Preventive health and safety education in public hospitals: implementing a child restrainer carseat lend-lease program for indigent patients.

While the use of mandatory child restrainer car seats is evaluated by health professionals as in the domain of general public good, the implementation and prerequisite purchase may work a hardship on limited income individuals, especially those patients who deliver at city-county public hospitals. As legislation throughout the United States has begun to require mandatory car seat usage, the provision of such seats should also be addressed by public agencies who serve indigent populations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the establishment of an ongoing program for a lend-lease child restrainer car seat project in a public hospital setting. This paper also provides some suggestions to professionals who want to introduce and cultivate positive health care practices among populations which usually are non-responsive to primary prevention and health promotion.