Injury, unintentional or intentional, is the largest single cause of mortality in children and young people. Although the subject has been neglected in the past, governments, professionals and public health agencies around the world now recognize the huge toll of avoidable suffering and expenditure that injuries cause. Moreover, such injuries are strongly socially patterned, disproportionately affecting disadvantaged individuals, families and communities, and thereby contributing to health inequalities. The result is that injury prevention is rising up the public health policy agenda.
Injuries are not random events. They are predictable and avoidable, perhaps to a greater extent than most other causes of mortality and morbidity in the early stages of human life. Over the past few decades, a formidable amount of research evidence has accumulated that is available to guide practitioners and policy makers. Although more research is always required, the full implementation of the existing body of evidence could reduce the incidence and impact of injuries substantially.
Acknowledgements vii
Preface ix
Glossary of Terms xi
Section 1 Principles of Injury Prevention
1 Introduction, concepts, definitions, history 3
2 Epidemiology and natural history of injury 12
3 Preventive approaches to injury 44
4 Implementation and evaluation 67
Section 2 Practice of Injury Prevention
5 From theory to practice 79
6 Implementing unintentional injury prevention 87
7 Implementing intentional injury prevention 121
8 Combined public health and clinical approaches 138
Section 3 The Future
9 Changing patterns of health and disease 151
10 Injury prevention in a changing world 158
11 The growing role of knowledge in injury prevention 166
12 Ethical aspects of injury prevention 173
Key messages of the book 181
References 187
Web-based sources of further information 194
Index 195
Overview
Injury, unintentional or intentional, is the largest single cause of mortality in children and young people. Although the subject has been neglected in the past, governments, professionals and public health agencies around the world now recognize the huge toll of avoidable suffering and expenditure that injuries cause. Moreover, such injuries are strongly socially patterned, disproportionately affecting disadvantaged individuals, families and communities, and thereby contributing to health inequalities. The ...