This paper reviews the broad approaches to prevention of injuries to children and young people in the UK, discusses the specific interventions and methods that have proven effective, presents the broader context of policies and cultures affecting injury, and considers what is still required for more effective preventive action in the UK. The three broad approaches to injury prevention, which in practice have considerable overlap, are education, environmental modification, and legislation and its enforcement. The section on effective interventions and methods reviews the available evidence, and summarises what has been found to work in the road, home, leisure, and work environments, and in broader-based community interventions. In the road environment, it examines interventions to prevent injuries to pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and car occupants. In a wider context, transport, land use, housing, social, and fiscal policies all affect injury. National and local policies influence road traffic, and thus road accidents. The Department of Transport is developing walking and cycling strategies and new targets to reduce injuries. The paper lists injury interventions proven to be effective, including educational campaigns to increase the use of vehicle safety devices and pedestrian education. For the covering abstract see IRRD E100681.
Abstract