Federal, state and local health agencies have been involved sporadically over the past 50 years in childhood injury prevention and control activities. Most initiatives have resulted from current perceptions of the causes of injury. As those perceptions have changed, however, there has been limited review or use of extensive published work describing previous program successes and failures. Nor has there been much systematic attempt to integrate applied principles and practices into a broader framework for consideration by health agencies. This article provides a priori historical experiences and illustrations of several roles played by health practitioners in applied injury prevention. Various state and local applied models are reviewed and assessed for their strengths and weaknesses. Suggested guidelines for program management are provided for both the newcomer and the veteran. Sanitarians and other health practioners can use these data to better reduce the intentional and non-intentional injury epidemic. (A)
Abstract