Name of the Community/centre: Injury Prevention Research Centre,
University of Auckland, Auckland
Country: New Zealand
Number of Inhabitants: 1999 population of New Zealand: 3,811,000
1999 population of Auckland: 1.175,400
Programme started: 1994: Support for the development, implementation and evaluation of the WHO Safe Communities model in New Zealand
WHO- designated year: April 2000
More information on the WWW – www.auckland.ac.nz/ipc/index.htm


Identity: The Injury Prevention Research Centre was established in 1990. The Centre has now grown to more than 30 full-time and part-time research and support staff. IPRC has been a strong supporter of the community-based injury prevention initiatives established in New Zealand over the past six years.

The IPRC has worked to support the two New Zealand WHO Safe Communities (Waitakere and Waimakariri). It also supports a third established New Zealand Safe Community project (Tai Rawhiti). The IPRC conducted external evaluations of CIPPs in Waitakere City and Tai Rawhiti and was part of the initial evaluation team for Waimakariri and Eastern Bay of Plenty Rural Education Activities Programme (SKIP). IPRC is also currently involved in the formative evaluation of the Manukau City CIPP. In addition, IPRC provides support for the further development of the WHO Safe Communities movement throughout New Zealand. Currently this involves input into the establishment of Safe Communities alongside local governments, healthcare organisations and runanga. In collaboration with Safekids, the IPRC is also providing evaluative information of relevance to 87 community coalitions through New Zealand.

Role: The overall purpose of the IPRC is to contribute to reductions in mortality, morbidity, disability and costs associated with injury and to contribute to improvements in well being, among individuals both in New Zealand and internationally.

The IPRC conducts multidisciplinary research to identify causes of injuries and effective ways to prevent or reduce injury. In addition to prevention, the IPRC examines ways in which appropriate care at the time of injury and an appropriate rehabilitation strategy can minimise both the severity of injury and any subsequent disability. The Centre also provides training to nurture and produce skilled professionals in the field of injury prevention research. It is also committed to disseminating the findings of its research, to bring about a real reduction in injury.

Since its establishment, the Centre has also actively sought and maintained a collaborative approach to the conduct of its research. While acknowledging the particular skills and topic knowledge of Centre staff, collaborators with in-depth topic knowledge or additional complementary methodological skills are identified and included either as collaborators or as part of a study's advisory group.

IPRC engages in the following safety promotion activities:

CURRENT INJURY PREVENTION RESEARCH PROGRAMME:

EVALUATION OF COMMUNITY INTERVENTIONS RESEARCH PROGRAMME

• Ngati Porou Community Injury Prevention Project Evaluation
• Turanganui-a-kiwa Community Injury Prevention Project Evaluation
• Waitakere Community Injury Prevention Project Evaluation
• Kidsafe Week 1999 Evaluation
• A comprehensive evaluation of the Mentally Healthy Schools initiative
• Impact evaluation of the schools as first point of contact for health services
• Community-based intervention on adolescent risk-taking: using research for community action.
• Adolescent Stop Smoking Programme: Evaluation
• Youth Health Community Action Programme: Evaluation
• Mental Health Matters: formative evaluation report
• Manukau Community Injury Prevention Project Evaluation
• Evaluation of the Drugs Education Development Project
• Safe Routes to School – Evaluation
• Evaluation of Waimakariri Community Injury Prevention Project
• Safe Kawerau Evaluation

INJURIES TO OLDER PEOPLE RESEARCH PROGRAMME

Fall Related Injuries

• Preventing falls and fall-related injuries among older people living in institutions
  
• Randomised control trial to reduce fall-related injuries among older people
• Randomised controlled trial of a general practice, home based exercise programme for falls prevention in elderly women
• Prevalence of physical inactivity in New Zealanders 60 years and older

Hip Fractures

• Residential status and risk of hip fracture
• Two year outcomes of hip fracture in 450 older people
• Pulmonary Embolism Prevention trial
• Investigation into the receptivity to hip protective underwear among staff and residents of residential institutions
• Circumstances of falls resulting in hip fractures among older people

VIOLENCE RESEARCH PROGRAMME

Overview

• The economic cost of homicide in New Zealand
• Intentional injury in New Zealand
• Injury from assault in New Zealand: an increasing public health problem
• Incidence of death and hospitalisation from assault occurring in and around licensed premises: a comparative analysis

Family Violence

• Emergency Department staff responses to a protocol of care for abused women
• Indicators of assault-related injuries among women presenting to the ED
• Community readiness model to address family violence
• Outcome evaluation of an emergency department protocol of care on partner abuse
• Violence against women: priorities for public health research in New Zealand
• Family Violence: Guidelines for providers to develop practice protocols

Child Abuse

• Inter-rater reliability in the medical diagnosis of child sexual abuse
• Identification of effective strategies to address child abuse
• Victims of child sexual abuse: effects of therapy

Firearms

• Epidemiology of firearm injuries in New Zealand
• Airgun injuries in New Zealand 1979-92
• Non-fatal firearm misuse: license status of perpetrators and legality of the firearms

Suicide

• Depression as an indicator for suicide
• A status report of suicide and parasuicide in the Auckland region
• A practical guide to coping with suicide
• Economic cost associated with suicide and attempted suicide in New Zealand
• Young person suicide prevention – a parent's perspective
• Suicide and attempted suicide in New Zealand: a growing problem for young males
• Young people's perspectives on ways to address youth suicide
• Young people at risk of suicide: a guide for schools
• Contact directory: Youth suicide
• Community-based strategies to address youth suicide: Development, implementation and formative evaluation
• Maori case control study of suicide and attempted suicide
• Young person suicide: resiliency and paths to well-being
• Pacific young person suicide

Youth Risk-Taking

• Risk-taking behaviours among a sample of New Zealand adolescents
• Alcohol misuse and young people

ROAD VEHICLE INJURY RESEARCH PROGRAMME

Pedestrians

• An international study of the exposure of children to traffic
• Pedestrian injury rates: the importance of “exposure to risk” relating to socioeconomic and ethnic differences, in Auckland
• The urban traffic environment and the risk of child pedestrian injury: a case-crossover approach
• Preventing child pedestrian injury: Pedestrian education or traffic calming
• Environmental factors and child pedestrian injuries
• Child pedestrian mortality and traffic volume in New Zealand

Motor Vehicle Occupants

• Migraine: a risk factor for motor vehicle driver injury
• Causes of car crash injuries investigation
• Auckland Car Crash Case Control Study
• Outcomes following car crash
• Alcohol and motor vehicle crashes: a review of the epidemiological evidence
• Motor vehicle occupant injuries in New Zealand children
• Child restraint use among Maori

Motorcycle Injuries

• Motorcycle engine size and risk of moderate to fatal injury from a motorcycle crash
• Motorcycle injuries in New Zealand
• Risk factors for motorcycle injury: the rate of age, gender, experience, training and alcohol
• Motorcycle trauma: nature, severity and outcome

OTHER RESEARCH AREAS

Injury Surveillance

• Injury surveillance in public hospital emergency departments
• An area analysis of child injury morbidity in Auckland
• Tai Rawhiti Injury Monitoring System
• Waitakere Injury Monitoring System
• New Zealand Blood Donors Health Study
• Guidelines for a minimum data set for injury surveillance: An injury prevention research perspective
• Auckland and Northland Injury Surveillance system
• Regional variation in the incidence of hip fracture in New Zealand
• Directory of injury surveillance data recorded by New Zealand hospital emergency departments

Back Injuries

• Occupational groups at greatest risk of chronic back injury
• Nurses and back injury
• Prevalence of back pain among nurses
• Psychological factors and chronic back pain
• Managing occupational low back pain to reduce the impact on employers

Sports Injury

• Risk factors and other health problems sustained in a marathon
• Rugby league injuries and their prevention
• Incidence of injuries and other health problems in the Auckland marathon
• Falls and young people

Drowning

• Declines in drowning: exploring the epidemiology of favourable trends
• Role of alcohol in boating safety
• The role of alcohol in drowning and boating deaths in the Auckland region

Facilitation and evaluation of community-based injury prevention initiatives

The IPRC has supported the WHO Safe Communities Waitakere and Tai Rawhiti Community Injury Prevention Projects from their inception, planning and establishment phases several years ago up to the present and intends to continue ongoing support especially with regard to monitoring changes in injury rates. The IPRC has also been responsible for the formative, process and outcome evaluation of these programmes. In addition the IPRC is responsible for the formative evaluation of the injury prevention project in Counties-Manukau, based at the Manukau City Council, which is in the development phase.
The IPRC has been, and continues to be, readily available to all these communities as a resource on local data, summary information on successful injury prevention measures and strategies through literature searches both on the internet and the University's database and to advise on resource development, implementation strategies and evaluation methodologies. Staff from IPRC were also involved in the preparation of policy guidelines for the future development of community-based injury prevention projects in New Zealand.

Surveillance of Injuries

The major database for which IPRC has primary responsibility is the analysis of injury data from death and hospitalisations throughout the Northland and Auckland region. The IPRC has also been involved in the use of routinely collected data from the Auckland University's Pathology Department to identify all possible drownings in the Auckland area between 1980 to the end of 1997. In collaboration with Associate Professor Gordon Smith (Johns Hopkins School of Public Health), IPRC will be developing additional monitoring systems using coronial databases.

Publications and information dissemination

The IPRC has a policy of disseminating research findings via a variety of sources. These include: academic peer-review articles; policy reports; Centre report series; summary fact sheets for the general public; formal oral presentations; seminar series; informal meetings with interested parties; newspaper articles and other contacts with the media. In addition, the IPRC produces an Annual Report and an annual Publications List that contains information pertaining to publications and all other Centre activities.

Information Resource Unit
The Information and Resource Unit is a valuable and popular part of the IPRC. It was set up to inform and improve health promotion initiatives aimed at the prevention and control of injury. Through this Unit of the IPRC, injury prevention practitioners, health authorities, government departments, students, staff, and members of the general public are able to access a wealth of information on injury and injury prevention issues. The Unit holds over 3,000 resources that are indexed on an Inmagic database. The Unit also holds copies of current articles on injury prevention and control as well as current morbidity and mortality data for New Zealand. Areas that receive particular attention are violence, in particular family violence and suicide, road safety, child injury prevention health education and promotion and health issues surrounding Maori and Pacific people.
The Unit also disseminates information on injury prevention through publicity about the Centre on national and international list servers, the NZICB, articles and frequent mail outs of new material to practitioners and interested people.
The Internet has become a major source of information on the current activities of groups involved in injury prevention. In acceptance of this fact, the IPRC has a home page identifying sites which may provide information on publications and research being done in the fields of injury and injury prevention. The home page also lists the reports and fact sheets that have been published by IPRC as well as articles published by members of IPRC.

New Zealand Injury Control Bulletin (NZICB)
The IPRC publishes the New Zealand Injury Control Bulletin three times a year. The NZICB is an eight page bulletin which reaches approximately 1500 readers. Included among its readership are injury prevention practitioners, government departments, politicians, policy makers, funders and media. A further 500 copies are distributed to visitors to the Centre, at seminars and conferences and to people who make inquiries or require information.

The bulletin aims to inform and stimulate discussion about injury prevention issues in a relevant and newsworthy manner. A wide range of topics are covered including child safety, sports injuries, workplace injuries, injuries to older people, injuries to Maori and Pacific people, motor vehicle injuries, violence and intentional injuries. New resources, upcoming conferences and meetings and recommended websites are listed in each issue and most are accompanied by one or more inserts, usually a Fact Sheet.


International Commitments

In 1998 IPRC hosted two overseas visitors – Associate Professor Gordon Smith from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in the USA and Associate Professor Borge Ytterstad from University of Tromso, Norway. Their input into the academic and social life of the Centre during their respective stays cannot be underestimated. IPRC also encourages visits to the Centre to discuss issues of mutual interest. A list of all visitors to the Centre is included in the annual report.

Conference and seminar organisation and participation
IPRC is continuously active in the organisation of injury prevention conferences and seminars at a variety of levels – national community-based injury prevention network meetings and other seminars and conferences. For example, staff were actively involved in organising the first national community-based injury prevention network meeting in Waitakere in April 1998. IPRC also assisted with the organisation of the First Asia-Pacific Conference on Safe Communities held in Waitakere in 1998.

Conferences and seminar presentations are seen as an important opportunity to disseminate the work done at the IPRC to a national and international audience and to highlight the importance of the injury prevention message. Researchers at the IPRC are encouraged to attend conferences and present their research at every opportunity and over the past year have presented their research at more than 20 conferences and seminars.

Educational activities

During the 1990s IPRC staff gave substantial time commitment to the organisation of a two-week-long national training course on injury prevention. Since its inception the IPRC has also supported Ph.D. students. Currently there are nine Ph.D. students working at the IPRC. Members of IPRC staff also participate in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, workforce development and seminar presentations.


Staff
A major strength of IPRC is that the broad qualifications and skills base of its staff enables the Centre to undertake a wide range of research projects and related activities. IPRC has more than 30 full-time and part-time research and support staff. Its researchers include epidemiologists, sociologists, psychologists, public health medicine specialists, nurses, engineers, clinicians, allied health professionals and community and policy advocates.

Core Staff:
Dr. Carolyn Coggan, Acting Director; Glenda Northey, Information and Resource Unit Manager; Rhonda Hooper, Data Analyst; Persees Antia, Secretary and Administrator; Helen Bourne, Publicist.

For further information contact:
Dr. Carolyn Coggan
Acting Director
c.coggan@auckland.ac.nz

Or

Gay Richards
Information and Research Unit Manager
Injury Prevention Research Centre
Universityof Auckland
Private Bag 92019
Auckland
New Zealand
Phone: +649 373 7599 x84640
Fax: +649 373 7057
E-mail: g.richards@auckland.ac.nz
Website:www.auckland.ac.nz/ipc