Understanding How Medication is Stored in the Home

Understanding How Medication is Stored in the Home

The goal of this study is to increase safe medication storage practices in homes with young children in order to prevent unintentional childhood poisonings.

As a step toward meeting this goal, this study aims to determine if an intervention to promote safe storage to patients who have young children in their home, including provision of a lock box or lock bag along with brief counseling versus brief counseling alone, results in 1) increased locked storage (and overall safe medication storage practices) of high-risk prescription medications in the home; 2) increased safe medication storage practices of other medications in the home; and 3) improved safe medication storage related knowledge and attitudes.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient in the buprenorphine clinic, high A1c clinic, or palliative care clinic at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue
• Patient prescribed at least one high-risk mediation. A high-risk medication defined as a prescription medication that may cause significant toxicity or death with the ingestion of only one pill or a single adult dose.
• A child less than six years old is present in the patient's home on average at least 8 hours per week.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Inability to speak and read English or Spanish
• No phone number for follow-up or unwilling to do follow-up by phone or in person
• Prior enrollment
• Patient was involved in pilot study