Safe Communities in China as a Strategy for Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Programmes in the Era of Rapid Economic Growth

Due to its rapid economic development, China is facing a huge health, social, and economic burden resulting from injuries. The study’s objective was to examine Safe Communities in China as a strategy for injury prevention and safety promotion programmes in the era of rapid economic growth. Literature searches in English and Chinese, which included grey literature, were performed on the Chinese Journal Full-text Search System and Medline, using the words “Safe Community”, “injury”, “economics”, and “prevention”. The results showed that the existing 35 recognized members of the International Safe Community Network have not placed due emphasis on suicide prevention, which is one of the leading problems in both rural and urban China. A few groups, such as children, the elderly, cyclists, and pedestrians, have received due emphasis, while other vulnerable groups, such as migrant workers, motorcyclists, students, players, and farmers have not received the necessary attention from the Safe Community perspective. As the evidence describes, Safe Communities in China can be a very effective strategy for injury prevention, but four aspects need to be strengthened in the future: (1) establish and strengthen the policy and regulations in terms of injury prevention at the national level; (2) create a system to involve professional organizations and personnel in projects; (3) consider the economic development status of different parts of China; and (4) intentional injury prevention should receive greater attention.     

The WHO safe community program for injury prevention: evaluation of the impact on injury severity

Despite the fact that injuries consume a considerable amount of health care resources world-wide, 3.5 million people die from unintentional injuries each year. To handle this central public health problem, WHO has introduced the Safe Community accreditation for injury prevention programs. This study was to investigate the impact from a Safe Community program with regard to injury severity. Data were collected in Motala municipality (population = 41 000), Östergötland county, Sweden, during one year before and one year after program intervention, from two sources: registration of trivial (AIS 1) and non-trivial (AIS 2–6) unintentional injuries from all acute care episodes in the area and recollection of hospital bed days from discharge registers. The incidence of non-trivial injuries treated in health care was found to have decreased by 41% (95% confidence interval, 37–45%), while the trivial injuries increased by 16% (9–22%). The larger decrease of non-trivial injuries was observed in all ages and injury event environments. The total number of bed days at emergency hospitals due to injuries decreased by 39% (37–41%) from 1983–84 to 1989, while the hospital bed utilization for other reasons decreased by 9% (8–9%). The study showed that implementation of a WHO Safe Community program led to the harm from unintentional injuries within the community being considerably more reduced than that of the injury incidence. In future assessments of injury prevention programs, classification of injury severity should be included to increase the validity of inter-program comparisons.     

Community-based injury prevention: effects on health care utilization.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, an estimated 78 million people are disabled each year because of unintentional injuries and about 3 million die. The WHO Safe Community model is a framework for community-based injury prevention programmes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcome on health care utilization of a Safe Community programme. METHODS: The incidence of injuries treated at health care facilities in an intervention municipality (pop. 41,000) was compared to the injury incidence in a control municipality (pop. 26,000). The incidence was recorded immediately before and one year after programme implementation from registrations made during all first-contact health care visits and from examination of hospital discharge registers. RESULTS: The incidence of health care treated injuries in the intervention area had decreased by 13% (95% CI: 9-16%) from 119 (95% CI: 115-122) per 1000 population-years to 104 (95% CI: 101-107). In the control area, the corresponding injury incidences were 104 (95% CI: 100-108) and 106 (95% CI: 102-109). The hospital-treated injuries in the intervention area decreased by 15% (95% CI: 7-24%) from 19 (95% CI: 17-20) per 1000 population-years to 16 (95% CI: 15-17), while in the control area, the incidences remained at 13 (95% CI: 11-14) per 1000 population-years. Utilization of acute care in the intervention area for reasons other than injuries increased by 8% (95% CI: 6-10%), while in the control area, the number of visits did not show significant change. CONCLUSION: This first controlled evaluation showed that an injury prevention programme based on local action groups can significantly reduce injuries requiring health care in a community. Local prevention can provide a complement to national level campaigns.     

Impact of social standing on injury prevention in a World Health Organization Safe Community--intervention outcome by household employment contract

BACKGROUND: Although social inequality in health has been an argument for community-based injury prevention programmes, intervention outcomes with regard to differences in social standing have not been analysed. The objective of this study was to investigate rates of injuries treated in health-care among members of households at different levels of labour market integration before and after the implementation of a WHO Safe Community programme. METHODS: A quasi-experimental design was used with pre- and post-implementation data collection covering the total populations <65 years of age during one year in the programme implementation municipality (population 41 000) and in a control municipality (population 26 000). Changes in injury rates were studied using prospective registration of all acute care episodes with regard to social standing in both areas during the study periods. RESULTS: Male members of households categorized as not vocationally active displayed the highest pre-intervention injury rates. Also after the intervention, males in households classified as not vocationally active displayed notably elevated injury rates in both the control and study areas. Households in the study area in which the significant member was employed showed a post-intervention decrease in injury rate among both men (P < 0.001) and women (P < 0.01). No statistically significant change was observed in households in which the significant member was self-employed or not vocationally active. In the control area, only an aggregate-level decrease (P < 0.05) among members of households in which the significant member was employed was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The study displayed areas for improvement in the civic network-based WHO Safe Community model. Even though members of non-vocationally active households, in particular men, were at higher pre-intervention injury risk, they were not affected by the interventions. This fact has to be addressed when planning future community-based injury prevention programmes.     

Rising mortality from injury in urban China: demographic burden, underlying causes and policy implications

In urban China, mortality from injuries has increased over the past five decades. By contrast, life expectancy has continued to increase and has come to nearly equal life expectancy in developed countries. Currently, most of the life expectancy lost due to injury (65%) in urban China would be recovered if injury rates were the same as in countries with low injury-related mortality. Fundamentally, the rising trend in urban injury mortality in China reflects a continued focus on injury treatment rather than prevention in the face of fast socioeconomic development and increasing exposure to risk factors for injury. Despite improved injury prevention legislation and a "Safe Community" campaign, urban China needs to modify its approach to urban injury management and focus on prevention. The gap between urban China and countries with low injury mortality can be closed by means of legislation, strengthened law enforcement and the establishment of safer communities. Risks affecting children and migrants deserve greater attention, and the government needs to allocate more resources to injury prevention, especially to urban areas in the central-west region of China. Based on the population size of urban China, measures for the prevention of injury mortality would save an annual 436.4 million years of life.     

Information system needs in health promotion: a case study of the Safe Community programme using requirements engineering methods

The international Safe Community programme was used as the setting for a case study to explore the need for information system support in health promotion programmes. The 14 Safe Communities active in Sweden during 2002 were invited to participate and 13 accepted. A questionnaire on computer usage and a critical incident technique instrument were distributed. Sharing of management information, creating social capital for safety promotion, and injury data recording were found to be key areas that need to be further supported by computer-based information systems. Most respondents reported having access to a personal computer workstation with standard office software. Interest in using more advanced computer applications was low, and there was considerable need for technical user support. Areas where information systems can be used to make health promotion practice more efficient were identified, and patterns of computers usage were described.     

上海市杨浦区1996～2001年居民意外伤害死亡分析

[目的 ]　了解健康教育对意外伤害死亡率的影响 ,明确预防意外伤害的重点内容。　 [方法 ]　分析杨浦区1996～ 2 0 0 1年意外伤害死亡变化情况。　 [结果 ]　 1996～ 1998年意外伤害死亡率逐年上升 ,分别为 48.88/ 10万、5 1.83 / 10万和 5 5 .3 5 / 10万 ,1999～ 2 0 0 1年逐年下降 ,分别为 48.11/ 10万、3 9.66/ 10万和 2 7.45 / 10万 ;意外伤害死亡原因主要为意外跌落、交通事故和自杀 ;不同年龄、不同职业意外伤害死亡率构成不同。　 [结论 ]　健康宣教在一定程度上可以降低意外伤害死亡率 ,意外跌落、交通事故、自杀应成为意外伤害预防的重点。     

Development of a Swedish bicycle helmet promotion programme--one decade of experiences

OBJECTIVE: to describe 10 years of experiences of the Swedish National Bicycle Safety Programme which started during 1990 as part of an initiative taken by the World Health Organization (WHO). In relation to WHO's efforts with regard to accident and injury prevention, a global programme to increase helmet-wearing by two-wheel riders was launched. The idea was to introduce a simple 'vaccine' for everyone that was achievable at a low cost. The Swedish initiative was taken up by the Karolinska Institute and the National Institute of Public Health. METHOD: at an operational level, all available methods and data sources were utilized in the programme: surveillance of injuries, provision of information and advice, training and supervision, environment and product improvements, and legislation. RESULTS: considerable progress has been made in reducing bicycle-related injuries in Sweden over the last two decades. Cycling injuries among the elderly must be a matter of particular concern. CONCLUSIONS: our 10 years of experiences from a bicycle helmet promotion programme lead to the conclusion that there is a case for mandatory helmet wearing, as one of the most important strategies on the national level. But regional and community-based efforts will still need to be more comprehensive. Besides this, efforts must be made to intensify the activities of parties already involved in prevention programmes. New target groups must be approached, such as immigrants, vulnerable social groups, and teenagers. Sustainability of the Swedish Bicycle Helmet Initiative Group, including continued participation of group members and organizations, is the key--in the long term--to protecting Swedish bicyclists against head injuries.     

Quality indicators for implementation of safety promotion: towards valid and reliable global certification of local programmes

The theoretical underpinnings of safety promotion have not yet been integrated with implementation practice to ascertain between-community programme quality. This study sets out to develop a framework for verifying of the quality of community-based safety-promotion programmes in the global context. We analysed the certification indicators deployed in the international Safe Community movement in light of systems theory. Data were collected from focus group interviews with representatives from 10 certified Swedish communities and then analysed by qualitative methods. The community representatives were found to have used the present indicators mainly for marketing the safety-promotion concept to stakeholders rather than as benchmarks for safety practice. When appraised in regard to systems theory, it was found that the indicators did not cover important aspects of health-services implementation. Attainment of outcomes at the population level was not included. Consequently, that information about programme effects in high-risk groups and in risk environments could be neglected. We conclude that programme processes and outcomes at both organisational and population levels must be assessed when the quality of safety-promotion programmes is being certified. A revised set of indicators for certification of safety-promotion programmes fulfilling these criteria is presented.     

杭州市电动自行车伤害状况及影响因素

在中国大陆,电动自行车使用量急剧上升,到2007年已有3000多万辆,相关交通事故也不断增加,电动自行车伤害成为一个重要公共卫生问题。杭州市电动自行车数量快速增长,到2007年底已有66万辆,电动自行车数量增多原因较为复杂。2010年杭州市涉及电动自行车伤害死亡人数占交通事故死亡人数比例达23．39％,颅脑损伤是造成电动自行车驾驶员死亡的主要原因。电动自行车伤害发生影响因素涉及多个方面。本研究拟通过相关分析,针对性地提出预防措施,如加强交通管理,社会宣传含社区教育、厂商技术改进、骑车人和行人自我保护等,以期对电动自行车伤害防制提供有益参考。     

Differences in child injury hospitalizations in Sweden: the use of time-trend analysis to compare various community injury-prevention approaches

AIM: Sweden's child injury fatality rates are among the lowest in the world. The country has engaged in a number of community injury-prevention programmes. The purpose of this study was to compare child injury hospitalization rates from the Skaraborg District with the rest of Sweden. Our study hypothesis was that municipalities that offered comprehensive child injury-prevention programmes would see significant decreases in their child injury hospitalization rates, compared with other areas. METHODS: The study areas comprised three groups, consisting of municipalities in Skaraborg that had adapted the Safe Communities approach to injury prevention programmes, other municipalities in the District, and the rest of Sweden. The aim of the analysis was twofold: (1) to fit time trends for children's injuries in various areas in an integrated manner; and (2) to compare time trends across locations between community safety-promotion programmes as well as with the control areas. Panel data models and parametric splines were used. RESULTS: There were differences between incidence rates in the study areas and with regard to gender. There was a steep decrease in injury rates in one of the Safe Communities study areas for both genders. CONCLUSIONS: The methods applied in this analysis reveal more detailed and sophisticated time trends than the usual simple linear regression approach. The model provided a clearer view of the interactions of gender, area, and time as they impacted on children's injuries, and allowed for better insight into the impact of safety programmes.     

Promoting job safety for workers with intellectual disabilities: the staying safe at work training curriculum

In the United States, approximately 125,000 people with disabilities are employed through Community Rehabilitation Programs in manufacturing, assembly, and service jobs. These jobs have significant hazards and, consequently, the workers are at risk of injury. Training that empowers workers to participate in prevention efforts can help reduce work-related injuries. In general this kind of health and safety training in the United States is limited. It is even more so for workers with intellectual disabilities, in part because there have not been programs for teaching individuals with cognitive challenges health and safety skills, adapted to their learning needs. This paper describes the development and promotion of the Staying Safe at Work curriculum of UC Berkeley's Labor Occupational Health Program, which is designed for use by support agencies and employers of workers with intellectual disabilities. The goal of this program is to teach these workers essential occupational safety and health skills in a manner they can understand.     

1990年与2013年中国人群道路伤害疾病负担分析

目的 了解我国道路伤害流行状况。方法 利用2013年全球疾病负担数据,采用死亡率、伤残调整寿命年（DALY）、过早死亡损失寿命年（YLL）和伤残损失寿命年（YLD）等疾病负担指标,对我国1990年与2013年间道路伤害疾病负担变化情况进行描述。结果 2013年我国因道路伤害死亡313 676人,死亡率、DALY率、YLL率、YLD率分别为22.52/10万、1 076.54/10万、971.21/10万和105.34/10万。男性道路伤害死亡率、YLL率和YLD率均高于女性;行人的道路伤害死亡率、YLL率和YLD率均高于其他类型道路使用者;15~49岁人群道路伤害疾病负担高于其他年龄组。与1990年相比,2013年我国人群道路伤害死亡率升高了0.54/10万,男性道路伤害死亡率升高了2.34/10万,行人死亡率升高了0.81/10万;我国人群道路伤害DALY率、YLL率和YLD率分别降低了164.21/10万、115.06/10万和49.06/10万。结论 过去20年,我国道路伤害防控工作已经取得了一定成效,道路伤害疾病负担总体呈下降趋势。男性、青壮年、行人是未来我国道路伤害防控工作需要关注的重点人群。     

The process and impact of implementing injury prevention projects in smaller communities in New Zealand

It has been argued that developing community projects is an effective means by which to reduce injury. Two pilot community injury prevention projects (CIPPs) were established in small communities in New Zealand based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Safe Community model. The process and impact of the implementation of these CIPPs was monitored over 3 years. The setting was two small New Zealand communities with populations of <10 000. An external process and impact evaluation was conducted, with data gathered from written documentation, informant interviews and observation. The WHO Safe Community criteria formed the basis of the evaluation framework used. Other essential factors included were identified through the literature and the projects themselves. Findings from each CIPP were considered independently, followed by an examination of the differences observed. The findings from the evaluation of the implementation of these CIPPs are reported in relation to the themes identified in the evaluation framework, namely: community context, ownership and participation, focus and planning, data collection, leadership, management, sustainability and external links. Despite the different contexts, a common conclusion was that if the CIPPs' success was dependent on achieving a meaningful reduction of injury, they were unlikely to succeed. There were, however, a number of strategies and outputs for achieving change that could contribute to increasing safety for the population of interest. These were closely linked to community development strategies and needed greater acknowledgement in the evolution of the CIPPs. Critical to the development of the CIPPs were community capacity and the context in which the projects were operating. These conclusions are likely to apply to other projects in such settings, irrespective of the health outcomes sought.     

A cost-benefit analysis of the community-based injury prevention programme in Motala, Sweden--a WHO Safe Community

The objective in this study was to calculate costs and benefits caused by a safe community injury prevention programme in Motala, Sweden. The study design was a quasi-experimental evaluation involving an intervention population and a non-random control population. All injuries were recorded before and after an intervention programme. The presented calculations show that costs of injuries in a societal perspective decreased from 116 million Swedish Crowns (SEK) to 96 million SEK, while the cost for the intervention was estimated at approximately 10 million SEK. Thus, the safe community injury prevention programme in Motala should be judged as cost-effective.     

Community-based childhood injury prevention interventions: what works?

Unintentional injury, with its broad range of injury types, possible countermeasures, and great number of agencies involved in its prevention, lends itself to community-based approaches. In this paper we examine 10 community-based injury prevention programmes that have targeted childhood injury prevention and have been evaluated using some measure of outcome. We investigate the nature of the intervention, targeting, the length of programmes and multi-agency involvement. We also consider how the programmes have been evaluated, and what outcome, impact and process measures have been used. The information on the intervention and how it was evaluated, how effective the programme was, and the strength of the evidence, is summarized in tabular form. There is increasing evidence emerging about the effectiveness of community-based approaches in injury prevention. Important elements of such approaches are long-term strategy, effective focused leadership, multi-agency collaboration, tailoring to the needs of the local community, the use of local injury surveillance, and time to coordinate existing and develop new local networks. We recommend that there is a need to develop indicators to assess and monitor a culture of safety, programme sustainability and long-term community involvement.     

Unintentional home-related injuries in the Islamic Republic of Iran: findings from the first year of a national programme

BACKGROUND: As elsewhere, unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death in Iran, but non-fatal injuries occurring in the home environment have not been analysed. OBJECTIVES: The primary purposes of this study were to describe the pattern of home-related injuries and to obtain incidence rates for their determinants in order to monitor intervention programmes for preventive purposes. METHODS: A surveillance system for home-related injuries in selected rural and urban areas was established for the systematic collection of data. The information obtained covers emergency department visits and health services provided between March 1998 and March 1999. RESULTS: In total, 79,723 unintentional home-related injuries were reported, primarily burns (49%, incidence of 19/10,000 rural and 13/10,000 urban inhabitants) and lacerations/cuts caused by contact with sharp instruments (30%, incidence of 8.4/10,000 rural and 11/10,000 urban inhabitants). Injury rates were highest among children aged 0--4 years and lowest among the elderly (60 years or over). Rates varied between the sexes; among children under 15 years of age, most patients were male, but the opposite applied to all groups >15 years of age. Leading causes of death were burns, falls and poisoning among 628 people who died because of home-related injuries. CONCLUSIONS: The injury pattern found in this study is generally similar to that of many other countries, with the striking exception of burns. Other reports focus on the same problem, particularly with regard to Iran. The prevention of burns should be an important feature of any national injury prevention programme. Due to the varied causes of home-related injuries in Iran, interventions should be targeted at people at the greatest risk, namely children. Home visitation as a tool for face-to-face training with a sharper focus on burns, falls and poisoning prevention can be recommended as a part of primary health care policy. Greater investment in surveillance also provides a way of reducing the threat of injury in the community.     

The role of NGOs in child injury prevention: An organizational assessment of one network of NGOs

Unintentional injuries are estimated to claim the lives of more than 875,000 children each year; millions more live with long-term consequences and permanent disabilities. The epidemiology of injuries has become clearer in the past decade. NGOs need to work in concert with each other to address the global burden of injuries by sharing information. Several NGOs have heeded this call, and the field has seen the emergence of global organizations aimed at highlighting the burden of injuries and streamlining injury prevention activities worldwide. Safe Kids Worldwide Inc. (SKWW) is a global network in 16 countries whose mission is to address the burden of injuries in children under 15 by harnessing the potential of local NGOs. An organizational assessment was conducted of SKWW which included structured organizational assessment, functional organizational mapping and contextual analysis that allowed for an in-depth examination of the strengths and challenges of SKWW's injury prevention approach. Over one year, primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed from headquarters and individual country offices. SKWW appears to be an effective model and has experienced a strong momentum and growth over the last two decades. Global NGOs that address the burden of injuries should start by defining a clear and universal strategic goal, build on local successes, maximize their strengths, and create avenues for stronger country engagement.     

Unintentional injury mortality in India, 2005: Nationally representative mortality survey of 1.1 million homes

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Unintentional injuries are an important cause of death in India. However, no reliable nationally representative estimates of unintentional injury deaths are available. Thus, we examined unintentional injury deaths in a nationally representative mortality survey. METHODS: Trained field staff interviewed a living relative of those who had died during 2001-03. The verbal autopsy reports were sent to two of the130 trained physicians, who independently assigned an ICD-10 code to each death. Discrepancies were resolved through reconciliation and adjudication. Proportionate cause specific mortality was used to produce national unintentional injury mortality estimates based on United Nations population and death estimates. RESULTS: In 2005, unintentional injury caused 648 000 deaths (7% of all deaths; 58/100 000 population). Unintentional injury mortality rates were higher among males than females, and in rural versus urban areas. Road traffic injuries (185 000 deaths; 29% of all unintentional injury deaths), falls (160 000 deaths, 25%) and drowning (73 000 deaths, 11%) were the three leading causes of unintentional injury mortality, with fire-related injury causing 5% of these deaths. The highest unintentional mortality rates were in those aged 70 years or older (410/100 000). CONCLUSIONS: These direct estimates of unintentional injury deaths in India (0.6 million) are lower than WHO indirect estimates (0.8 million), but double the estimates which rely on police reports (0.3 million). Importantly, they revise upward the mortality due to falls, particularly in the elderly, and revise downward mortality due to fires. Ongoing monitoring of injury mortality will enable development of evidence based injury prevention programs.     

Redesigning the AIDS response for long-term impact

Three decades since the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was identified, the pandemic of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has developed into diverse epidemics around the world. In many populations, HIV infection has become endemic. While there is good progress on expanding access to treatment, with an estimated 6.6 million people on antiretroviral therapy at the end of 2010, prevention efforts are still highly inadequate with 2.6 million new infections occurring in 2009. Demand for treatment is increasing while funding is becoming more scarce and activism is waning. In 2007, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) established an independent forum called aids2031 to take a critical look at the global HIV/AIDS response. This paper outlines four key areas for a re-designed AIDS response based on the deliberations of this initiative and on the learning and experience of the first three decades of the epidemic: (i) a new culture of knowledge generation and utilization; (ii) transformed prevention and treatment to increase effectiveness; (iii) increased efficiency through better management and maximizing synergies with other programmes; and (iv) investment for the long term. Across all these areas is a strong emphasis on local capacity building, leadership, programme priorities and budgets.