Injury Prevention Centre
Operating since 1998, the Injury Prevention Centre (IPC) is the oldest injury prevention centre in Canada and continually takes on leadership roles such as co-chairing the National Collaborating Centres for Injury Prevention and advising on national projects such as the national cost of injury report and poison prevention week. The Centre works across Alberta on many levels to empower Albertans to live, work and play hard, free from life-limiting injuries. Over the past 20 years, Alberta has seen a significant decrease in the injury-related hospital admission rate of 0.4% each year. While this is good news, injury remains the leading cause of death for Albertans aged 10 to 49 years and impacts the Alberta economy with a cost of $7.1 billion annually, $4.6 billion being direct medical costs.
The IPC has built national and international networks that enhance its access to new evidence on what works in prevention. These networks also enhance the IPC's abilities to identify new injury issues as they emerge. These connections allow prevention strategies and messages to be identified early and mobilized rapidly to prevent injuries to Albertans.
"Our vision is to see Albertans work and play hard, free from life-limiting injuries," says Kathy Belton, Director of the Injury Prevention Centre (formerly the Alberta Centre for
Injury Control and Research).
One major area of focus is fall prevention for older adults. IPC has developed the Finding Balance program designed to provide information and resources on fall prevention to educate and empower older Albertans to stay independent and prevent falls. Working collaboratively with a variety of fall prevention partners, The Finding Balance resources have been adapted for use with Indigenous communities. Fall prevention resources and falls risk assessment tools, and many other resources for older adults and practitioners can be accessed at www.findingbalancealberta.ca.
In addition to older adult fall prevention, the Centre has focused on: data reports regarding violence-related injuries and another focusing on injuries that occur to people experiencing houselessness; current issues in poison prevention such as medication poisoning and children’s exposure to cannabis; reducing the severity of injuries associated with riding quads in Alberta; creating and maintaining the online School Physical Activity, Health & Education Resource for Safety (SPHEReS); and many other activities related to traffic safety, sport injury and concussion and childhood injury prevention.
The IPC is housed within the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. This relationship facilitates the IPC hosting of masters and doctorate students, many of whom do their own injury research or assist with projects led by IPC academics. The findings of this research adds to the global body of knowledge about injury and also provides injury practitioners with research that is specific to the Alberta context.
The Injury Prevention Centre is sustained by donations, contracts from organizations and stakeholders and a grant from the Government of Alberta, Ministry of Health.
Contact the Centre
P: 780-492-6019
E: ipc@ualberta.ca
Links
Injury Prevention Centre
https://www.ualberta.ca/public-health/alumni-giving/our-alumni/who-are-our-
alumni/2016-present/belton.html