Child injury prevention: a survey of local authorities and health boards

Aims: Unintentional home injuries are a significant global public health issue and are a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Within each country, injuries disproportionately affect children from low income families. Recent guidance issued in the UK recommends actions to be taken by local authori...

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Main Authors: Chisholm, Anna, Watson, Michael Craig, Jones, Sarah J., Kendrick, Denise
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42367/
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author Chisholm, Anna
Watson, Michael Craig
Jones, Sarah J.
Kendrick, Denise
author_facet Chisholm, Anna
Watson, Michael Craig
Jones, Sarah J.
Kendrick, Denise
author_sort Chisholm, Anna
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Aims: Unintentional home injuries are a significant global public health issue and are a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Within each country, injuries disproportionately affect children from low income families. Recent guidance issued in the UK recommends actions to be taken by local authorities to reduce injury rates and inequalities. This study aimed to describe and quantify child home injury prevention activities of local authorities (LAs) in England and health boards (HBs) in Wales. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to Directors of Public Health (DsPH) in all 153 upper-tier LAs in England and 7 HBs in Wales. The questionnaire covered the five broad areas recommended for injury prevention activities by NICE guidelines. Results: A response rate of 58% was achieved. NICE guidance (75%) and Public Health England guidance (57%) were most commonly used to support child injury prevention decision making. Half (50%) of respondents had a child injury prevention alliance in their area. One fifth (19%) reported that their area had a written child injury prevention strategy. Fewer than half of responders provided training to practitioners about child unintentional injury prevention (43%), home safety assessments (43%) or an equipment scheme (43%). Of the 43% of areas with equipment schemes, most (59%) were small scale, supplying up to 200 families per year with equipment. Conclusions: Although some LAs/HBs show implementation of recent guidance on preventing home injuries in childhood, most do not. LAs/HBs are likely to need support to implement guidance in order that child injury rates and inequalities can be reduced.
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spelling nottingham-423672020-05-04T18:41:49Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42367/ Child injury prevention: a survey of local authorities and health boards Chisholm, Anna Watson, Michael Craig Jones, Sarah J. Kendrick, Denise Aims: Unintentional home injuries are a significant global public health issue and are a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Within each country, injuries disproportionately affect children from low income families. Recent guidance issued in the UK recommends actions to be taken by local authorities to reduce injury rates and inequalities. This study aimed to describe and quantify child home injury prevention activities of local authorities (LAs) in England and health boards (HBs) in Wales. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to Directors of Public Health (DsPH) in all 153 upper-tier LAs in England and 7 HBs in Wales. The questionnaire covered the five broad areas recommended for injury prevention activities by NICE guidelines. Results: A response rate of 58% was achieved. NICE guidance (75%) and Public Health England guidance (57%) were most commonly used to support child injury prevention decision making. Half (50%) of respondents had a child injury prevention alliance in their area. One fifth (19%) reported that their area had a written child injury prevention strategy. Fewer than half of responders provided training to practitioners about child unintentional injury prevention (43%), home safety assessments (43%) or an equipment scheme (43%). Of the 43% of areas with equipment schemes, most (59%) were small scale, supplying up to 200 families per year with equipment. Conclusions: Although some LAs/HBs show implementation of recent guidance on preventing home injuries in childhood, most do not. LAs/HBs are likely to need support to implement guidance in order that child injury rates and inequalities can be reduced. Taylor & Francis 2017-04-13 Article PeerReviewed Chisholm, Anna, Watson, Michael Craig, Jones, Sarah J. and Kendrick, Denise (2017) Child injury prevention: a survey of local authorities and health boards. International Journal of Health Promotion and Education, 55 (4). pp. 205-214. ISSN 2164-9545 local authorities health boards injury prevention national survey England and Wales http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14635240.2017.1312479 doi:10.1080/14635240.2017.1312479 doi:10.1080/14635240.2017.1312479
spellingShingle local authorities
health boards
injury prevention
national survey
England and Wales
Chisholm, Anna
Watson, Michael Craig
Jones, Sarah J.
Kendrick, Denise
Child injury prevention: a survey of local authorities and health boards
title Child injury prevention: a survey of local authorities and health boards
title_full Child injury prevention: a survey of local authorities and health boards
title_fullStr Child injury prevention: a survey of local authorities and health boards
title_full_unstemmed Child injury prevention: a survey of local authorities and health boards
title_short Child injury prevention: a survey of local authorities and health boards
title_sort child injury prevention: a survey of local authorities and health boards
topic local authorities
health boards
injury prevention
national survey
England and Wales
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42367/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42367/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42367/