National survey of the injury prevention activities of children's centres

Children's centres were established across England to provide a range of services including early education, social care and health to pre-school children and their families. We surveyed children's centres to ascertain the activities they were undertaking to prevent unintentional injuries in the under fives. A postal questionnaire was sent to a sample of children's centre managers (n = 694). It included questions on current activities, knowledge and attitudes to injury prevention, health priorities and partnership working. Responses were received from 384 (56%) children's centres. Overall, 58% considered unintentional injury prevention to be one of the three main child health priorities for their centre. Over half the respondents (59%) did not know if there was an injury prevention group in their area, and 21% did not know if there was a home safety equipment scheme. Knowledge of how child injury deaths occur in the home was poor. Only 11% knew the major cause of injury deaths in children under five. Lack of both staff time and funding were seen as important barriers by children's centre staff to undertake injury prevention activities. Nearly all stated that training (97%) and assistance with planning injury prevention (94%) would be helpful to their centres. Children's centres need further support if they are to effectively tackle this important public health area

Missed opportunities to keep children safe? National survey of injury prevention activities of children’s centres

Objective: To ascertain the activities undertaken by children’s centres to prevent unintentional injuries in the under-fives and, in particular, the prevention of falls, poisoning and scalds. Design: A questionnaire was posted to managers of 851 children’s centres, using stratified cluster sampling. The questionnaire included questions on injury prevention activities undertaken by the centre, knowledge and attitudes to injury prevention, partnership working, and barriers and facilitators to injury prevention. Setting: England. Results: A response rate of 61% was achieved. Most respondents (98%) agreed that children’s centres can be effective in preventing accidents. Over half of the respondents (59%) did not know whether there was an injury prevention group in their area, and 22% did not know whether there was a home safety equipment scheme. Only 12% knew the major cause of injury deaths in children under five. A variety of activities were being undertaken including one to one advice and issuing leaflets. However, for some important topics such as baby walkers and disposal of unwanted medicines, no advice was being provided in some areas. Lack of funding (52%) and lack of capacity (39%) were the most common reasons cited as barriers to injury prevention activities. Conclusion: Injury prevention is an important activity undertaken by children’s centres. Given their position in the heart of the community, their potential as an agency to prevent injuries has been highlighted and recommended. Further support and resource will be needed if they are to fully develop their potential in preventing unintentional injuries in the home