Handbook of Injury and Violence Prevention

Injuries kill and maim millions each year, and seriously impact the lives of countless loved ones. Yet until recently they have been considered a random, normal part of life. Preventing injuries, on the other hand, requires not only effective communication with the public, but also a reliable framework for creating and evaluating suitable interventions.

The Handbook of Injury and Violence Prevention is the first book to address both halves of this challenge, reviewing evidence-based intervention programs in depth so professionals can identify successful, promising, and ineffective (and potentially harmful) prevention strategies. Over fifty experts present the current landscape of intervention methods - from risk reduction to rethinking social norms - as they address some of the most prevalent forms of accidental and violent injury, as well as emerging areas.

- Overview chapters examine the social and economic scope of unintentional and violent injury today

- Extensive literature review of specific intervention programs to prevent violence and injury

- Special chapters on childhood injuries, alcohol-related accidents, and disasters

- “Interventions in the Field” section offers solid guidelines for implementing and improving existing programs

- Critical analysis of issues involved in delivering programs to wider audiences

- Helpful appendices list relevant agencies and professional resources.

This dual focus on intervention and application makes the Handbook a bedrock text for professionals involved in delivering or managing prevention programs. Its what-works-now approach gives it particular utility in the graduate classroom, and researchers will benefit from the critical attention paid to knowledge gaps in the field. It is a major resource for any reader committed to reducing the number of incidents just waiting to happen.

• Public Health
• epidemiology
• health
• prevention
• prevention strategies
• trauma

From the reviews:

"The book’s 4 editors are all well qualified to bring the reader up to date. … A major section of this book is devoted to effective and promising interventions. … For the researcher focused in a particular area… the book will provide a helpful perspective."

(Mark D. Widome, MD, MPH, The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 298 (5), 2007)

"This review and the Handbook are for those who care, both for themselves and for other people. … the Handbook of Injury and Violence Prevention is a valuable contribution to the literature on public health and prevention, not only in North American but in Europe as well … . The volume displays some of the clear successes we have experienced in applying the public health notion of prevention while charting a course forward in terms of additional work that can reduce human suffering." (James Campbell Quick, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 53 (2), 2007)

"This book is the work of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, United States of America (USA). It brings together 74 authors writing on the widest range of injury prevention topics. … the breadth of coverage, the degree of detail and the quality of the scholarship make it useful in understanding specific injury and violence issues and in crafting and implementing interventions. … a very welcome addition to the literature." (Ian Scott, Bulletin World Health Organization, Vol. 87, 2009)

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, USA

  Lynda S. Doll, Sandra E. Bonzo, David A. Sleet, James A. Mercy

Policies and ethics