618 Keeping our children safe: piloting a hospital-based home-visitation program

BackgroundAttempts to prevent child home injuries have rarely been implemented in hospital settings which present an important point in time for intervening. The SHABI program recruits at-risk families presenting with child injury to the Emergency Department. Medical/nursing students conduct two home visits, four months apart and provide safety equipment and guidance.ObjectivesTo investigate the impact of SHABI on participating families’ home-safety.MethodsThe pilot was conducted between May 2019-March 2020 in northern Israel, an area with high child injury rates. Eligibility included families with preschool children who incurred a home injury. Home-safety was assessed by observation through the ‘Beterem’ checklist. Parents’ views, knowledge, awareness of dangers and report of home injuries was assessed by questionnaire at the start of each visit.Results352 of 773 eligible families agreed to be contacted. 135 participated, 98 completed both home visits. Significant improvement in home-safety items was observed 4 months after the first visit (14 [IQR12–16]) vs (17 [IQR15–19];p<0.001), accompanied by an overall increase in home safety (mean±sd 71.9%±9.5% vs 87.1%±8.6%;p<0.001). 64% reported greater awareness of dangers, 60% affirmed home was safer, and 70% valued the equipment. No difference was found in prevalence of injuries (14 of 98 families prior and 8 after visit (p=0.17). Home visitors affirmed the usefulness of visits and reported benefiting from the experience of working with disadvantaged families.ConclusionsThe program, which included recruitment in a hospital emergency setting and use of healthcare students as home visitors, was successfully implemented with sustained improvement in home safety.