There are many definitions of injury used in the literature. The definition of injury is important as it helps to define what you will be working on, where you can make a change and what information you will need to collect to determine if your injury prevention work has been effective.
An injury is damage to a person's body in a physical sense such as a graze, bruise, sprain, strain, broken bone, etc.
The damage to the body may be as a result of contact between a person and:
An injury can cause death (fatal), or be non-fatal and cause injury on a scale of:
Injury is defined as occurring in a short period of time as opposed to health problems caused by:
However, intentional injury can be a one off event as in assault or it can become a vicious cycle of repeated events over a long period of time.
The definition of injury is important as it outlines what areas you will be working on. Most definitions of injury include only the physical aspects of injury and how serious the injury is. Subsequently people often only work to reduce the number of physical injuries occurring and the seriousness of the injury. However, it is also important to take into consideration the emotional, psychological, functional ability and economic consequences, and their ongoing impact to the injured person, their family and the health care system. You may not be able to address all these issues in your project/program but looking at these aspects of injury when you define the problem may give you a fuller view of the real injury issue.
Injury to a person's body can be caused on purpose or not on purpose. This intent of an injury is categorised in the following ways:
Under this definition medical injuries (i.e. those that are a result of complications of medical or cosmetic surgery or complications of medical care) are excluded.
Injury can therefore include:
Intentional and unintentional injuries are often dealt with by different government departments and organisations that do not always integrate or collaborate on injury issues. When the issue of the intent of an injury is taken into consideration, sometimes it is not clear how the intent becomes a critical element for the design of injury prevention activities. For example, it has been shown that parenting courses or home visitation programmes for teenage parents can help reduce both child injuries from falls off furniture (unintentional injury) and child abuse (intentional injury) [4]. Sometimes it is hard to easily classify injuries as deliberate or not.
Injury prevention works on the belief that prevention is better than cure. It is better for the person, their family and friends and less costly for society and the health care system to prevent a problem or injury from occurring than to treat and rehabilitate after an injury. [4] [6]
Injury prevention is about reducing the:
In other words, injury prevention is about reducing the incidence and severity of injuries.
Injury prevention can occur at a number of different phases including:
For further details on preventing injuries at different phases of the injury event go to Haddon's Matrix
"Safety is a state in which hazards and conditions leading to physical injury, psychological or material harm are controlled in order to preserve the health and well-being of individuals and the community. It is an essential resource for everyday life, needed by individuals and communities to realise their aspirations". [7]
"Because health and safety are fundamental rights of human beings, safety is a prerequisite for the maintenance and improvement of the health and welfare of any population. It is a basic need of human beings" [7] that enables people to function at optimal levels. Safety cannot be defined in absolute terms. Safety is a dynamic state and is not merely reflected by the absence of injuries and threats. Safety can include:
Safety cannot be defined in absolute terms. Safety is a dynamic state and is not merely reflected by the absence of injuries and threats. Safety promotion can be defined as a process that aims to ensure the presence, and maintain the conditions, that are necessary to reach and sustain an optimal level of safety. Organised efforts by individuals, organisations, communities and nations are needed to achieve that ultimate goal. Structural and behavioural changes are effected to create sustained safety supportive environments. There are various levels and processes involved in safety. As a result, there may be interaction between societal/individual levels and the process (sometimes called safety promotion) [7].
Safety promotion is about achieving a positive culture of safety 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This means that individuals, families, cultures, organisations, workplaces and governments all share the same belief that injuries are preventable and that it is worthwhile to invest time, money, energy and resources into preventing injuries and promoting safety. [9]
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