Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of preventable death among U.S. children. The incidence of nonfatal injuries accounts for a high rate of child morbidity. Increasing the extent and quality of injury prevention guidance to parents in pediatric primary care is a promising strategy to obtain the health and economic benefits of reducing preventable injuries. Although pediatricians can be effective motivators of parents for injury prevention, the rate of anticipatory guidance in pediatric practice (recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics for delivery at routine health visits) is low. The purpose of this research is to obtain information as a foundation for an efficacy trial of an integrated system of office-based interventions in primary pediatric care to reduce unintentional injury morbidity in infants and toddlers. Current American Academy of Pediatrics Guidelines for safety practices and coordinated counseling and assessment aids will provide the elements of injury prevention guidance. This pilot research seeks to educate the feasibility of implementation and immediate impact of promising office-based methods and instruments that can be integrated with routine health supervision visits. Systems-related interventions targeting parents, primary care providers and the office will be assessed.
The specific aims are to: 1. Describe the development of the research-practive partnership with the participating primary care practice(s) and clinical staff for the conduct of the research on office-based interventions in the delivery injury prevention services; 2. Determine the feasibility of implementation (reach, exposure, acceptability, cooperation and logistics) of the interventions to parents of pediatric patients, primary care providers and administrators; and 3. Determine the immediate impact of the interventions on safety knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors of parents of pediatric patients and clinical practice of primary care providers.
