The program's outreach efforts range from posters in hardware stores and ads in the media to tables at health fairs and community events, to meetings in which nurses try to persuade doctors of the benefits of testing all young children for lead. The county pays special attention to providing literature and information in many of the languages spoken in the county. A health educator phones the parents to inform them about possible environmental hazards in the home. Other children living in the home are tested. A public health nurse visits the family, and an investigator looks for the source of lead in the environment.
Parents react to their children's illness in different ways.
Some are afraid of eviction if the program contacts their landlord. There are simple things parents can do to reduce the risk of lead poisoning, she says. We tell them, don't bring lead home on your work clothes. We emphasize the importance of washing kids' hands. Some building owners, however, want to avoid the expense and trouble of making repairs.