Reduction of the Risk of Injury in the Home Environment
The Estonian Rescue Board is implementing the project ‘Development and Piloting of a Methodology for the Assessment and Reduction of the Risk of Injury in the Home Environment and Supporting Activities’ of the EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2014–2021 programme.
Accidents at home place a heavy burden on the state, and a considerable number of people die from injuries at home. Today, activities between agencies are still fragmented, data exchange is not systematised, and the prevention of some types of injuries is practically not addressed. Although many parties visit homes and deal with at-risk groups, there is no common approach to risk assessment and data exchange. Creating an integrated approach would help to prevent injuries and deaths to a greater extent and thus avoid the costs of responding to events and treating patients. Accidents in the home environment and the injuries caused by them not only burden the budget of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, but also require significant resources from other agencies.
The direct goal of the project is to create a unified methodology for assessing and reducing the risks of injuries in the home environment for agencies and local governments involved in the reduction of injury risks in the home environment, with special attention paid to children up to 4 years of age, the elderly, and people with special needs, and the creation and piloting of data exchange, work processes, and tools between the various parties.
In the course of the project, the created methodology and tools will be piloted by 18 teams in four local governments – the city of Tartu and the Lüganuse, Saue, and Muhu rural municipalities. The teams will be made up of local government and other agency staff (rescue officers, social workers, child protection workers, police officers, family nurses, midwives, etc.) who perform home visits.
As a result of the project, the aim is to improve inter-agency cooperation in the prevention of risks of injury in the home environment and to create a common approach to risk assessment and data exchange. The awareness of people of safety in the home environment and ways of risk prevention will also be improved.
Project activities:
- a more detailed mapping and analysis of the current situation
- development of a common evaluation methodology and evaluation tool
- preparation of training materials
- legal analysis of data exchange and data protection
- media campaigns for the prevention of injury risks aimed at the general public
- carrying out the project pilot process
- gathering feedback and conducting the impact assessment of the project
- project summaries and final reports
For additional information and questions, please contact project manager Janika Usin, ....
The project activities are supported by the ‘Local Development and Poverty Reduction’ programme of the EEA and Norwegian Financial Mechanisms 2014–2021.
