A Concept Paper on Improving Parental Knowledge and Practices on Water Safety and Their Children: A Guide for Drowning Prevention

Abstract

Worldwide, empirical evidence indicate that children are at heightened risk for drowning thus many substantial strategies have been made in understanding childhood drowning. Conversely, in Malaysia the data is scarce and drowning received insufficient attention. To understand the nature of the problem, the mechanism of the events and other indicators related to childhood drowning in Malaysia, a considerable research and programmatic work is required and thus appropriate intervention can be developed. As such, this conceptual paper tries to discuss the evaluation of drowning prevention awareness and practise among primary school parents and guardians. The study will collect both quantitative and qualitative data, and intends to use cross sectional survey in determining an overview of the status and current situation of water safety knowledge and preventive strategies available in this country focusing on children. The qualitative data from the study will undergo transcription and reported in theme and sub-themes discussing the assessment of attitude and practice on drowning prevention among parents and guardians of primary school children. In addition, this study aims to make an important contribution in addressing gaps in knowledge of drowning risk and prevention measured associated with children in Malaysia, prior to the development of the health educational drowning prevention guidelines for parents and guardians.

The influence of water safety knowledge on adolescents’ drowning risk behaviors: a framework of risk-protect integrated and KAP theory

“…Morrongiello et al (30) found that, in addition to schools, parents were an especially critical element in the development of adolescents' drowning prevention skills, which was even more apparent in China. Some parental approaches, such as enrolling children in aquatics training, are the most beneficial in helping children develop the water safety knowledge and swimming skills (31). The second most important factor is the financial support.…”

Assessing Water Safety Attitude and Behavior towards Drowning Prevention among Adolescents in South Region, Malaysia

“…In Malaysia, based on the 2019 report on causes of death, drowning ranked as one of the top five main factor contributing to the mortality rate among individuals aged 15 -40 years old. In addition, drowning prevention is still a major ignorance because the community thinks drowning is an unavoidable incident (Farizan et al, 2021). There are estimated at least one person dies every day because of drowning incidents in Malaysia but the community is still unaware of the dangers of involving water-based activities (Hariati, 2018).…”

How University Students Assess Their Water Skills

“…Awareness of the risk of drowning is a signpost on how to spend time next to or in the water without negative consequences. Insufficiency of knowledge and practice on prevention of drowning influence insufficient awareness of the risk of drowning among children (Farizan et al, 2021 ). Many countries are developing plans to reduce drowning.…”