injuries consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome. CAPC’s program is modeled after the hospital-based program developed in New York in 1998 that has resulted in a sustained 50% reduction in the incidence of abusive head injuries in that region.

Through The Hannah Rose Project, parents of more than 3,000 babies born each year in Placer County will participate in bedside education about SBS and learn how to cope with their child’s crying. Parents interested in additional coaching and support are encouraged to enroll in CAPC’s HomeFirst program, a home-based training program.  

Contact members of the California legislature to support expansion of Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention Education in California. Click here to download a letter template.

 

To request a presentation or information booth, please email capc@capcplacer.org