Safe Community Falköping

Name of the Community: Municipality of Falköping
Country: Sweden
Population 2003: 30,991
Program started year:1979
International Safe Communities Network Membership: Designation year: 1991, Re-designation year: 2004

Program 2004
The injury preventive work has been sorted in to four different age groups with focus on certain environments. The injury registration has been done in large scale since 1998.
The crime prevention Council in Falköping is working with all age groups.

Age groups
Children 0 - 14 years
Young people 15 - 24 years
Adults 25 - 64 years
Elderly 65 years +

Environments
The home, school, traffic, elderly care centers, work places and places for sport and spare time

Children 0 -14 years:

• Checklists
  Parents to newborn children get checklists from the Children Care Center with advise on a safe home environment for children. Follow ups are done until the age of 3 year.
  Heart and lung rescue
  Family care center are offering the parents education.
  

• Children on the countryside
  Children safety in agriculture and forest jobs
  

• Helmet 5
  Bicycle helmets are subvention to all children that start the 5th grade.
  

• Traffic informer
  Inform about traffic safety in several different areas.
  

• Traffic environments
  Continuing improvement in the traffic safety at schools.
  

• School yards
  Improvement of the outdoor school environments
  

• Safe play grounds
  Continuing control and maintaining of play grounds.
  
  Youth 15 - 24 years:
  

• Safe environment
  Mapping of unsafe environments.
  

• Education
  Teenage parents are offered support through study circles and seminars.
  

• Surveys about young peoples health and drug habits.
  The result will be the base for a new drug policy.
  Student project at the gymnasium.
  Students and staff cooperate to create a safe school environment without drugs, violence and harassment.
  

• A safer Stenstorp
  A pilot project to create crime preventive methods that can be applied to other areas of the municipality.
  

• Risk line Falköping
  The public can call and tell about risks for accidents.
  
• Neighboring cooperation
  Crime prevention action to protect property.
  
• Network for night workers.
  Different work groups cooperate to create a safer work environment. The network cooperates with the police.
  
• A safer Stenstorp
  A pilot project to create crime preventive methods that can be applied to other areas of the municipality.
  
• Safer home
  Information to all house holds about preventive efforts that make the home safer.
  

• Checklists
  Advice to reduce injuries in the home.
  
• Information meetings
  Information to elderly organizations about fire prevention in the home and about health and exercise to reduce falling accidents.
  Safety bag
  The bag shows several accessories. For example fall protection.
  
• Injury registration
  All accidents on the municipality elderly cares are registered and are analyzed in an action program.
  
• Crime preventive information
  Safety information and advice about efforts to protect property.
  
  Injury registration
  Registration of all injuries is made at doctor and dental - visits at care centers, hospitals, dental clinics and emergency centrals.

Injury registration can be broken down in age, gender, place, situation and cause.

Injury prevention in Falköping 2001 2002

Registrations 3 068 3 083
Population 30 921 30 896

Other

• Traffic education for municipality employees. (Vans)
  
• Mapping of accident areas in the traffic with the help of GIS-technique. (Geographic Information System).
  
• Meetings to develop the work with Safe Community
  
• Reflex vests to all children that use school busses.
  
  Information material
  
• Brochure about the risk line
  
• Video and brochure about tinitus in cooperation with the Consumer department and Public health institute.
  
• Checklist for elderly people
  
• Action program
  
• www.falkoping.se
  

Organisation
Public health council in Falköping have the over all responsibility for the crime preventive work and are the steering group for Safe Community.

An employed public health planner is responsible for the coordination of the crime preventive work that are organized in six cross sector work groups/reference groups.

• Accident statistic.
  
• Life style and health
  
• Elders health and safety
  
• Asthma and allergy
  
• Crime preventive council
  
• Children and young peoples health and safety
  Politicians and civil servants from boards/departments that are involved in the six workgroups are involved in the work. Other partners are the employment office, the police, primary care, educational organizations and the national insurance office.
  
  International involvement and cooperation

During the years, Falköping have received many study visits both from Sweden and countries like Australia, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Norway, New Zeeland, Great Britain and USA.

Falköping have also participated in several conferences about Safe Community. For example in Scotland, Norway, USA and Canada.

In 1991 Falköping hosted the first international conference for Safe Communities. After 10 years as a Safe Community in 1991, Falköping held a conference about children and young peoples safety.

Falköping had a seminar in 2002 together with six other municipalities in the Västra Götaland region. Participating in this was the twin towns in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland.

In 2003 Falköping had study visits from Tucson, USA.

Publication
Download the application report:

Falköping, Sweden- Reapplication to Become a Member of the Safe Community Network

1. Jacobsson B. Accidents among children and teenagers in a Swedish rural
municipality. Thesis. Karolinska Institute, Department of Social
Medicine. Sundbyberg 1986.

2. Schelp L. Community intervention and accidents. Epidemiology as a basis for evaluation of a community intervention program on accidents. Thesis. Karolinska Institute, Department of Social Medicine. Sundbyberg 1987.
3. Jansson B. Agriculture and injuries. A system for injury surveillance in Swedish
emergency care as a basis of injury control. Thesis. Karolinska Institute,
Department of Social Medicine. Sundbyberg 1988.

4. de Loës M. Risk exposure and incidence rates of acute injuries from sports and
physical exercise in a total population. Thesis. Karolinska Institute,
Department of Social Medicine. Sundbyberg and Stockholm 1989.
5. Ekman R. Injuries in Skaraborg County, Sweden. Surveillance, analysis and
evaluation of community intervention at municipal and county level.
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division
of Social Medicine. Sundbyberg 1996.

6. Welander G. Epidemiology and prevention of bicycle related injuries. Thesis. Karolinska instititet Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of social medicine. Stockholm 2001

7. Svanström L, Ekman R, Schelp L, Lindström Å (1995) The Lidköping accident prevention programme - a community approach to preventing childhood injuries in Sweden. Injury Prevention 1:169-172.

8. Ekman R, Schelp L, Welander G, Svanström L (1997) Can a combination of local, regional and national information substantially increase bicycle-helmet wearing and reduce injuries? Experiences from Sweden. Accident Analysis and Prevention 29;3:321-328.

9. Ekman R, Welander G, Svanström L, Schelp L. 2001. Long-term effects of legislation and local promotion of child-restraint use in motor vehicles in Sweden. Accident Analysis and Prevention 33;793-797.

10. Ekman R, Engström K, Welander G, Laflamme L. Geographic differences in traffic injury risks. A study conducted in a Swedish Municipality. Journal of Traffic .Medicine Vol. 28 (2000) 62-66.

11. Engström K, Ekman R, Welander G, Laflamme L. Area-based differences in injury risks in a small Swedish municipality - Geographical and social differences. Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 1: 2002.

12. Welander G, Svanström L, Ekman R. 2000. Safety Promotion. An Introduction. Karolinska Institutet, Dept. of Public Health Sciences, Div. of Social Medicine, Stockholm. Kristianstad Boktryckeri AB.

13. Att förebygga olycksfall, Erfarenheter från Skaraborgs län. Spri-rapport 250, 1989. G Persson, L Berg, L Schelp, B Jacobsson, B Jansson, M de Loes, R. Ekman, M Ader.
14. Falköping, En säker och trygg kommun. Handlingsprogram 1992-2010 för ökad säkerhet i alla åldrar, miljöer och situationer. Rapport 30. Landstingets samhällsmedicin. Falköping 1992. R Ekman, A Holmberg, S Tegnhammar Holm.

15. Nyckeln till ett säkrare och tryggare Skaraborg. Länsolycksfallsprogram 1992-2010. Rapport 31. Landstingets samhällsmedicin 1992. M Ader, R Ekman, Å Lindström.

16. Det lönar sig att förebygga olycksfall! 15 års erfarenhet av folkhälsoarbete i Falköping. Rapport från utbildningsseminarium i Falköping 11-12 januari 1994.
17. Rapport 34. Folkhälsoinstitutet, Landstingets Folkhälsoenhet och Falköping - En Säker och trygg kommun. Falköping, maj 1994. R Ekman, G Welander.

18. Det lönar sig att förebygga olycksfall! Säkerhet och trygghet genom Kunskap - Delaktighet - Medansvar! Rapport och sammanfattning från tre utbildningsseminarier i Falköping 1994-1995. Rapport 39. Tillägg och synpunkter till rapport 34, Folkhälsoenheten, Landstinget Skaraborg. Falköping, juni 1995. R Ekman, G Welander.

19. Ekman R, Holmberg A, Tegnhammar Holm. Reserapport från The Second International Safe Communities Conference, Glasgow, Scottland, 7-9 september 1992.

20. Ekman R, Holmberg A, Rohdin L, Welander G. Reserapport från USA-besök 10-25 maj 993. Navajo Nation, Indian Health Service, 11-14 maj; Johnston County, Durham County, Orange County, Greenville County, North Carolina, 16-19 maj; The Second World Conference on Injury Control, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 19-24 maj 1993.

21. Ekman R m.fl. Reserapport från USA 6-31 maj 1993. The Second World Conference on Injury Control, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 20-23 maj 1993. Studiebesök i USA, under perioden 6-31 maj 1993. Karolinska Institutet, Institutionen för Internationell hälsa och socialmedicin. Rapport 291. Sundbyberg 1993.

22. Ekman R, Elinderson L, Gustavsson K, Holmberg A, Lindblad N-O, Svensson E. Reserapport från Kanada, 3-10 juni 1995 från " The Forth International Conference on Safe Communities" Fort McMurray, Alberta.

23. Ekman R. Reserapport från The Sixth International Conference on Safe Communities 15-19 oktober 1997, Johannesburg, Sydafrika.

24. Ekman R, Welander G, Holmberg A, Johansson C. Ökat intresse i världen för skadeförebyggande arbete. Rapport från Sjunde internationella konferensen om Säkra och Trygga Kommuner, Rotterdam, WHO:s Internationella Hjälmkonferens & Fjärde Världskonferensen om skadeprevention och säkerhetsfrämjande arbete, Amsterdam, Holland, 13-20 maj 1998.

Contact person

Ingela Backman Höglander
Public Health Planner
Public Health Unit in Falköping
SE-521 81 Falköping, Sweden
Phone +46 515-853 86
E-mail: ingela.backman.hoglander@falkoping.se
Web:www.falkoping.se/folkhalsa