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Communities and Schools Promoting Health
A Gateway to
information on comprehensive school health (CSH) and health promoting
schools (HPS) |
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Taken from The Economic Burden of Unintentional Injury in Canada Not surprisingly, a significant number of injuries occur at school where most children spend the majority of their time. Injuries at school are most likely to occur during the noon hour (between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m.) and are most commonly associated with a sport particularly basketball, soccer and football – or other forms of play and recreation. The most common type of injury that children sustain at school are sprains or strains, especially of the ankle, followed by fractures. Other common injuries include scalds; contact burns and burns from heat, related to hot drinks, hot soup or sauces, hot water and hot glue. Even the most minor injuries can be prevented. With an understanding of how injuries happen, and with some planning, your school can be almost injury-free. Injury has been defined (as: “Unintentional damage to the body resulting from exposure to thermal, mechanical, electrical or chemical energy or from the absence of such essentials as heat or oxygen” http://www.injurypreventionstrategy.ca) The WHO Cooperating Centre on Injury Prevention, based in Quebec has defined the prevention of injuries as follows: “At all levels, the social, economic, political, cultural, educational and environmental conditions that support injury-preventing behaviours must be in place for prevention to become a reality. In practical terms, injury prevention means making positive choices about minimizing risk at all levels of society while maintaining healthy, active and safe communities and lifestyles. These choices are strongly influenced by the social, economic and physical environments where one lives, works, learns and plays. A population health approach to promoting the prevention of injury considers how the range of factors listed below can influence policy and behaviour. “ A number of organizations that have been calling for a national injury prevention strategy that is based on the following understanding of the factors affecting the incidence of unintentional injuries “The choices one makes about what risks to take, as well as other personal practices, are influenced by many factors: Knowledge: of which behaviours will increase safety and well-being and minimize risk for injury, including knowledge to be gained from exposure to injury prevention programs;
Skills: to carry out injury preventing behaviours and manage risk;
Motivation: to feel good about engaging in injury preventing behaviours and managing risk effectively; enhancing self-esteem;
Opportunity and access: to have reasonable opportunities to carry out injury preventing behaviours, given varied life circumstances;
Supportive environments: to make it easier to engage in injury preventing behaviours with the minimum of risk involves supportive policies (including legislative approaches) and environments (including physical environments designed to reduce the risk of injury)”. The Quebec-based WHO Collaborating Centre has summarized the research that shows that safety and injury prevention is more complicated than simply telling people to avoid accidents. The WHO framework was developed with the contribution of a number of experts involved in safety enhancement activities from many parts of the world. The numerous discussions held with them lead to a number of consensus, which represent an essential part of the framework summarized below: 1. Safety is a fundamental human right.
2. Safety is a state in which hazards and conditions leading to physical, 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 that an individual and a community need in order to realize their aspirations.
3. There are two dimensions to safety : one is objective and assessed by behavioural and environmental objective parameters and the other is subjective and appreciated according to the feeling of safety of the population. Both dimensions can influence each other either positively or negatively. It is therefore necessary to consider these two dimensions to improve the safety of the population.
4. Safety is a pre-requisite to the maintenance and improvement of the well-being and health of the population. It is the result of a dynamic balance that is established between the different components within a specific setting.
5. Attaining an optimum level of safety requires individuals, communities, governments and others to create and maintain the four following conditions : 1) a climate of social cohesion and peace as well as of equity protecting human rights and freedoms, at a family, local, national or international level ; 2) the prevention and control of injuries and others consequences or harms caused by accidents; 3) the respect of values as well as the physical, material and psychological integrity of individuals ; and 4) the provision of effective preventive, control and rehabilitation measures to ensure the presence of the three previous conditions.
6. Safety promotion is the process used at a local, national and international level by individuals, communities, governments and others, including enterprises and non governmental organizations, to develop and sustain safety. This process includes all efforts agreed upon to modify the environment and structures as well as the attitudes and behaviours related to safety. It is based on a multisectorial approach and includes community enabling activities.
7. At least two types of processes can be used to promote safety in a community : the problem-oriented process and the setting-oriented process. The two processes, though quite distinct, are both complementary and essential. The problem-oriented process is the search of specific solutions to problems considered one at a time. The setting-oriented process consists above all in the assessment of the safety problems of a specific setting in a global perspective and in the identification of an integrated set of solutions aimed at improving the safety level of the population.
8. The mobilization of a community towards safety improvement requires the presence of many critical factors, the most important being the following : 1) the existence of an multisectorial committee responsible for safety promotion; 2) the implementation of a program covering all ages, environments and situations ; 3) the active involvement of the local community network ; 4) priorities for action based on what the community feels is most important ; 5) the capacity to assess the importance and causes of main safety issues and problems ; 6) a special concern for high risk groups and environments ; 7) a program planned on a long term rather than a short term basis; and 8) use of a wide range of techniques to mobilize the population, its representatives and decision makers. These eight statements provide a global and positive point of view in regards to safety and safety promotion. It is useful to better understand and integrate the efforts made in a community to improve its safety. It should also favour mobilization of the population and multisectorial partners aiming toward common safety goals, and thus should favour the effectiveness and efficiency of interventions. Benefits of Preventing Unintentional Injuries and Violence in Schools All students have the right to learn in a safe and protective school environment. Preventing unintentional injuries through schools would help improve the learning environment. Preventing unintentional injuries, violence, and suicide in schools could have a broader impact on community-wide efforts to promote safety. Schools can teach students the skills needed to promote safety and reduce their risk for unintentional injuries, violence, and suicide throughout their lives. Checklist/Guidelines for School Health Programs to Prevent Injury The Center for Disease Control in the United States has published the School Health Guidelines to Prevent Unintentional Injuries and Violence. These guidelines were developed in collaboration with experts from universities and national organizations and with federal, state, local, and voluntary agencies. They are based on an extensive review of research, theory, and current practice in unintentional injury, violence, and suicide prevention; health education; and public health. These guidelines have been adapted here into a checklist for schools on injury prevention. (Note: This summary excludes suicide, intentional injury and violence when discussing “safety”. These issues are addressed elsewhere on this web site.)
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have been prepared with funding provided by the
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