About

In 2004, the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy (JHCIRP) and the Baltimore City Fire Department (BCFD) partnered with other local organizations to launch the Johns Hopkins CARES Safety Center, to help prevent unintentional injury, a leading cause of death for children nationwide. The CARES (Children ARE Safe) Safety Center is a 40-foot vehicle designed as a house on wheels. Inside visitors will find several fun and interactive exhibits that our educators use to show the hidden injury risks in a home and what can be done to protect families.

To date, the CARES Safety Center has been used to reach the parents of low-income, urban children in an effort to education them about pediatric injuries, provide them with the products and services that will assist them in keeping their children and families safe, and raise the profile of injury prevention within Baltimore City. Low-income, urban children are one of two age groups who are at increased risk for preventable injuries; older adults are the other. JHCIRP would like to explore how the CARES Safety Center can be modified and used to reach this new priority population.

Project Overview

CARES partnered with MICA to explore the use of the CARES Safety Center as a way to reach older adults in Baltimore with injury prevention education, products and services. MICA worked to build a strategy and foundation for the development and production of effective communication tools and will suggest modifications or or development of new educational exhibits to target the injury prevention needs of older adults.

Designers

Kyle Peppers, Angela Walker, Karen Shea, Japheth Crawford, Ted Suwalsky