Nova Scotia's Renewed Injury Prevention Strategy - Government of ...

Executive SummaryThe Nova Scotia Injury Prevention Strategy waslaunched in 2004 as a plan for maximizing theability of prevention partners to work together totackle injury prevention as a public health issue.Building on our accomplishments, and mindful of thegrowing knowledge base related to the distributionof injury across populations, it is time to update theplan to reflect the current environment and latestevidence. We must continue to work together in acoordinated and strategic way to further advanceprevention efforts in Nova Scotia. The renewed NovaScotia Injury Prevention Strategy will enable us to dothis.Belonging to all Nova Scotians, this renewedstrategy provides a collective path forward for thenext three to five years.As a significant public health issue, injury preventionshould not stand apart from other initiatives as aseparate area of policy and practice. It takes thecombined efforts of many sectors, well beyond thosejust concerned with health, to prevent injuries. Injuryshares many of the same root causes as other publichealth issues and much can be accomplished byworking on all of these problems together instead ofin isolation.The title of the renewed injury prevention strategy isTaking It to the Next Level. This represents a call toaction. It reflects the need to make injury preventionmore visible as a critical aspect of healthycommunities, which includes ensuring communitiesare safe. It means focusing on reducing disparityacross the entire population, as well as focusing onthe sub-populations where the greatest disparities ininjury rates are evident. By taking it to the next level,we will increase our impact not just in reducinginjuries but also by improving all aspects of thehealth of Nova Scotians.While the causes of injury and the solutions forpreventing them are fairly well understood,prevention initiatives are complicated by our need tounderstand a range of factors—why injury occurs,where, and to whom—and how these factors comeinto play at various levels. To realize significantreductions in the injury rate we need comprehensiveinterventions that are carefully woven together andstrategically coordinated. Communities, institutions(e.g., schools, workplaces), all levels of government,families, and individuals all have a role to play ininjury prevention.The renewed strategy builds on what has beenachieved since the introduction of the originalstrategy in 2004. Its purpose is to providestakeholders, both within and outside of thetraditional boundaries of injury prevention, with aframework to guide our collective activities, fromplanning and development through toimplementation and evaluation.The renewed strategy brings the work of the injuryprevention community in line with the currentenvironment. It provides us with an opportunity tobuild on what is already working, begin to addressemerging priorities, and adopt new ways of workingthat will take our efforts to new heights. Therenewed strategy provides a strategic andcoordinated approach to preventing injuries in thefuture.Success in creating a healthier and safer Nova Scotiarequires a high level of collaboration amongindividuals, families, communities, non-governmentalorganizations, and all levels of government. It mustalso involve sectors and stakeholders outside thetraditional boundaries of injury prevention.Even those who do not see themselves as having aprimary responsibility in injury prevention have a roleto play in the renewed strategy. Success depends onthe involvement of all stakeholders who have eitherthe mandate or ability to positively influence theissue of injury.Taking It to the Next Level Nova Scotia’s Renewed Injury Prevention Strategy11