Childhood Communicable disease control and injury prevention

• Public health approach to unintentional childhood injury

  • describes epidemiology of unintentional childhood injury
  • identifies effective interventions
  • develops and implements policies and strategies to reduce unintentional childhood injuries
  • monitors effectiveness of actions
• Public health approach to preventing injury

  • surveillance
  • identification of risk and protective factors
  • development of evaluation interventions
  • implementation
• Epidemiology - the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations and the application of this study to control of health problems
• Provision of free or low cost of safe interventions (often face-to-face) result in proportional increase in use of:

  • tap thermal regulators
  • smoke alarms
  • safe storing of medicines and cleaning products
  • fitted stair gates
  • power socket covers
  • some evidence that interventions reduce injury rates
  • greater reduction if intervention delivered at home, but not clear if low cost equipment reduces injury rates
• Agencies involved in injury prevention

  • NHS (acute (A+E), primary care, school nurses, commissioners)
  • local authorities (education, environmental health, housing, social services)
  • safeguarding children boards, family nurse partnership, home start
  • police and fire service
  • community/voluntary organisations
  • national surveillance
  • charity sector
• Professionals involved in injury prevention

  • parents
  • managers
  • planners
  • teachers/governors
  • doctors/nurses/health visitors
  • social workers
  • police
  • community workers
  • politicians