The Home Safety Council Received Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Grant to Create Easy-to-Read Poison Prevention Educational Materials

The Home Safety Council received a $100,000 grant from HRSA to expand the Home Safety Literacy Project to include easy-to-read poison prevention educational materials. The latest phase of the Project brought poison center educators together with literacy providers in an unprecedented, national partnership to develop the basic poison prevention materials for low-literacy adults and their families.

In collaboration with HRSA and HSC, ProLiteracy America, the largest nonprofit literacy organization, provided consulting and training services and helped develop the materials. Together, HRSA, HSC & ProLiteracy oversaw the design, revision and testing of materials. A focus group of poison center educators was be selected to assist in content development and design.

The poison prevention materials are being distributed through Poison Control Centers, the HSC Expert Network, ProLiteracy affiliated literacy programs and electronically through the HSC and other Web sites.

The primary poison prevention materials for this phase of the Home Safety Literacy Project include:

• Brochure: Highly illustrated and written in Easy-to-Read English and Spanish with the help of literacy experts
• Poster: Full color and with step-by-step illustrations for basic poison prevention methods
• Tear-pad: Easy to read, highly illustrated safety tips
• A literacy teacher's guide

The Home Safety Literacy Project (HSLP), created by the Home Safety Council, is the first national home safety outreach program specifically designed to reach adults with low reading skills. The first set of fire safety materials developed were so well received, the Project has been expanded to also address disaster preparedness and poison prevention.