Background: Although injuries at school are an important issue in public health, environmental factors in schools and school yards have seldom been the focus of school injury research. The goal of our investigation was to examine the effect of environmental factors on school injuries.Methods: Nine comprehensive Finnish schools registered school injuries over a period of two school years. Injuries were classified as being associated with environmental factors, suspected environmental factors, and others. The consensus between two independent classifiers was 81%.Results: A total of 722 injuries were classified. In 11.6% of these injuries, the physical environment factor was evident, and in 28.1% of the injuries, physical environment was suspected of being a contributory risk factor. Thus the physical environment of the school was a contributing factor in over a third (39.7%) of injuries occurring in the school, on the school yard or during the journey to, or from school. In this study, conducted in Finland, ice on the ground was mentioned most frequently as an environmental risk factor.Conclusion: In Finland, the Nordic weather conditions are not taken into account in the school yard and playground plans as they ought to from the safety point of view. An initiative has been launched on a mandatory wintertime master plan for every school yard.
BackgroundIn Finland, more than 900 older people 65+ died due the fall in 2012. In addition, a fall was contributing factor of death of 770 persons 70 years and older. In 2012, costs of hospital inpatient care due to falls were close to EUR 400 million (THL injury database 2014).Description of the problemFalls prevention has become extremely timely along with Finnish ageing policy prioritising older people living at their own home as long as possible. Despite vast quantity of evidence about falls prevention, the actions to put them in practice have not been as systematic and widespread as possible. Falls prevention needs to be an integral part of care and services for older people at all levels of care and among all service providers.ResultsNational program, called IKINÄ, was launched in 2006 to enhance dissemination and implementation of sustainable falls prevention in Finland. Aim of the program is to provide knowledge and stress the importance of falls prevention to policy-makers and other executive authorities in national level as well as municipalities. To enhance implementation of falls prevention IKINÄ-program produces evidence-based tools and materials for professionals and organisations working with older people.During past ten years awareness of falls, their consequences and need for falls prevention have increased among professionals, both at executive level and those working in clinical practice, in the field of older people care and services in Finland. For example, several social and health care organisations have set the reduction of falls and fall injuries as their strategic goals. Thus, implementation of evidence-based falls prevention has become more systematic.ConclusionsFalls prevention requires to be continuous work and a joint effort of professionals working at all levels of care system of older people services. Sufficient resources should be allocated for falls prevention to ensure safe living at home for older people.
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