Violence is not something that just happens, nor is it normal or acceptable in our society. Many of the key risk factors that make individuals, families or communities vulnerable to violence are changeable, including exposure to adverse experiences in childhood and subsequently the environments in which individuals live, learn and work throughout youth, adulthood and older age. Understanding these factors means we can develop and adopt new public health based approaches to violence. Such approaches focus on the primary prevention of violence through reducing risk factors and promoting protective factors over the life course.
Interventions to achieve these goals have been tested and now form part of a growing evidence base of cost effective measures to reduce the harms associated with violence and prevent its occurrence. The impact of violence on the health of individuals and the costs it imposes on health care systems - £2.9 billion annually - are substantive; akin to those for other major public health priorities such as smoking and alcohol. Thus, the potential benefits of adopting an evidence-based approach to violence prevention are also substantive in terms of both improved population health and reduced health care costs.
This document outlines the extent and impact of violence nationally, covering violence in the general population as well as specific violence types that can impact dramatically on different sectors of society: child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence and elder abuse. It also provides information on how to access local intelligence on violence and related harms..
The document describes some of the key risk and protective factors for violence and collects together details of interventions and policy measures that have been effective in preventing violence, giving examples of where these are already being employed in England. It also outlines the policy frameworks already in place to support violence prevention.
The document should be read by those with a role in health policy, commissioning or delivery of public health services. However, any individual and organisation with an interest in violence prevention, safe guarding, troubled families and multi-agency working between health, criminal justice and education should find it of use.
Published : 31st October 2012
Publisher : NHS [ More From This Publisher ]
Rights : NHS
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