233979 Cross- Disciplinary Strategies and Tools Learned from the Field of Injury and Violence Prevention

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 2:30 PM - 2:55 PM

Larry Cohen, MSW , Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation, Prevention Institute, Oakland, CA
Injuries result in more deaths than all other causes combined for people aged 5 to 44 years, yet despite the severity and magnitude of the problem, we continue to work under severe funding constraints with relatively little political will to address the problem and with critical public misunderstanding. Nonetheless, the field has a defensible body of research that supports the effectiveness of policies, technologies, and environmental solutions for preventing both unintentional and intentional injuries. Several areas exist in which injury prevention efforts could be coordinated or ideas and practices could be applied throughout public health, including training of practitioners, data collection and analysis, application of tools and methodologies, examination of risk and resiliency factors, and identification of funding sources and partners. This presentation will delineate particular injury prevention tools and strategies that can be effectively applied across public health to strengthen the field of public health overall.

Learning Areas:
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related education
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe tools and strategies developed in the field of injury and violence prevention that can be applied across public health to strengthen the overall evidence around behavioral change, engineering and product design, and improvement in the environmental landscape.

Keywords: Injury Prevention, Violence Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Larry Cohen, founder and Executive Director of Prevention Institute, has been an advocate for public health, social justice, and prevention since 1972. Larry established Prevention Institute in 1997 as a national non-profit center dedicated to improving community health and well-being by building momentum for effective primary prevention. Previously, Larry served as founding Director of the Contra Costa County Prevention Program, where he engaged the American Cancer Society and the American Heart and Lung Associations in forming the first coalition in the Unites States to change tobacco policy by passing the nation's first multi-city smoking ban. The coalition ignited other state wide and national efforts, including smoking bans on airplanes and restrictions in public places, restaurants, and workplaces. Larry also created the Food and Nutrition Policy Consortium, whose work led to a county food policy that sparked momentum for the U.S. food labelling law. He helped shape strategy to secure passage of bicycle and motorcycle helmet laws, strengthen child and adult passenger restraint regulations, and set fluoridation requirements in California. Larry has received numerous awards, including the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section Public Service Award from the American Public Health Association, the Secretary's Award for Health Promotion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and recognition from the American Cancer Society and the Society for Public Health Educators. He received his MSW from SUNY Stony Brook.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3285.0: Keeping People Healthy in the First Place- Lessons From the Injury and Violence Prevention Field