ACHIEVING A CREDIBLE HEALTH AND SAFETY APPROACH TO INCREASING SEAT BELT USE AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS

African American youth are 60 percent less likely than chil- dren from other racial or ethnic backgrounds to be buckled up. Seat belt use among African American males has largely remained stagnant while that for other groups has increased. Overall, African Americans buckle up less often than other racial or ethnic populations. Seat belt use is a preventive health care action within public health. Clearly, a credible health and safety message is not being communicated effectively to African Ameri- can communities. This paper proposes a number of possible solutions, including: recognition of the role that health care providers play in shap- ing patient or consumer attitudes and subsequent behavior in terms of prevention of disease and injury, educating physicians and health care providers to routinely recommend seat belt use especially for children, cul- turally appropriate educational safety programs, an improved relation- ship between law enforcement and communities, and zero tolerance for nonuse of seat belts.