Parents’ voices: perceptions of barriers and facilitators to prevent unintentional home injuries among young children

Abstract

Background: Young children face injury as a potentially life-threatening problem. Injury still has considerable financial, emotional and social effects on families and society as a whole. A variety of interventions are known to prevent child injuries. The literature, however, provides meagre information on what factors enable or inhibit the implementation of these interventions for controlling home injuries in Iran. Methods: Qualitative study was applied using eighteen semi-structured interviews with parents attending urban health centres in Tehran City. The recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and the data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings: Factors believed to influence the prevention of home injuries among urban children aged under 5 years are presented as five major themes. These were: the nature of injury and injury prevention, child-related factors, parent-related factors, living environment and society-related factors. Conclusions: The findings highlighted the need for greater support for parents. Half of the parents were struggling with barriers such as money and time. The study has implications for further research and practice to promote child safety at home.