The UCSF School of Pharmacy partnered with UCSF Family Services to provide life-saving education on poison prevention for children. The presentations took place at the Kirkham Child Development Center last month.
Each year, members of the pharmacy team present a 30-minute workshop, composed of segments on medication and household supplies safety, along with a leaflet that can be distributed to all parents.
Director of Pharmacy and Clinical Professor Sarah Lucas observes a poison prevention presentation.
“The whole reason why we do this is because childhood poisonings are the highest when you are under five years of age. That’s one of the reasons we focus on both the education of the kids and the families to help keep them safe,” Director of Pharmacy and Clinical Professor Sarah Lucas, PharmD, said.
“I think it’s important that UCSF does this kind of outreach for additional education for children, especially as products are coming out that look very much like candy,” Kirkham Child Development Center Director Chona Roberto-Cheng said.
Development Center Director Chona Roberto-Cheng looks on as children enter the presentation room.
These workshops are specially designed to be kid-friendly, with large, interactive cardboard houses and colorful cut-outs of household products, cleaning supplies, and food items. The lesson is delivered as a game where presenters invite children to come to the front and place each item in the room of the house where it belongs.
PharmD Residents Joanne Guan and Emily Lim, two of the presenters, shared the importance of teaching children how to safely interact with items found in the home.
Children raise their hands to identify household items and share where they belong.
“Kids are very smart, and they get into everything and anything, but if you talk to them and really show them the things in the house, what is okay to touch, what is not okay to touch. They are very fast learners. So, I think it's important to do outreach like this to make sure we are showing them, they are seeing it, and they get hands-on education. It really makes a difference, not just at home, but if they are in a different environment as well, they remember what they see, what they touch, and what they hear, so that’s a big part of what we do," Lim said.
Guan was impressed by how quickly the children picked up on the lessons and the accuracy with which they were able to identify common household goods.
Guan shows the children a card with an image of Tide PODS and asks where in the home it should go.
“We did this same class a week ago, and a lot of the kids knew already if they weren’t sure to ask a grown-up, so we were pleasantly surprised. I am surprised that they knew the [Tide] pods were not edible, that they were some type of soap. I am glad that they were able to recognize many of these objects that are often around the home,” Guan said.
For Guan, these presentations are a simple but impactful way that the School of Pharmacy can help keep children safe.
“I think kids are naturally curious, and there are so many things lying around the house that can be potentially unsafe for them. I know if we educate them and teach them, the most important thing is to ask their parents if they aren't sure if they can eat or touch anything, then we can hopefully keep them safe at home," Guan said.