Utilization of a mobile safety center by low income, urban families

Background/Purpose: To examine the utilization of the Johns Hopkins CARES -- Children ARE Safe -- Mobile Safety Center (MSC), a 40 foot vehicle designed to deliver effective injury prevention interventions to low income, urban families.

Methods: Families enrolled on days when the MSC was at a community health center were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the Prescribed Group (PG) was prescribed an MSC visit; the Optional Group (OG) was encouraged to visit the MSC. Families enrolled on days when the MSC was not at the health center formed the Comparison Group (CG) and were given an MSC schedule. Follow up interviews were completed 2 weeks to 4 months later. 210 families with children ages 1 month to 7 years participated. The intervention was the provision of low cost safety products and personalized education as provided on the MSC, which replicates a home environment and contains interactive exhibits. Main outcome measures were: visit to the MSC, services and products obtained, and safety knowledge.

Results: Sixty-eight percent of the PG visited the MSC versus 41% of the OG versus 10% of the CG (p=.0005). Among visitors, 37% received a safety product; more than 30% received other services. Adjusted for income and education, MSC visitors versus non-visitors had higher knowledge scores (71% vs. 68%, p=.02). Among visitors, 96% reported learning something new, and 98% would recommend the MSC.

Conclusions: This approach to disseminating injury prevention interventions holds promise for enhancing the appeal of safety information and increasing the protection of children.