Educational Needs of Homemakers Regarding Emergency Situations in the Home: Focused on Differences in Educational Needs based on the General Characteristics of Homemakers and Differences between Homemakers and Emergency Physicians

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the educational needs and attitudes of homemakers regarding emergency situations in the home and to compare differences in perceptions about emergency situations according to the general characteristics of homemakers and differences between homemakers and emergency physicians Methods: Using a written survey of a randomly selected sample, we questioned 69 emergency physicians and 450 homemakers over a 5 month period from November 2008 to March 2009. The survey consisted of 8 medical conditions and 16 injury-related conditions. It contained questions (using a Likert scale) about the need for education about each condition (the higher the score, the greater the need). We also determined homemakers’ general characteristics: their age, educational background, number of children, gender of their children, age of their children, the existence of older families, and prior training in the process of resuscitation. Results: A total of 346(77%) homemakers responded. For most conditions, the average scores were higher (greater need) among homemakers than among emergency physicians. There were significant differences between these two groups, especially for seizure, fever, dyspnea, bleeding, contusions (of the head, face, extremities, cervical spine and other areas), wounds (of the head, face, oral cavity and extremities), amputated tissue control, injury to teeth, burns, foreign body ingestion, intoxication, and electrical shock. According to the general characteristics of homemakers, the educational background affected the educational needs for homemakers for dyspnea, and for contusions of the head, face, and cervical spine. Conclusion: The need for education regarding emergency conditions in the home are higher in the eyes of homemakers than in the eyes of emergency physicians. General characteristics of homemakers affects educational needs. The subject of educational program about first aid will be chosen according to general characteristics of homemakers. according to general characteristics of homemakers.