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Ratio of Hispanic to Non-Hispanic Children Under the Age of Six With Confirmed Blood Lead Levels At Or Above the CDC Reference Value (5 μg/dL)
Success Story
About the Organization
The Connecticut Department of Public Health‘s mission statement is “To protect and improve the health and safety of the people of Connecticut by:
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Assuring the conditions in which people can be healthy;
- Preventing disease, injury, and disability, and
- Promoting the equal enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, which is a human right and a priority of the state.”
SUCCESS STORY: CT DPH Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Media Outreach for Prevention
CHALLENGE
Black children (5.0%) were poisoned at twice the rate of White (2.2%) and Asian children (2.4%)By using surveillance data, the Connecticut DPH Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (LPPP) identified health disparities associated with childhood lead poisoning. The health disparities prevalent in Connecticut can be contributed to the age (pre-1978) and the condition of the housing in which these children live. In 2015, Hispanic children (3.9%) were 1.6 times as likely to be lead poisoned at levels ³5 mg/dL than Non-Hispanics.
INTERVENTION
The LPPP designed two media campaigns in 2016 to educate young mothers and families about primary prevention techniques for childhood lead poisoning; namely cleaning lead dust. The LPPP used community partnerships to extend the scope and reach of the message. Experts designed the campaigns using cultural awareness and preferred communication methods of the audience.
2016 Campaign one: The program hired a consultant to assist with outreach to Black communities and provide comprehensive education around childhood lead prevention, including billboards and bus ads designed to focus on two core cities, and radio ads (FM radio and Pandora online radio) and social media ads on Facebook that reached the entire state of CT and border states.
2016 Campaign two: The LPPP partnered with the Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission to address health disparities associated with lead poisoning among the Hispanic population. Two PSAs in Spanish were created, being aired on Spanish television stations and Facebook. The LPPP also conducted six radio interviews with Spanish radio stations, educating listeners on potential lead hazards in their homes and how to contact the local or state health departments, and developed a brochure to be distributed in pediatrician offices and other community locations.
OUTCOME
As a result of the two media campaigns nearly 2 million digital impressions were made, the LPPP main phone line received an increase in calls from Spanish-speaking callers and Campaign one earned the Gold Award for media in public service from Ad Club CT. The average click-through rate (1.9%) for Facebook ads far exceeded the bench mark related to health (0.03%). There were over 20,000 views for one of the two YouTube videos targeting the Hispanic population. Preliminary 2016 analysis shows the largest decrease in the number of lead poisoning cases (206 children) for the state in 2016 compared to the decrease in previous years.
Turn the Curve Action Plan Details
Story Behind the Curve:
Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hispanic children are more likely than non-Hispanic children to live in inadequate housing that could contain chipping peeling paint. Chipping peeling lead paint will increase the likelihood of a child becoming lead poisoned.
Partners:
Potential Partners:
Connecticut Department of Public Health; State of Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice; Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
; Connecticut Department of Social Services; State Department of Education; Connecticut Department of Administrative Services; Connecticut Department of Children and Families; Connecticut Department of Housing; Office of the Attorney General; local courts; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; local public health agencies; local housing authorities and departments; housing and urban development agencies; professional associations for public health, housing; occupational health and safety, and the environment; continuing education providers; health insurers; organizations and coalitions focused on environmental health, housing, and real estate; primary care providers and community health centers; other professional associations; community service providers serving children and at-risk populations; regional lead treatment centers; licensed lead abatement and renovation contractors; childcare providers; and neighborhood revitalization zones.
What Works:
The identification and abatement and remediation of lead hazards in child-occupied dwellings and licensed child daycare facilities (before children are poisoned); Early diagnosis and medical case management or treatment (Requirements and Guidance for Childhood Lead Screening by Health Care Professionals in Connecticut, CT DPH 2013); Partnering with housing and health organizations to fund lead abatement and rehabilitation in homes in high-risk communities. Pertinent print materials have been translated into Spanish for use with the Hispanic community.
Strategy:
Potential Strategies:
Introduce policy that requires medical care providers to give anticipatory guidance to parents for children whose blood lead levels are at or above 5 µg/dL.
Leverage existing Lead Poisoning Prevention and Control funding allocated to communities for increasing targeted lead poisoning prevention efforts that have been proven effective.
Provide educational materials about reducing exposure to lead hazards to high risk families with children less than 6 years of age.
Utilize existing coalitions and collaborations to develop programs to target all children less than 6 years of age and highest risk populations in urban areas.
Partner with health care professionals to increase their ability to identify, prevent, and reduce environmental health threats, including lead, via technical assistance visits to providers, outreach to hospitals, and course(s) on environmental risk factors for children at the university level, school nurses.
Partner with health care professionals to establish and enhance case management activities to align with 2012 CDC recommendations for childhood lead poisoning prevention and control; and to improve provider compliance with mandated lead testing requirements increasing mandatory lead testing for all children at least once a year until they reach 3 years of age.
Identify high risk areas (pre 1978 housing with low socio-economic status families) in communities, and develop a plan to reduce exposure to lead-base painted surfaces.
Explore options for infrastructure/capacity to address lead poisoning, to address abatement or remediation issues effectively in a timely manner.
Develop a program to conduct inspections on units in pre-1978 rental housing; exploring collaborations with HUD inspectors with Healthy Homes inspections.
DPH-specific Strategies: Provide written materials in Spanish language. The Si! Hispanic Health Council are partners that are invited to meetings, review/discuss guidelines for medical case management, etc.
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