Injury Prevention Education in the Waiting Room of an Underserved Pediatric Primary Care Clinic

Area of Science:

• Pediatric primary care
• Public health
• Injury prevention

Background:

• Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death in US children.
• Pediatric primary care settings offer opportunities for health education.
• Improving the waiting room experience is crucial for patient satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a waiting room intervention for childhood injury prevention education.
• To evaluate the impact of the intervention on caregiver knowledge and home safety behaviors.
• To determine if the intervention improved patient satisfaction with the clinic waiting room experience.

Main Methods:

• A toolkit and brief education sessions were provided to 200 caregivers in an underserved pediatric clinic waiting room.
• Caregivers received age-appropriate safety information and small safety items.
• Follow-up surveys assessed knowledge, behavior changes, and satisfaction.

Main Results:

• 94% of caregivers reported learning new injury prevention information.
• 91% believed the intervention improved their waiting room experience.
• 84% of participants made home safety changes, with 42.7% purchasing new safety equipment.

Conclusions:

• Waiting room-based injury prevention education is effective in pediatric primary care.
• The intervention improved caregiver safety knowledge and behaviors.
• This approach enhances both child safety and patient satisfaction.