|
Name of the Community: Stovner, district of Oslo municipality
Country: Norway
Number of inhabitants: 20,908
Programme started year: 1990
International Safe Communities Network Membership: Designation year: 2001
Info address on www for the Programme: www.bydel-stovner.oslo.kommune.no
Jens Helgebostad, District Director, overviewing Bydel Stovner
Map of Stovner
The programme covers the following safety promotion activities:
Children 0-14 years:
Effort is concentrated on children in nursery schools and
schools because they are less able to take care of themselves or judge the particular
situation they find themselves in. Their safety is improved through necessary adjustments
to their surroundings and by training.
The district’s services offer injury preventive work in nursery schools directly,
while schools and the day care facilities for school children (SFO) take part only as
co-operating partners since they are under the jurisdiction of another central authority
(School administration is not a de-centralised service in Oslo).
Local co-operating partners are the individual nursery schools or schools that the
district has the overall responsibility for according to health care legislation, to
follow up and encourage, give advice or demand measures to be taken to prevent or avoid
accidents happening.
The district’s health department has followed up particularly in the cases of
injury to nursery school children, through both the district’s general programme for
injury prevention and also through the project for the indoor environment and absence due
to illness in nursery schools (1992 – 1996) in which injuries were one of the
registration criteria.
The aim is to reduce damage as much as possible. Children go through different phases
in their development and maturing process. This means that through play they can be
vulnerable to challenges they are not yet ready to tackle and which can result in injury.
Even though the purpose is to prevent injury, there must be space for the child to
develop in a safe but also exciting environment, pitched at the child’s age level
(ref. to the activity trail at Liastua and nursery schools with safe and adequately
maintained playground apparatus).
 
In addition to the home care services and the nursing home,
nursery schools and schools in the district take part as registration units in the project
for setting up a central injury register for Oslo. In the case of the nursery schools, the
gathering of data is organised in the same way as for the nursing home and home care
services, but recently a trial method was introduced in which the nursery school service
receives the reverse side of the form so that they themselves can handle it and follow up
"deviations" for the good of health, environment and safety in the nursery
school.
Youth 15-24 years:
A project which is in the starting phase, aims to discover special needs which
children and youths have, who appear liable to develop dangerous behaviour, i.e.
aggressive, violent and unmanageable children and youths, also particularly quiet children
who are neither seen nor heard. These children and teenagers must be discovered at an
early point in time so that they can receive the correct help at the best time, through
suitable channels. This project is not directly injury preventive, but if one is
successful in the intentions, it will undoubtedly have an influence on the local
environment in the form of making it safer.
One of the aims here is to develop methods. The project leader, who is a public health
nurse, envisages a cross sectional collaboration based on priority plans which involve
experienced, specialised personnel with a high level of competence and experience from
work in a network context, across professions.
The choice of focal areas, especially within injury prevention work, is also dependent
on new "trends". For example, this is particularly the case of sports
activities. Information on the frequency of injuries in this area can be obtained from the
registration work at the casualty clinics where one can observe that the occurrence of
injuries can vary according to the district and the sports activities available.
Adults 25-64 years:
After each year, the district has had access to the numbers of
injuries recorded at Oslo’s casualty clinic which is under the administration of
Ullevål hospital and is a central part of the project for setting up a central injury
register. Within the last two years, the district has had a good 1000 inhabitants who have
taken contact with the casualty clinic. Help is sought there, either because the local
health centres are closed or the injury is so grave that special examination is required,
e.g. X-ray. Routines for handling and assessing the numbers from the casualty clinic, as
well as quality guarantees of findings, require more handling.
Elderly 65+ years
Stovner nursing home
Injury prevention work began already in 1989-90 with focus on prevention
of falls and fall-related accidents suffered by elderly people living in their own homes.
It was then increased in 1993 to include all citizens as the target group. The work was
carried out as a project throughout 1994, after which it became an integrated part of the
work at the various locations offering services. One can conclude from this that
the injury prevention work can be called a programme with a long-term perspective
according to pt.6 in the criteria for Safe Communities.
The elderly are more prone to accidents than the young. Through our
injury prevention activities, we have focused especially on the elderly in nursing homes
and also those living in their own homes, but with a need for help. However, we are also
concerned with the elderly group, in general.
In 1990 an occupational therapist and a doctor started a one- year scheme to prevent
the elderly from falling in their own homes, especially the group which received home help
and/or home nursing. The home-helps received 12 hours training on the situations which
give rise to the elderly`s tendency to fall (changes due to age, nutrition, illness, use
of medication and physical reasons in or outside the house). Together with the home-
helps, a form was drawn up which they could fill in each time a client had fallen. The
cause of the fall is registered in the form as well as any eventual dangers for future
falls, which could be rectified. The "fall form" has now become an integrated
part in the daily running of the home- help service.
The home-helpers have been given further training about once a year, often on the basis
of the findings from completed "fall forms". The most recent follow- up took
place in December 1999/January 2000. In the course of 1990/91 an occupational therapist
and a doctor visited different groupings of elderly, informing a total of 700 people about
falls and fall prevention. Later, there has been information in different interest groups,
by invitation.
In connection with the injury prevention work being increased in 1993 to include
different target groups, all falls, which took place in Stovner Nursing Home, were
registered. Each fall was followed up with the necessary steps. Educating and training of
staff was based on concrete cases of falls.
The nursing home compiled its own internal programme for injury prevention to be used
by the staff. This programme included diet, activity, lifting/moving techniques and
illness in the elderly years.
Weight has also been laid on training staff working in the home care services and of
elderly people in groups, on the subjects of diet and activity/exercise groups. Dangers of
falling at home were given priority, as well as individual risk factors experienced by the
elderly and finally diet and activity.
At the following areas:
Home:
It has also been mentioned that the district’s health
department takes an interest in the pensioners exercise groups by providing training for
the voluntary leaders and the pensioners are given information on fall prevention. The
different services and the voluntary trainers are offered courses held by doctors, nurses,
occupational therapists and physiotherapists. The home care services have also made use of
a food card system, which can also be considered part of the preventive work since
malnutrition, and insufficient vitamins/minerals are relatively common amongst the
elderly. The nutrition project is at the moment the responsibility of the Health Care
Authorities. Poorly compiled meals can make the individual vulnerable to osteoporosis and
break injuries. Focus on diet is therefore truly a preventive measure.
Schools and Nursery schools:
In addition to the home care services and the nursing home,
nursery schools and schools in the district take part as registration units in the project
for setting up a central injury register for Oslo. In the case of the nursery schools, the
gathering of data is organised in the same way as for the nursing home and home care
services, but recently a trial method was introduced in which the nursery school service
receives the reverse side of the form so that they themselves can handle it and follow up
"deviations" for the good of health, environment and safety in the nursery
school. In the case of the schools, fall prevention has been the responsibility of the
Education Authority, which is a municipal service, and here there have been more problems
in obtaining reports when injuries and accidents occur. A few of the schools in the
district have been successful in establishing a well-run system. The district’s
health department will attempt to ensure better reporting routines in the autumn, 2000,
through the schools own health care service. Return messages/reports are distributed from
the project to the participators, the district’s health department, the nursery
school authorities and the education authorities.
Traffic:
The districts administrate the health acts and handle the
planning/ building cases, according to the co-ordination agreement of 14.05.96. The
district of Stovner is active in this area. Thorough handling at the planning stage can
have great preventive effects and cost less than any later remedial/ reparation steps that
may arise. An example of preventive effort is a statement issued in the handling of a
building application, which would prevent a petrol pump being put up in a parking
area/walkway, which would be a threat to the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. In 1.9.99
the Planning and Building Authorities altered the decision concerning the placing of a
petrol pump, based on this particular objection and the pump was placed in a position
where pedestrians were less vulnerable to danger.
Occupational:
Injuries are being treated both at the local Health Centres and
at Legevakten, Oslo’s main centre for acute injuries not needing hospitalisation.
Sports and leisure:
Under the direction of the health promotion team, an activity
trail is being developed in the surrounding forest at the local ski cabin, Liastua. The
activity trail is to have "art" which can be used in play (not play apparatus)
and provide challenges. General use of the trail will give the children training in
balance and co-ordination. The project is a co-operation between municipal services and
voluntary organisations.
Fossum farmyard
The choice of focal areas, especially within injury prevention work, is
also dependent on new "trends". For example, this is particularly the case of
sports activities. Information on the frequency of injuries in this area can be obtained
from the registration work at the casualty clinics where one can observe that the
occurrence of injuries can vary according to the district and the sports activities
available.
Other:
BUKO (co-ordinating work for children and youths)
The purpose of working in networks as a method is to give children, youths and their
families a better offer of help and problem solving. The various types of networks report
to BUKO (work for children and youths in Stovner District, co-ordinating group), which is
the various networks` contact with the management of the district. BUKO consists of the
heads of the various departments or their chosen substitutes.
"Accidents" (non-intentional injuries) in the following injury
areas:
Violence prevention (intentional injuries): 0
Suicide prevention (self-inflected injuries): 0
Programs aiming at "High risk-groups": Yes
Surveillance of injuries: locally in Stovner and centralized
Numbers per year: about 1000 injuries are being treated at Legevakten, the central
injury unit in Oslo
Population base: 20.908
Started year: 1990 locally at Stovner, expanded in 19993. From 1998 centrally.
Publications:
Tidsskr Nor Lægeforening 1998; 118: 37-9. The prevention of hip fractures in Oslo,
Norway. Sissel Steihaug et al.
Produced information material, pamphlets:
pamphlet on risk for hip fractures.
Staff:
Profession part-time: Physician, public health nurse, health consultant,
kindergarten consultant, consultant from the home for elderly people.
Organization of the work: organized and coordinated by the health consultant.
Specific intersectoral leadership group: same persons as mentioned under profession
part time.
General public health/health promotion group: Yes, KOSAK
International commitments:
- 1996 the district received a group of
doctors/students/leaders from the co-operation of UiO/Moscow medical faculty and academy
of science.
- 2000 the district`s health department received a fairly
large delegation from Udevalla, Sweden, which comprised of doctors, nurses, therapists and
midwives.
- Meeting in connection with Swedish Folkehelsa`s guests from
Gothenburg in October 2000.
- International seminar in Oslo, Norway, 14-15th of June 2001
Injury registration for monitoring and prevention Experiences and challenges In connection
with the inauguration 14th of June 2001 of Stovner as Safe Community, a city part of Oslo.
Study visits: 9
Participation in Safe Community conferences: Rotterdam, Oslo, Drammen
Hosting Safe Community Conferences: No
For further information contact:
Rune Trondhjem
Health consultant
Bydel Stovner
Helseavdelingen
Karl Fossums vei 30
N-0985 Oslo
rune.trondhjem@bsr.oslo.kommune.no
Rune Trondhjem
Bydel Stovner
Helseavdelingen
Karl Fossums vei 30
N-0985 Oslo
Phone: +47 23 47 10 00
Fax: +47 23 47 10 01
 rune.trondhjem@bsr.oslo.kommune.no
__________________________________
 Stovner, Norway-
Application to Become a Member of the Safe Community Network
Updated by  Moa
Sundström, 2002-10-29 14:39.
|
