Evaluation of academic detailing to educate clinicians regarding childhood lead poisoning prevention: a pilot study

Authors: Nicholas C Newman, Jacqueline M Knapke, Rachael Kiniyalocts, John Belt, Erin Haynes

This study aimed to meet two objectives: (1) implement a pilot of academic detailing (AD) sessions on the topic of childhood lead poisoning prevention with frontline healthcare providers (HCPs) and their staff in different practice settings, and (2) evaluate the acceptability of these training sessions utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods. Physicians, nurses, social workers, CHWs, and clinical office staff were recruited from clinics which serve children at high risk for lead exposure. Learning objectives of the AD-style sessions included increasing knowledge regarding lead testing requirements, enabling identification of lead’s impact on child development, and equipping participants to provide anticipatory guidance for parents regarding lead poisoning prevention. Results demonstrated that more than 90% of the participants believed the training achieved its learning objectives. In addition, participants preferred that the presenters be either a public health or lead clinical expert, and suggested that future activities include clinical vignettes. These findings imply that the academic-detailing style training shows promise for increasing the capacity of frontline HCPs, including CHWs, in the area of childhood lead poisoning prevention.