摘要：Lead poses a health risk to young chil-dren with detrimental effects on their intellectualdevelopment. Attendance rates for Aboriginalchildren at routine blood lead screening and atfollow-up appointments inBroken Hill, NSW, havedeclined in recent years. This study sought toidentify strategies to improve the participation ofAboriginal children aged 1–4 years in blood leadscreening services in Broken Hill. Methods: Atten-dance rates during the period 2000–2010 weredetermined using the Broken Hill Lead Manage-ment database. From June toAugust 2011, Aborigi-nal community members, service providers andpublic health staff were invited to interviews andfocus groups to explore barriers, enablers and sug-gestions for improving participation. Results: In2009, 27% of Aboriginal children aged 1–4 yearsattended blood lead screening and 29% of thesechildren with blood lead levels over 15mg/dLattended follow-up appointments. Barriers to par-ticipation in lead screening services included com-munity perceptions, reduced service capacity,socio-economic and interorganisational factors.Enablers included using a culturally acceptablemodel, linking lead screening with routine healthchecks and using the finger-prick method of testing.Conclusions: The final reportfor thestudyincludedrecommendations to improve participation rates ofAboriginal children including using social market-ing, formalising collaboration between healthservices, supporting disadvantaged families andemploying an Aboriginal Health Worker
