Understanding causes and prevention
Local commissioning decisions need to be based on good evidence such as the information contained in Joint Strategic Needs Assessments. In this section we highlight useful sources of data and information on childhood injuries and explain how intervention works, to will help you design effective prevention programmes.
In this section
- Behaviour change and insight
- Levels of intervention
- Headline interventions
- Success factors and evaluation
Causes of child accidents
The leading causes of childhood injuries are transport accidents and falls. You can find lots of information about these and other causes of childhood injuries in Common causes of child accidents.
CAPT practitioner guides and factsheets provide further information on the leading causes of childhood injury, while the NICE public health guidance on unintentional injury includes evidence-based recommended action for the home, the roads and outdoor play and leisure.
Where to find injury data and information
A picture of local child injury facts and figures, and emerging trends, can be compiled from a number of sources, supported by an analysis of wider demographic, social, environmental and community factors. Our data and statistics section has information on where you can go to find data on accident and injury rates in your region. We’re also developing a new online tool to help you find local and national data and information on childhood injuries.
Building on available data sources, other issues for strategy development may include the following.
- Information on knowledge levels of accident prevention and the consequences of injury. For example, parent’s awareness of risks to young children from bath water and hot drink burns and scalds.
- What safety equipment do families use? Has a ‘safe-at-home’ programme been delivered and what lessons have been learnt through home safety checks, training and education?
- What can we learn from local surveys and ‘customer insight’? For example, views on road safety and local play facilities. There are a number of methods for gathering local intelligence and community insight. Some of these can be found in the Local Government Improvement and Development community of practice on Better Community Engagement and Empowerment.
External links to other sites and policies were correct as of December 2011.
The Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) is the UK's leading charity working to reduce the number of children and young people killed, disabled or seriously injured in accidents.