Children
Child rights action with informed and engaged societies
Children

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

Time to read
less than
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 13 years ago
Last updated 3 years ago
Read so far

Paraprofessional home visitation program to prevent childhood unintentional injuries in low-income communities: a cluster randomized controlled trial

0 comments

Swart, L., A. Niekerk, et al. (2008) Paraprofessional home visitation program to prevent childhood unintentional injuries in low-income communities: a cluster randomized controlled trial. Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention 164-169 DOI: 10.1136/ip.2007.016832

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of a paraprofessional home visitation program (HVP) to improve home safety and prevent injuries among children living in low-income settings.

METHODS: The HVP was implemented in two low-income communities in South Africa. In each community, approximately 200 households were randomly selected for the trial. Eligible households were those with children aged < or = 10 years. Intervention households received four visits, one every two weeks, by trained paraprofessionals that focused on a specific injury topic and consisted of: information dissemination about specific injury prevention practices; home inspection accompanied by information about home hazards; and the supply of safety devices. The key outcomes to measure the presence of home hazards were scores for burns (safety practices, paraffin, and electrical), poisoning, and falls.

RESULTS: Significant reductions were found for injury risks related to burn safety practices. For injury risks related to electrical burns, paraffin burns, and poisoning, a decline was also noted although this was not statistically significant. No decline was noted for fall-related risks.

CONCLUSIONS: Subject to further replication and evaluation, home visits by paraprofessionals providing safety education, home inspection, and safety devices be considered for integration into a comprehensive child injury prevention strategy in low-income communities.