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Abstract
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ntroduction Injury is the leading cause of death for children over the age of one. Prevention methods such as providing parents with information on injury risks and prevention strategies can be an effective way to help change risk behaviour and decrease the chance of an injury event.
Purpose To gain an understanding on father's behaviours in regard to accessing information on childhood safety.
Method Interviews for this qualitative study were carried out with fathers of children aged 2 to 7 years in British Columbia, Canada. Interview questions explored whether fathers were likely to access information on child safety issues; what type of information they were likely to search for; what types of resources they used or would like to use.
Results In total, 32 fathers were interviewed. Of the fathers that did look for information on child safety, most reported accessing the Internet as a main resource for child safety. Many fathers reported issues around trusting sources and accessing quality information over the Internet. Other common sources of safety information fathers reported using included pamphlets, as well as information obtained through community resources, media and dialogue with other people.
Conclusion Fathers use specific portals to access information on child safety. To ensure that parents are suitably informed on prevention strategies, health professionals need to consider fathers perspectives in the development of dissemination strategies and design of materials. The findings show that specific attention should be focused on Internet-based strategies and the ways that fathers use this resource. |