This paper explores the barriers and opportunities in the UK to implementing injury prevention for children and young people more widely and systematically. It first examines the present state of injury prevention in the UK at national and local levels. This leads to the argument that there would be significant benefits from having national lead agencies for this problem together with improved local co-ordination. In this connection, there is a discussion of: (1) strategy development at national and local levels; (2) capacity building; (3) methods to bridge the gap between research and practice; (4) multiagency and health alliance approaches; and (5) the need for good data. Three examples are then presented. The recipe for injury prevention in the primary health care setting is examined. A local authority approach to promoting cycle helmet use is described; this programme in Reading, England involved several agencies and collaborators, and had a sound basis in research, accessible data, a well-structured evaluation, and a planned dissemination strategy. A multiagency safety community strategy, applied to child safety issues, is also described. The authors recommend that government demonstrates commitment to injury prevention, improves co-ordination nationally and locally, and promotes evidence-based policy. For the covering abstract see IRRD E100681.
Abstract