Core Competencies: Essentials for Injury and Violence Prevention
Developed by the SAVIR-STIPDA Joint Committee Infrastructure Development

Injury is a leading cause of death, disability and health care use in the United States. Although
significant progress has been made in the last few decades, there remains a great need to further
reduce the frequency of injury and its burden. This effort will require a workforce that is
knowledgeable about injuries and violence and skilled in practices to reduce them. At present, there
is no comprehensive and systematic way to ensure that those who work to prevent injury and
violence possess the competencies necessary to be effective in this endeavor. The Institute of
Medicine report, Reducing the Burden of Injury (1999), recognized that “… there is a yawning gap
between what we already know about preventing and ameliorating injuries and what is being done in
our communities, work-places and clinics… education is the area in which the field of injury has
made the least progress…” To address this deficiency, the National Training Initiative for Injury and
Violence Prevention (NTI) was created in 2000 to coordinate and enhance training infrastructure for
injury and violence prevention professionals. One effort of this group has been the identification of a
set of core competencies that are fundamental to injury and violence prevention practice.

The competencies contained within this document outline a common understanding of the
essential skills and knowledge that are regarded as necessary to work in injury and violence
prevention. These competencies provide a basis for professional development and are intended to
guide future training and curriculum development efforts. It is not expected that an individual will
have to be an expert in all of the competencies in order to effectively carry out their job. The intent is
that the individual should be competent in the mix of skills that is required to best serve injury and
violence prevention programs in their setting. Ultimately, with research-based training and consistent
implementation of best practices, it will be possible to reduce the burden of injury.

Process of Creating the Core Competencies in Injury and Violence Prevention

In 2000, the Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR)§ and the
State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors Association (STIPDA) formed the National Training
Initiative for Injury and Violence Prevention (NTI) and began collaborating on a process to define
the essential knowledge and skills that injury prevention professionals need to reach their greatest
potential in the field. The Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) and the National Center for
Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
have provided the funds to support this initiative. Members from other important injury programs
including the Education Development Center’s Children’s Safety Network, Indian Health Service and
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are also involved in NTI.

In formulating the competencies, a working group of NTI reviewed numerous needs
assessmentsi as well as other relevant competencies and curriculumsii, creating a draft set of
competencies in the summer of 2003. During the fall of 2003, a group of 52 injury and violence
experts from research and practice reviewed the draft competencies and provided detailed feedback
to the committee. The comments from this expert panel were incorporated into the competencies
before a public comment period in September of 2004. Final revisions have been made, and the
competencies will be updated as needed in the coming years.

§ Formerly the National Association of Injury Control Research Centers, NAICRC.

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Challenges in Defining the Scope of the Core Competencies

In developing the core competencies, the fundamental issues that the NTI working group
struggled with included the intended audience for the competencies and the level of specificity to
apply to the competencies. Injury and violence prevention is a very broad field encompassing a
number of different disciplines: public health, law enforcement, emergency medical services,
occupational health, highway and traffic safety, etc. The diversity of practices and approaches makes
it impossible to create a single competency set that is appropriately relevant for all injury and violence
prevention practitioners. As a result, the competencies outlined here were developed with a primary
focus on public health practitioners and will be the most useful to this audience. However, the
working group recognizes that the core competencies could also be applicable to others working to
reduce injury and violence. Consequently, great care was taken to limit public health jargon and
influence on the core competencies, such that many aspects of the competencies will have application
to other disciplines.

In addition, the competencies were also designed to provide a broad perspective on the
fundamentals of injury and violence prevention . In this fashion, the listed core competencies are
intended to support a variety of training opportunities and curricula. The purpose of the
competencies is to provide structure and guidance to future training efforts. Specific details related to
content and learning methods for the competencies will be supplied by the related training and
curriculum programs.

Guiding Principles for the Core Competencies
Throughout the writing process, the NTI working group developed a perspective of what the
competencies should and should not be. In the end, certain guiding principlesiii dictated the nature
and content of the competencies. These are:
• Competencies are best acquired through multiple means. Training alone may not be
sufficient to achieve competency. Additional work experience that complements
training may be necessary.
• While all workforce development should be competency-based, there is no
expectation that a single uniform curriculum is necessary to accomplish this goal.
Each training opportunity is unique, and the curriculum should be matched to the
needs of the audience.
• Any one competency may apply broadly to injury and violence prevention
professionals or be specific to a small subset. The developers of curricula should
specify the professional audience and functional level intended in the training
materials.
• The core competencies for injury and violence prevention will intersect and overlap
with other existing competencies developed for practicing professionals.
• Competencies need to be routinely updated as science and practice evolve and injury
morbidity and mortality trends change.

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Proficiency Levels

The guiding principles hint at a key aspect of the core competencies: injury and violence
prevention professionals are not expected to achieve competency in all learning objectives. Different
positions will require different proficiency levels and have a stronger focus on certain competencies
and learning objectives. A senior manager would need to be competent in areas not required of a
health educator or fire-fighter; and vice versa. Additionally, the proficiency levels will also vary
depending on the workforce. The public health workforce will have different proficiency needs than
those who work in emergency medical services.

These competencies were designed to address multiple issues in injury and violence
prevention. They will have differing applications both across and within organizations.
Competency may be developed by individuals or by groups, such as an agency or coalition. As an
example, one person in the organization might be competent in competencies 1, 2, 4, and 7; while
another person might be competent in 3, 5, and 6; and another person competent in 8 and 9. Thus,
the combined competencies of the individuals should ideally result in an overall organizational
competency.

The main purpose of the core competencies for injury and violence prevention is to
systematically guide the development of training programs. Nevertheless, there are also other uses
for competencies. The competencies may be used to develop tool kits for self-assessment, create job
descriptions, develop needs assessments or for performance evaluation. As times and needs change
in the field of injury and violence prevention, these competencies will also change. The core
competencies are considered a living document: to be used, revised and continually improved.

i Needs Assessments Reviewed:
• Education Development Center, Training Needs Assessment, 1989.
• UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, Pre-VINCENT Training Needs Assessment, 1996.
• STIPDA Core Capacity Survey, 2000.
• Canadian Collaborating Centres for Injury Prevention & Control, Education Needs Assessment, 2000.
• SAVIR-STIPDA Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development, Training Survey of Health Departments,
2001.
• SAVIR-STIPDA Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development, Survey of Safe USA participants, 2001.

ii Relevant Competency & Objective Materials Reviewed:
• Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals, Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health
Practice.
• Core Competencies for Injury Prevention, Indian Health Service.
• State and Technical Assessment Team Review Guide, STIPDA.
• Course Objectives, Johns Hopkins Summer Institute, Principles and Practice of Injury Prevention.
• Canadian Injury Prevention and Control Curriculum, Canadian Collaborative Centres for Injury Prevention and
Control (in draft).
• WHO TEACH-VIP—International injury prevention curriculum (in draft).
• Core Competencies for Effective Practice, Southern California Developing Center for Youth Violence
Prevention and the University of Southern California Department of Family Medicine, 2001.

iii Competency-to-Curriculum Tool Kit: Developing Curricula for Public Health Workers, Columbia University School
of Nursing Center for Health Policy and Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine, 2004.

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Core Competencies for Injury and Violence Prevention
Developed by the SAVIR§-STIPDA Joint Committee on Infrastructure Development


The essential competencies for injury and/or violence prevention are identified below. Following
the general list of competencies is a more detailed list including learning objectives.



1) Ability to describe and explain injury and/or violence as a major social and health
problem.

2) Ability to access, interpret, use and present injury and/or violence data.

3) Ability to design and implement injury and/or violence prevention activities.

4) Ability to evaluate injury and/or violence prevention activities.

5) Ability to build and manage an injury and/or violence prevention program.

6) Ability to disseminate information related to injury a nd/or violence prevention to the
community, other professionals, key policy makers and leaders through diverse
communication networks.

7) Ability to stimulate change related to injury and/or violence prevention through policy,
enforcement, advocacy and education.

8) Ability to maintain and further develop competency as an injury and/or violence
prevention professional.

9) Demonstrate the knowledge, skills and best practices necessary to address at least one
specific injury and/or violence topic (e.g. motor vehicle occupant injury, intimate partner
violence, fire and burns, suicide, drowning, child injury, etc.) and be able to serve as a
resource regarding that area.











§ Formerly the National Association of Injury Control Research Centers, NAICRC.



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Core Competency #1 with Learning Objectives

Ability to describe and explain injury and/or violence as a major social and
health problem.


To achieve this core competency, participants will be able to:


a. Define injury and/or violence and describe the concepts of intentionality and
mechanism as they relate to injury and/or violence.

b. Describe the biomechanics which underlie how injuries occur.

c. Describe how injury and/or violence compare with other leading causes of morbidity
and mortality and with regard to burdens on the population (e.g. incidence, cost, years of
potential life lost, etc.).

d. Explain how injuries and/or violence are preventable.

e. Describe an approach to prevention that includes the following steps: (1) problem
detection/assessment, (2) identification of risk and protective factors, (3) development
of interventions and (4) evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions.

f. Explain the continuum of injury and/or violence prevention, from primary prevention
to acute care and rehabilitation.

g. Explain the importance of collaboration and the role that different agencies,
organizations, and disciplines play in prevention.

h. Describe how conceptual models (e.g. Haddon Matrix, social ecological model, etc.) are
used to portray the multiple factors underlying injury and/or violence.

i. Describe the disparity in the risks of injury a nd/or violence (e.g. differences by age,
gender, race, ethnicity, education, location, access to economic resources, access to
health care services, sexual orientation, creed, community norms, and the environment).

j. Describe the influence of a variety of factors (including age, gender, race, ethnicity,
education, access to economic resources, sexual orientation, creed, community norms,
access to health care services, and the environment) on injury and/or violence
prevention.



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Core Competency #2 with Learning Objectives

Ability to access, interpret, use and present injury and/or violence data.


To achieve this core competency, participants will be able to:


a. Describe key sources of data at the national, state and community level and describe
their strengths and weaknesses.

b. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the International Classification of Diseases
(ICD) system and its use.

c. Describe the differences between primary (“self-collected”) and secondary data
(“existing data”) and provide examples of appropriate uses of each method.

d. Describe how data can be used to identify disparate populations.

e. Explain how data can be used to identify emerging issues in injury and/or violence.

f. Identify the ethical and legal issues involved in the collection and use of data.

g. Identify how a variety of factors (including age, gender, race, ethnicity, access to
economic resources, community norms, etc.) may influence the collection, interpretation,
and use of injury and/or violence data.

h. Define quantitative and qualitative forms of data and give examples of their use in
constructing and evaluating injury and/or violence prevention programs. Describe the
benefits and limitations of each kind of data.

i. Explain the importance of data for use in priority setting, program planning, quality
improvement, evaluation, and advocacy in injury and/or violence prevention.

j. Describe how qualitative and quantitative data can be used in conducting an assets and
needs assessment of a community of interest.

k. Demonstrate the ability to present data in a clear and understandable manner for
different audiences.




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Core Competency #3 with Learning Objectives

Ability to design and implement injury and/or violence prevention activities.


To achieve this core competency, participants will be able to:


a. Identify and explain the roles of national, state and local level agencies and organizations
that can serve as resources for prevention efforts.

b. Explain the role and benefits of collaboration in prevention efforts.

c. Identify types/examples of current and potential stakeholders/partners and their current
prevention activities.

d. Describe how to identify and prioritize injury and violence problems.

e. Describe how to locate and evaluate the best sources of information (or "evidence")
available on which to base intervention decisions.

f. Describe various levels where prevention activities can be focused (e.g. individual,
institutional, community, public policy).

g. Demonstrate the use of a conceptual model (e.g. Haddon Matrix, social ecological
model, etc.) for identifying intervention opportunities.

h. Provide examples of interventions that use education/behavior change,
legislation/enforcement and technology/engineering to prevent injuries and/or violence.
Describe how they can work together to create a comprehensive program.

i. For a given injury or violence problem, choose and justify an intervention based on 1)
relevant data, 2) characteristics of the intended audience, 3) a conceptual model or theory
(e.g. social ecological model, stages of change, etc.) and 4) evidence related to "best
practice."

j. Design an implementation plan, to include a description of the intended audience, goals
and objectives, proposed activities, evaluation component, timeline and resources.

k. Describe and understand how cultural, socio-economical, political, and physical
environment factors may influence a prevention effort.


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Core Competency #4 with Learning Objectives

Ability to evaluate injury and/or violence prevention activities.


To achieve this core competency, participants will be able to:


a. Understand the importance of evaluation and why and when evaluation should be done.

b. Understand how evaluation should be integrated into intervention design and
implementation.

c. Describe formative, process, impact and outcome evaluation and describe when and
how to use each of these.

d. Describe the use of qualitative and quantitative methods in evaluation, and explain the
benefits and limitations of each method.

e. Understand effective means of communicating evaluation results a s well as the role of
evaluation in identifying the key components of an intervention that are effective, for
whom they are effective and under what conditions they are effective.

f. Identify potential stakeholders/partners and resources to assist in conducting an
evaluation.

g. Identify potential barriers to specific types of evaluation and approaches to overcome
these.

h. Develop an evaluation plan for an intervention.



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Core Competency #5 with Learning Objectives

Ability to build and manage an injury and/or violence prevention program.


To achieve this core competency, participants will be able to:


a. Describe how to establish and maintain an advisory group to assist with the
development and monitoring of goals for injury and/or violence prevention within a
population (e.g. a community, a state, among children, among Latinos, etc.).

b. Develop a long-range plan for injury and/or violence prevention and identify issues that
may impact program goals, implementation, and sustainability.

c. Identify key funding sources for injury and/or violence prevention activities.

d. Prepare a proposal for funding from an external source.

e. Demonstrate the ability to create, justify, and manage a budget.

f. Demonstrate the ability to prioritize the allocation of resources (e.g. personnel, financial,
space, time, equipment, etc.) to align with program goals.

g. Develop a plan for hiring, supervising and promoting the professional development of
staff.

h. Demonstrate knowledge of ethical issues that may arise in injury and/or violence
prevention practice.

i. Describe ways that injury and/or violence prevention can be integrated into other
programs and identify common barriers to integration.

j. Demonstrate the ability to leverage program success to further program growth.

k. Demonstrate the a bility to develop and use performance standards to monitor program
success.


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Core Competency #6 with Learning Objectives

Ability to disseminate information related to injury and/or violence prevention
to the community, other professionals, key policy makers and leaders through
diverse communication networks.


To achieve this core competency, participants will be able to:


a. Identify and differentiate the components and methods of designing and delivering
effective messages for different audiences.

b. Demonstrate the ability to prepare different types of written documents (e.g. written
testimony, public health brief, fact sheet, press release, letter to the editor, policy
statement, website content, etc.) to effectively communicate information about injury
and/or violence.

c. Be able to serve as a resource to the public, media and policy makers when appropriate
and be able to provide referrals to other resources.

d. Demonstrate the ability to be effectively interviewed by both broadcast and print media
on an injury and/or violence topic.

e. Participate in the preparation of a professional report or publication that addresses an
injury and/or violence prevention finding or theory.


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Document Outline

• IntroductionCoreCompetencies
• CoreCompetencies

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