Research Article
Parental Adherence to Infant Sleep Safety Recommendations
Martine Hackett1* Hannah Simons21Department of Health Professions, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, USA
2The Graduate Center, CUNY, Doctor in Public Health Program, New York, USA
- Corresponding Author:
- Dr. Martine Hackett
Department of Health Professions
Hofstra University, 130 Hofstra Dome 220
Hempstead, NY 11549, USA
Tel: +5164636513
Fax: +516-463-6275
E-mail: martine.hackett@hofstra.edu
Received Date: May 30, 2013; Accepted Date: June 17, 2013; Published Date: June 19, 2013
Citation: Hackett M, Simons H (2013) Parental Adherence to Infant Sleep Safety Recommendations. J Community Med Health Educ 3:219. doi: 10.4172/2165-7904.1000219
Copyright: © 2013 Hackett M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Objective: Key infant sleep safety messages to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) recommend putting infants to bed in the supine position and not sharing a bed with infants in order to prevent them from suffocating. Though these messages have been promoted by health care providers and health educators, adhering to them regularly remains a challenge for parents.
Methods: Using a web-based survey on a national sample, factors associated with increased probability of adherence were examined to assess how parents negotiate infant safety recommendations.
Results: Findings revealed that parents had knowledge of these recommendations but did not always follow them; adherence depended on how effective parents believed the recommendations are at preventing death and how the messages were presented.
Conclusion: Health care providers and educators of infant safety should continue to focus on changing the public’s beliefs about the risks of the prone position and bed sharing, with an understanding of how and why the information about infant sleep safety is negotiated in the day to day lives of parents.
