Assessing Indiana’s Health and Safety in Early Care and Education Programs: Identifying Areas for Improvement

Assessment of institutional health and safety practices of early years schools in Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana: a mixed methods approach

Objective

Early years schools by their nature present peculiar challenges for infection control and injuries. This study aimed at assessing the health and safety practices of these institutions and find explanations to challenges faced in meeting the recommended standards.

Design

Sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used in the study.

Methods

The quantitative data was collected using a questionnaire. The study involved all early years schools in Cape Coast Metropolis totalling 160. Follow-up interview was conducted using eight Heads and Coordinators of these schools.

Results

Early years schools met majority of the health and safety practices. Chi-square analysis revealed that, school auspices was associated with keeping records of doctor's report [χ² (1, N = 160) = 7.27, p = .007, φ = .227, odds ratio = 2.79, 95% CI (1.4, 5.7)] and having immunization records up to date [χ² (1, N = 160) = 4.35, p = .037, φ = .184, odds ratio = 2.88, 95% CI (1.2, 7.7)]. Private early years' schools were almost 3 times likely to meet recommended health and safety practices. Two themes identified as explanations to why most early years schools were not requiring copies of doctor's reports were: “We don't bother to ask” and “Rare cases, they do bring”.

Conclusion

Though early years schools were meeting the recommended standards; they were not previewed to doctor's report of children's previous illnesses. This implies that these institutions may not be readily prepared to assist in meeting certain health care needs of the children in their care.

Funding

None declared

National Health and Safety Standards: Family Child Care Homes Compared With Child Care Centers

INTRODUCTION

The study objectives are to describe the national health and safety standards in family child care homes (FCCHs) and child care centers and compare them by child care type.

METHOD

Child care health consultants and research assistants completed the standardized Health and Safety Checklist, which comprised key national health and safety standards, in a convenience sample of 21 FCCHs and 31 child care centers enrolled in two larger studies conducted in CA.

RESULTS

The checklist was completed in 1 or 2 hours in FCCHs and centers, respectively. The internal consistency of the overall checklist subscales was moderate to strong. Eight of 10 checklist subscales were not significantly different in FCCHs and centers, but outdoor facilities (p < .05) and supervision, interaction, and physical activity (p < .05) were different.

DISCUSSION

The Health and Safety Checklist is valid in FCCHs and centers and identifies targeted interventions for nurses to improve child care quality.

Hygienic conditions in child-care facilities in North Carolina and South Carolina: an integrated microbial and observational study

BACKGROUND

In the United States almost one-quarter (23%) of children younger than age 5 years participate in some form of out-of-home child care; these children are 2.3-3.5 times more likely to contract acute gastrointestinal illness.

METHODS

Observational investigations were done to understand the hygienic conditions and practices of 40 child-care facilities in North Carolina and South Carolina. These data were compared with microbiological indicator data (aerobic plate counts and coliform counts) collected from selected surfaces in each facility. Results from the two data sets were analyzed using nonparametric statistical methods to reveal potential risk factors for enteric disease transmission.

RESULTS

Statistically significant differences (P ≤ .05) in surface microbial counts were observed when comparing family child-care homes versus centers and between facilities participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program and those that do not participate. Facilities without written surface cleaning or food preparation policies had statistically significantly higher microbial counts on surfaces.

CONCLUSIONS

Our unique study, which combined observational and microbiological data, provided revealing information about the relationship between hygiene indicators and sanitary practices in child-care facilities in the southeastern United States.