HEALTH VISITORS KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES IN CHILDHOOD ACCIDENT PREVENTION

Background The importance of the health visitor's role in childhood ac cident prevention has long been recognized, although previous work sug gests that many health visitors are unsure of that role, feel inadequa tely prepared for it and recognize significant constraints on their ac cident prevention activity. The Health of the nation suggested that sp ecific accident prevention activities should be undertaken by health v isitors. This study aims to assess whether those activities are curren tly part of routine health visiting practice, as well as the attitudes towards accident prevention and knowledge of childhood accidental inj ury epidemiology. Method A postal questionnaire survey covering knowle dge, attitudes and practices in accident prevention as well as persona l characteristics was sent to all health visitors in Nottinghamshire, using the community unit trusts' list of employees as the sampling fra me. Results A response rate of 88.5 per cent was obtained. The majorit y of health visitors were aware that accidental injuries are the most common cause of death in childhood above the age of one year. The majo rity of health visitors were also aware of the types of accident most likely to be fatal, and aware of the risk factors for childhood accide ntal injuries. Many health visitors held positive attitudes towards al l accident prevention activities covered in the questionnaire. There w as a positive correlation between attitude and knowledge scores (p < 0 .01). There were some discrepancies between attitudes and current prac tices, particularly in the areas of teaching first aid to parents' gro ups and lobbying or campaigning on local safety issues. Conclusions Al though many health visitors hold positive attitudes towards, and curre ntly undertake many of the accident prevention activities suggested in the Health of the nation, there are areas where practice could be imp roved, such as giving advice about stockists of safety equipment inclu ding local loan schemes, undertaking first aid sessions in parents' gr oups and lobbying or campaigning on local safety issues.