“Safe-Tea”: Preventing hot drink scalds in young children

Around 40,000 children attend A&E in England and Wales every year with a burn or scald injury, despite growing evidence that most burns are preventable.

Children living in socially and economically disadvantaged areas are at higher than average risk of sustaining a life-changing burn injury. Where parents lack knowledge of burns first aid, the severity of burns is compounded.

In August 2016 the Children’s Burns Research Centre at Cardiff University launched ‘Safe-Tea’, an intervention campaign targeting parents of pre-school children living in the most deprived areas of Cardiff.

As part of the campaign, researchers collaborated with Flying Start in Cardiff, a Welsh Government funded organisation that provides support for parents and children in the formative years of development. Dr Verity Bennett, research associate for the Children’s Burns Research Centre, based at Cardiff University, explains:

“Following public involvement, expert clinical advice and input from Flying Start staff, we developed various multi-media materials. These included child ‘reach-chart’ posters, fridge-magnets, flyers, and short videos for social media.

“Flying Start staff were trained on hot drink scald epidemiology, prevention and first aid. These staff delivered the ‘Safe-Tea’ messages at 6-month health visits, at playgroups and childcare settings.”

The most significant findings of the intervention sessions 

Changes in parents’ knowledge of hot drink danger and burns first aid were measured using a parent questionnaire before and after the intervention. Acceptability and practicality of the intervention for parents and Flying Start staff were investigated via focus group discussions.

After the intervention, parents knew more about the risks and dangers of hot drink scalds and considerably more about first aid for burns. They came away with more confidence to correct the behaviours of others and relay the first aid messages to family in the UK and beyond. Flying Start staff and parents found the intervention acceptable and practical on the whole and gave useful feedback on improvements that would further enhance the intervention

First published: @ResearchWales Issue 3, November 2017