Abstract
Background: Unintentional childhood injuries are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Attempts to prevent child home injuries have rarely been implemented in hospital settings which present an important opportunity for intervention. The SHABI (‘Keeping our Children Safe; SHomrim Al BetIchut Yeladenu’) program recruits at-risk families presenting with child injury to the Emergency Department. Medical/nursing students conduct two home visits and provide safety equipment and guidance. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of SHABI on participating families’ home-safety. Methods: The pilot was conducted between May 2019 and March 2020 in northern Israel, an area with high child injury rates. Eligibility included families with preschool children who incurred a home injury. Home-safety was assessed by observation through the ‘Beterem’ checklist. Parents' views, knowledge, awareness of dangers and report of home injuries were assessed at the start of each visit. Results: 352 of 773 eligible families agreed to be contacted. 135 participated, 98 completed both home visits. Significant improvement in home-safety items was observed 4 months after the first visit (14 [IQR12-16]) vs. (17 [IQR15-19]; p < 0.001), accompanied by an overall increase in home safety (Mean ± SD 71.9% ± 9.5% vs. 87.1% ± 8.6%; p < 0.001). 64% reported greater awareness of dangers, 60% affirmed home was safer, and 70% valued the equipment. No difference was found in the prevalence of injuries (14 of 98 families prior and 8 after the visit; p = 0.17). Home visitors reported benefiting from the experience of working with disadvantaged families. Conclusion: The program, which included recruitment in a hospital emergency setting and use of healthcare students as home visitors, was successfully implemented and accompanied by significant improvement in home safety with a non-significant trend of child injury decrease.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 21 |
| Journal | Israel Journal of Health Policy Research |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 11 Apr 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022, The Author(s).
Funding
This project was funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, “Tulane-Xavier Minority Training in International Health” through the Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) Program (T37MD001424); the Fulbright U.S. Student Program; and Tulane University Office of the Provost via the Carol Lavin Bernick Faculty Grant Program. Funding organizations had no role in the design, analysis, or writing of this article. The conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the listed authors and are not endorsed by the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations. Our thanks to the Pratt Foundation, Australia, who funded this study, and Ziv Medical Center management who parented SHABI and its implementation. We also thank ?Beterem- Safe Kids Israel? for the guidance and valuable advice which contributed so much to our understanding child injury prevention. Special thanks to the Emergency Department nursing team, who were committed to recruitment despite their extensive responsibilities in a busy department, and to the medical and nursing students in the home visitor team- the core of SHABI, who were dedicated to helping families keep their children safe.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Carol Lavin Bernick | |
| Fulbright U.S. Student Program | |
| Minority Health International Research Training | T37MD001424 |
| Safe Kids Israel? | |
| Ziv Medical Center | |
| National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities | |
| Tulane University | |
| Pratt Foundation |
Keywords
- Home safety
- Home visit
- Hospital-based intervention
- Injury prevention
- Pre-school children
