KIPRC works with local, state, and regional partners to make Kentucky safer

The Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC), established in 1994, is a unique partnership between the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) and the University of Kentucky, affiliated with the UK College of Public Health.

Serving both as an academic injury prevention research center and as the KDPH’s designee or “bona fide agent” for statewide injury prevention and control, KIPRC focuses on injury prevention translation and practice.

This state–university partnership provides KIPRC access to expertise and support in injury- and violence-related research, data, services, outreach, communications, interventions, evaluation techniques, and policy development, at both the state government and academic levels.

KIPRC’s unique, mature partnership uses injury prevention research to inform and help develop targeted interventions for local and state injury prevention practice. This ready translation of research into practice, in turn, informs further research to reduce injury and related death and disability.

“We wouldn’t be anywhere without our partners,” said KIPRC Director Terry Bunn. “Without them, there is no story. Collaboration with partners on interventions is integral to all the research we conduct and practice we perform.” Bunn notes it’s those partnerships across a variety of industries, agencies, and organizations that result in successful interventions.

Through collaboration with the state Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities and the Kentucky Office for Drug Control Policy, KIPRC spearheaded the treatment facility locator platform FindHelpNowKY.org that is now expended to the national FindHelpNow website. The website allows individuals to find treatment facilities with openings that accept their method of payment. The website is expanding to Tennessee, with additional states interested in participating.

Building on the FindHelpNow platform and working with the Fletcher Group, Bunn said KIPRC is developing state and national recovery housing platforms with information on openings at recovery houses, a learning management system, and recovery management system for the public and for potential and current recovery housing operators and owners.

“We want quality recovery housing with available openings. When a person is undergoing treatment, they go to that next level within the community continuum of care to enter a recovery house, build recovery capital, and reintegrate in local communities. In the end, to be productive citizens again,” Bunn said.

Teen drivers across the state are also benefitting through The Checkpoints Program, which collaborates with local high schools. The schools manage the program, with KIPRC providing funding.

KIPRC has also created commercial vehicle driver safety training videos with help from Midwest Insurance and Vertical Alliance Group. The videos have been viewed more than 200,000 times, and companies use the videos for their worker safety training programs.

KIPRC tracks injuries throughout the state of Kentucky with a goal of analyzing data and producing data results to inform their interventions and to present to communities for targeting the development of their own interventions. This includes occupational health, drug overdose, motor vehicle crash, and suicide data.

“When we first started looking at the drug overdose issue back in 2010, the first thing most people think of is that the population overdosing is 25 to 44 years old. That might be true, but we do have local areas where you may also have a higher proportion of those that are 65 and older who are overdosing because of medication misuse, etc.,” Bunn said.

KIPRC produces a variety of reports and publications that examine statewide trends in drug overdose, traumatic brain injury, occupational injury, suicide, and more. KIPRC also produces localized reports for specific regions and counties per request. KIPRC’s website features three county-level dashboards—worker injury profiles, drug overdose profiles, and general injury profiles—that provide the public with a searchable data table for information.

Throughout the year, KIPRC provides training and educational opportunities for the public and health professionals.

Each year, KIPRC helps support the Kentucky Harm Reduction Summit, which is held annually and partners with multiple organizations to highlight best practices, statutes, and policies related to implementing and maintaining harm reduction programs. In addition to valuable keynote talks and breakout sessions, continuing education credit is provided for select healthcare professionals.

More than 900 professionals from 30 states and 96 of Kentucky’s 120 counties gathered this past August for the virtual 2021 Kentucky Harm Reduction Summit.

The annual Kentucky Falls and Osteoporosis Summit features talks on a variety of topics meant to enhance the understanding of ways to support older adults. The event is open to all fall prevention professionals, to provide education and networking opportunities to participants.

To learn more about KIPRC’s six injury focus areas -- community injury prevention, drug overdose prevention, intentional injuries, motor vehicle injuries, occupational safety and health, and trauma -- programs, resources library, and recent publications, visit kiprc.uky.edu.