The use of focus groups to plan poison prevention education programs for low-income populations.

Children younger than 5 are at greatest risk for unintentional poisonings. Children in low-income situations are particularly vulnerable for exposures to potential poisons. Focus groups were conducted at a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program located in a large urban public hospital in New York City to gain information from low-income parents of young children about real and perceived barriers to calling the local poison control center, resources for poison prevention messages, and ideas about public awareness campaigns. All focus group members were low-income parents of young children. Most participants reported that they would call 911 in the event of a poisoning due to child welfare and self-efficacy issues. Health education theory using the social-cognitive theory provides a framework for developing future poison prevention programs to address identified issues with parents of young children.