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Injury prevention program in primary care: process evaluation and surveillance
R Gofin1, D De Leon, B Knishkowy
1Department of Social Medicine, Hadassah Medical Organization, Jerusalem, Israel.
Insights
Integrating an injury prevention program into primary care for young children is feasible. Process evaluation is key to identifying issues and enhancing program effectiveness for child safety.
Area of Science:
- Community health
- Pediatric injury prevention
- Primary care integration
Background:
- Childhood injuries pose a significant public health concern.
- Effective prevention strategies require integration into routine healthcare services.
- Community-oriented primary care settings offer opportunities for targeted interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the process and surveillance of an integrated injury prevention program for children aged 0-2 years.
- To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of delivering injury prevention counseling within a primary care setting.
- To identify areas for improvement in program delivery and coverage.
Main Methods:
- A community-oriented primary care program in Western Jerusalem.
- Integration of injury surveillance and developmental counseling into mother and child health clinic routines.
- Data collection via child health records for process evaluation.
Main Results:
- Counselling coverage varied by age, starting at 73% for infants (0-5 months) and declining to 48% by age 2.
- The number of injury prevention topics discussed increased with child age.
- Injury surveillance activities were completed for 66% of children, with incomplete or no data for 34%.
Conclusions:
- Integrating injury prevention programs into primary care is achievable.
- Process evaluation is crucial for monitoring program performance and identifying areas for enhancement.
- Continuous assessment can improve the reach and impact of child injury prevention initiatives.
Objectives:
To carry out process evaluation and surveillance in a community oriented primary care program for injury prevention among children 0-2 years old (n = 306).
Setting:
Mother and child health clinic in a defined area of Western Jerusalem.
Methods:
An injury prevention program was integrated into the routines of the mother and child health clinic. The program consisted of injury surveillance and counselling using a developmental approach, regarding car safety and the prevention of falls, burns, suffocation, poisonings, cuts, drowning, and electrocution. Process evaluation and surveillance were based on records integrated into the child's personal file in the clinic.
Results:
Process evaluation indicated that counselling coverage was 73% in the 0-5 month age group and decreased to 48% in the second year of life. The mean number of topics discussed with the parents was 6.6 (out of nine) for the 0-5 months age group, 13.6 (out of 18) for the 6-11 month group, and 15.7 (out of 18) for those 1-2 years old. Injury surveillance activities were complete for 66% of the children, incomplete in 32%, and not done in 2%.
Conclusions:
The results indicate that it is feasible to integrate an injury prevention program into primary care, and that process evaluation is important in detecting problems and improving performance of the program's activities.