The safe seat : an NTU FYP health communication campaign encouraging the adoption of appropriate child restraints among parents

Abstract

The Safe Seat is a health communication campaign by four undergraduates from Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the campaign encouraged parents in Singapore with children aged 0–10 to secure their children in appropriate child restraints all the time when travelling in cars.

This paper addresses the perceptions that parents in Singapore hold towards child restraint usage, and the motivations and barriers they face when using them. Driven by four key messages, life-saver, no compromises, appropriateness and experts advised, The Safe Seat leveraged both online and on-ground engagement. With strong online presence on Facebook and Instagram, the campaign delivered weekly themed content featuring celebrity parents, doctors from KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Child Passenger Safety Technicians and practical tips from fellow parents. Key on-ground engagement included roving booths around Singapore and a main event featuring talks by child passenger safety experts. The campaign also gained significant traction in the media, with coverage from various publications, including The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao and The New Paper.

This paper also discusses the strengths and limitations of the campaign. With The Safe Seat being the first campaign in Singapore to focus solely on child restraint usage, insights from this paper will pave the way for future campaigns. All original documents and relevant data are included in the appendices as references to the main paper.