Breaking the Cycle of Inequities: Introducing the Injury Equity Framework for Safer Communities

Injuries are the leading cause of death in the US for people between 1 and 44 years of age, with certain communities disproportionately affected. Despite efforts to address this, disparities in traumatic injuries have persisted or worsened over the past decade. The authors suggest that limitations in the tools used to analyze injury factors and outcomes may be a contributing factor. They propose an injury equity framework which identifies five factors that can exacerbate or mitigate injury risk and severity. These factors span the phases of injury and include education, access to safety products, legislation and policies, and features of the built environment. The authors emphasize that evidence-based, equity-focused interventions are urgently needed to address injury inequities, and that a multidisciplinary effort is required to drive change.