Objective
Injuries are a global health problem. To develop context-specific injury prevention interventions, one needs to understand population perceptions of home and workplace injuries. This study explored a range of views and perceptions about injuries in a variety of settings and identified barriers and facilitators to injury prevention.
Design
Qualitative study: interviews and focus groups.
Setting
Three administrative areas: Hetauda submetropolitan city, Thaha municipality and Bakaiya rural municipality in Makwanpur, Nepal.
Participants
Nine focus groups (74 participants) and nine one-to-one interviews were completed; workers from diverse occupations, residents (slum, traditional or modern homes) and local government decision-makers participated in the study between May and August 2019. The interviews and discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated to English and analysed thematically.
Results
Six themes were developed: unsafe home and workplace environment; inadequate supervision and monitoring; perceptions that injuries are inevitable; safety takes low priority: financial and behavioural considerations; safety education and training; and government-led safety programmes and enforcement. Key barriers to injury prevention were perceived to be lack of knowledge about injury risk and preventive measures both at the community level and at the workplace. Facilitators were community-level educational programmes and health and safety training to employees and employers. Participants stressed the importance of the role of the government in planning future injury prevention programmes in different environments.
Conclusions
This study highlighted that both home and workplace injuries are complex and multifactorial. Lack of knowledge about injury risks and preventive measures, both at the community level and at the workplace, was found to be a common barrier to injury prevention, perceived to be mitigated by educational programmes. Together with previously published epidemiological evidence, the barriers and facilitators identified in this study offer useful basis to inform policy and practice.
Funding
This publication was funded by the Global Health Research programme as a part of award number 16/137/49.
This article reports on one component of the research award NIHR Global Health Research Group on Nepal Injury Research, University of the West of England, Bristol. For more information about this research please view the award page [https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/16/137/49]
