WHO Safe Community Research Articles

Home Injury Prevention Attitude and Performance: A Community-Based Study in a WHO Safe Community

Home Injury Prevention Attitude and Performance: A Community-Based Study in a WHO Safe Community

An observational study of secondary task engagement while driving on urban streets in Iranian Safe Communities

In Iran the prevalence of traffic injuries and death from vehicle collisions are high. Driver engagement in non-driving-related tasks has been previously identified as an important contributing factor to crashes. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of drivers’ engagement in potentially distracting activities in Kashmar, Khalilabad and Bardaskan, which are three Iranian International Safe Communities. Observations took place at 12 randomly selected roadside locations in each city, which were comprised of six main streets and six side streets. In total 7979 drivers were observed. The prevalence rates of potentially distracting activities in Kashmar, Khalilabad and Bardaskan were 24.3%, 26% and 24.9%, respectively. In both Kashmar and Khalilabad the most frequently observed secondary tasks were drivers talking to passengers (10.6% and 11.5%, respectively) followed by mobile phone use (3.4% and 4.0%, respectively). Although in Bardaskan the most commonly observed secondary task was also talking to passengers (12.7%), the second most common was reaching for an object (3.2%). In all three cities younger drivers were significantly more likely to be observed engaged in a secondary task while driving. Furthermore, involvement in secondary tasks while driving was significantly higher amongst females and those driving on a working day. The percentage of drivers identified as potentially distracted in these three Safe Communities was worryingly high. Thus, interventions should be integrated into the WHO Safe Community network in these cities, including: education regarding the risks associated with engaging in secondary activities while driving, law enforcement, tougher legislation, periodic assessment, raising public awareness, as well as attracting political and social support.

THE IMPACT OF SAFE COMMUNITY INITIATIVES ON HELMET WEARING RATE AND MOTORCYCLISTS' DEATH IN 14 CITES OF IRAN

BackgroundMotorcycles' riders have the highest public health burden. Since helmet reduces the risk of death by 42% to 69% it seems that the main contributing factors is improper helmet usage...

Impact of social standing on traffic injury prevention in a WHO safe community

The objective of the current study was to evaluate outcomes of a program to prevent traffic injuries among the different social strata under WHO Safe Community Program. A quasi-experimental design was used, with pre- and post-implementation registrations in the program implementation area (population 41,000) and in a neighbouring control municipality (population 26,000) in ?sterg?tland County, Sweden. The traffic injury rate in the not vocationally active households was twice than employed or self-employed households in the intervention area. In the employed and not vocationally active households, males showed higher injury rates than females in both areas. In the self-employed households females exhibited higher injury rates than males in the intervention area. Males from not vocationally active households displayed the highest post-intervention injury rate in both the intervention and control areas. After 6 years of Safe Community program activity, the injury rates for males in employed category, injury rates for females in self-employed category, and males/females in non- vocationally active category displayed a decreasing trend in the intervention area. However, in the control area injury rate decreased only for males of employed households. The study indicated that there was almost no change in injury rates in the control area. Reduction of traffic injuries in the intervention area between 1983 and 1989 was likely to be attributable to the success of safety promotion program. Therefore, the current study concludes that Safe Community program seems to be successful for reducing traffic injuries in different social strata.

Governance and implementation of sports safety practices by municipal offices in Swedish communities

The objective of this study was to explore whether all-purpose health or safety promotion programmes and sports safety policies affect sports safety practices in local communities. Case study research methods were used to compare sports safety activities among offices in 73 Swedish municipalities; 28 with ongoing health or safety promotion programmes and 45 controls. The offices in municipalities with the WHO Healthy Cities (HC) or Safe Communities programmes were more likely to perform frequent inspections of sports facilities, and offices in the WHO HC programme were more likely to involve sports clubs in inspections. More than every second, property management office and environmental protection office conducted sports safety inspections compared with less than one in four planning offices and social welfare offices. It is concluded that all-purpose health and safety promotion programmes can reach out to have an effect on sports safety practices in local communities. These safety practices also reflect administrative work routines and managerial traditions.

The impact of child safety promotion on different social strata in a WHO Safe Community

:Background:The objective of the current study was to evaluate outcomes of a program to prevent severe and less severe unintentional child injuries among the different social strata under WHO Safe Community program. Specifically, the aim was to study effectiveness of Safe Community program for reducing child injury.Methods:A quasi-experimental design was used, with pre- and post-implementation registrations covering the children (0 -15 years) in the program implementation area (population 41,000) and in a neighboring control municipality (population 26,000) in Östergötland County, Sweden.Results:Boys from not vocationally active households displayed the highest pre-intervention injury rate in both the control and intervention areas. Also in households in which the vocationally significant member was employed, boys showed higher injury rates than girls. Households in which the vocationally significant member was self-employed, girls exhibited higher injury rates than boys in the intervention area. After 6 years of program activity, the injury rates for boys and girls in employed category and injury rates for girls in self-employed category displayed a decreasing trend in the intervention area. However, in the control area injury rate decreased only for boys of employed families.Conclusions:The study indicated that almost no changes in injury rates in the control area suggested that the reduction of child injuries in the intervention area between 1983 and 1989 was likely to be attributable to the safety promotion program. Therefore, the current study indicates that Safe Community program seems to be successful for reducing child injuries.

The ‘WHO Safe Communities’ Model for the Prevention of Injury in Whole Populations: A Review Summary

The ‘WHO Safe Communities’ Model for the Prevention of Injury in Whole Populations: A Review Summary

A controlled evaluation of the WHO Safe Communities model approach to injury prevention: increasing child restraint use in motor vehicles

ObjectiveTo measure the effect of the WHO Safe Communities model approach to increasing child restraint use in motor vehicles.DesignPre- and post-intervention observations of restraint use in motor vehicles in several...

A controlled evaluation of the WHO safe communities model approach to injury prevention: increasing child restraint use in motor vehicles

ObjectiveWe sought to measure the effectiveness of the WHO Safe Communities Model approach to increase child restraint use in motor vehicles. The effort involved schools, day care centres, neighbourhoods and...

IGR of safety policy in Korea

BackgroundPartnership for safety across sectors is suggested as one of the principles of safe community. IGR (intergovernmental relationships) is very important to improve safety equality among regions and people within...

Does the perceived neighborhood reputation contribute to neighborhood differences in social trust and residential wellbeing?

AbstractThe authors used a mixed methods approach to examine if the reputation of a housing area has bearing on residential wellbeing and social trust in three pairs of socioeconomically contrasting neighborhoods in a Swedish urban municipality. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed to examine associations between area reputation and residential wellbeing and social trust, controlling for the random effect of neighborhood and individual level sociodemographic factors. Qualitative data were analyzed to identify mechanisms of how neighborhood reputations were established. The housing area reputation was found to be strongly associated with wellbeing and social trust. The area reputation also seemed to be a determinant of position in the local social structure; residents were found to position themselves in a rank order. The results suggest that area reputation is an important and probably underestimated dimension in the development of residential wellbeing and social trust in housing. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

WHO Safe Communities – should we expand the definition of a ‘community’?

The WHO Safe Communities (WHOSC) model is a community-based model designed to promote safety and work towards the prevention of injuries, violence, suicide and natural disasters (Karolinska Institu...

Effectiveness of community-based injury prevention: Long-term injury rate levels, changes, and trends for 14 Swedish WHO-designated Safe Communities

This study investigates the injury rate levels, changes, and trends between 1987 and 2002 for the 14 Swedish municipalities designated as WHO Safe Communities. The injury rate was defined as the number of injured patients discharged from hospital per 1000 persons. Injury rates were age standardised. Each municipality was compared with its respective municipality group, according to a classification of Sweden's 288 municipalities into nine groups based on numerous structural parameters. The average injury rate levels for the 14 WHO-designated Safe Community municipalities ranged from 11.54 to 19.09 per 1000 population during the study period, which was defined as the time period during which a municipality's injury prevention program has been operational. Eleven of 14 municipalities had higher levels than their corresponding municipality groups. Five of the 14 municipalities “outperformed” their respective municipality groups and achieved a greater relative injury rate decrease during the study period. The trends for the 14 municipalities in relation to their municipality groups showed an inconsistent pattern, with only four municipalities exhibiting overall favourable trends for the study period.

The impact of home safety promotion on different social strata in a WHO safe community

Few studies have investigated the impact of home safety promotion programmes on different social strata. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of effects of a community-based home safety programme on home injury rates among families with different connections to the labour market. A quasi-experimental design was used, with pre- and post-implementation registrations covering the total populations below 65 years of age in the programme implementation area (population 41,000) and in a neighbouring comparison municipality (population 26,000) in Ostergötland County, Sweden. In the intervention and comparison areas, households in which the adults were not vocationally active displayed the highest rates of home injury. After 6 years of programme activity, the home injury rates for males and females in all social status categories displayed a decreasing trend in the intervention area. The opposite was true for the comparison area, i.e. the incidence of injury increased, with the exception of females in non-vocationally active households. The decline in injury rates in the intervention area was statistically significant for males and females in the employed category and for males in the non-vocationally active category. Changes in injury rates in the comparison area were not statistically significant. The programme was partially successful in that it reduced the injury rate in non-vocationally active households, but it did not influence the injury rate in the employed households. The study design did not allow for conclusions regarding why the post-intervention injury rates remained higher in non-vocationally active households. Further research on the association between the incidence of home injury and socio-economic factors is warranted.

Using local injury surveillance for community-based injury prevention: an analysis of Scandinavian WHO Safe Community and Canadian Safe Community Foundation programmes

Injury surveillance is widely recognized as a critical prerequisite for effective injury prevention, yet few studies have investigated its use by community-based injury prevention programmes. This study examined the extent to which local injury data were collected, documented, analysed, linked to injury prevention action and used for evaluation among WHO Safe Communities in Scandinavia (25 programmes) and the Canadian Safe Community Foundation (SCF) network (16 programmes). For each programme, a key informant with relevant local knowledge was selected to respond to an emailed questionnaire. The study demonstrates that community-based injury prevention programmes experience difficulties accessing and effectively utilizing local injury surveillance data. The findings suggest that the responding SCF programmes approach injury prevention more scientifically than the Scandinavian WHO-designated Safe Community programmes, by making greater use of injury surveillance for assessment, integration into prevention strategies and measures, and evaluation. Despite study limitations, such as the low response rate among Canadian programmes and a large number of non-responses to two questions, the results highlight the importance of, and need for, greater use of local injury surveillance.

Strategies and goals of community-based injury prevention programmes – a mixed-methods study of 25 Scandinavian WHO Safe Communities

Documentation and analysis of prevention goals and interventions employed by community-based injury prevention programmes is vital to advance the knowledge and understanding of synergistic multi-strategy injury prevention programmes. This study examined the goals and interventions of 25 Scandinavian community-based injury prevention programmes in WHO-designated Safe Communities. Collection and analysis of quantitative data from survey questionnaires to the programme coordinators was followed by collection and analysis of qualitative data from structured interviews with programme coordinators from eight of the programmes. The results demonstrated that the programmes under study predominantly relied on ‘intuitive’ and subjective methods for selecting interventions. The programmes largely failed to transform injury surveillance data into information and knowledge that could prioritize community safety strategies and measures, due to insufficient time and personnel resources. The results demonstrated the importance of combining passive approaches with active interventions. Educational efforts were considered essential to the programmes. The programmes preferred to rely on broadly stated goals rather than specific objectives.

Impact of Social Standing on Sports Injury Prevention in a WHO Safe Community: Intervention Outcome by Household Employment Contract and Type of Sport

Impact of Social Standing on Sports Injury Prevention in a WHO Safe Community: Intervention Outcome by Household Employment Contract and Type of Sport

Impact of social standing on sports injury prevention in a WHO safe community: intervention outcome by household employment contract and type of sport

Objectives: As physical activity is promoted as part of a healthy lifestyle, sports injuries are becoming an important public health concern in many countries. The objective of this study is...

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

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. 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. 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. 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.

Injury status and perspectives on developing community safety promotion in China.

The objective of this paper is to introduce the epidemiology of injuries in China, and then consider the development of safe communities in regard to injury prevention and safety promotion. The disease spectrum has changed in recent decades in the People's Republic of China. Both in cities and rural areas, injury has become the fifth leading cause of death. At least 800 000 people die from injury each year, and 50 million non-fatal injuries occur, of which 2.3 million lead to disability of varying degrees of severity. The average injury-related death rate in China from 1990 to 1997 was 66 per 100 000, which accounts for 11% of total deaths. The potential years of life lost (PYLL) of injury accounts for 24% of the total, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) account for 17%. Main injury causes of death, in descending order, are: suicide, traffic accident, drowning, falling, poisoning, homicide, burn and scald, and iatrogenic injury. Considering China's current injury status and its rapid societal change, injury prevention and safety promotion need to be strengthened further, and there is a special need for the development of Safe Communities programmes. The prevention of injuries through safety promotion has been increasingly focussed on over recent decades. The WHO Safe Community model is recognized as representing an effective and long-term approach to the prevention of injuries at a local level, and has been beneficially applied all over the world. A programme may cover several aspects of injury prevention and safety promotion simultaneously, or only include one or two aspects. In a Safe Community programme in China, children, the elderly, cyclists and their passengers, and farmers should be among the prioritized target populations. However, multi-focussed inter-sectoral programmes have been shown to have additional effects to distinct sectoral programmes.