Premium
“But they can't reach that high…”: parental perceptions and knowledge relating to childhood poisoning
Author(s) -
Rosenberg Michael,
Wood Lisa,
Leeds Melita,
Wicks Sue
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
health promotion journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2201-1617
pISSN - 1036-1073
DOI - 10.1071/he11217
Subject(s) - seriousness , medicine , environmental health , health psychology , occupational safety and health , public health , injury prevention , suicide prevention , perception , poison control , nursing , psychology , pathology , political science , law , neuroscience
Issue addressed Preventing childhood poisoning is an important injury‐control priority, requiring a multi‐strategy approach. However, there remains a wide void between what is recommended by prevention programs and the evidence, and what is acted upon in the day‐to‐day family environment. This paper seeks to probe behind aspects of this void by examining parental perceptions in relation to childhood poisoning within a Health Belief Model framework. Methods Data were collected through telephone interviews from 200 randomly selected Western Australian parents/guardians of children aged 0–4 years. Results The uptake of poisoning prevention strategies was associated with the perceived susceptibility and seriousness of poisoning from different common household products. In particular, those products considered most fatally poisonous (workshop/garden chemicals) and a common cause of childhood poisoning were the most likely to be locked up and kept out of reach of children. Conversely, overthe‐counter medicines were not considered by the majority of parents as fatally poisonous or as a common cause of poisoning, and were less likely to be locked up and placed out of reach. However, such medicines are the most common cause of unintentional childhood poisoning. Conclusion The results suggest that perceptions of susceptibility and seriousness need to be targeted as part of efforts to encourage parents to reduce household risks of childhood poisoning. This is particularly warranted in relation to those common household products (e.g. medicines) where there is a misperception of lower likelihood of serious poisoning occurring. So what? Despite various childhood poisoning prevention initiatives in Australia, incidents remain high. Through the lens of the Health Belief Model, it may be that differences in parental perceptions of susceptibility and seriousness could explain variability in preventive measures taken for different potentially poisonous household products. This warrants further research and has implications for the way in which health promotion intervention strategies and messages for parents and carers are framed.