Introduction The association between health outcomes and socioeconomic status (SES) has been widely documented, and mortality due to unintentional injuries continues to rank among the leading causes of death among British Columbians. This paper quantified the SES-related disparities in the mortality burden of three British Columbia’s provincial injury prevention priority areas: falls among seniors, transport injury, and youth suicide. Methods Mortality data (2009 to 2013) from Vital Statistics and dissemination area or local health area level socioeconomic data from CensusPlus 2011 were linked to examine age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs) and disparities in ASMRs of unintentional injuries and subtypes including falls among seniors (aged 65+) and transport-related injuries as well as the intentional injury type of youth suicide (aged 15 to 24). Disparities by sex and geography were examined, and relative and absolute disparities were calculated between the least and most privileged areas based on income, education, employment, material deprivation, and social deprivation quintiles. Results Our study highlighted significant sex differences in the mortality burden of falls among seniors, transport injury, and youth suicide with males experiencing significantly higher mortality rates. Notable geographic variations in overall unintentional injury ASMR were also observed across the province. In general, people living in areas with lower income and higher levels of material deprivation had increasingly higher mortality rates compared to their counterparts living in more privileged areas. Conclusion The significant differences in unintentional and intentional injury-related mortality outcomes between the sexes and by SES present opportunities for targeted prevention strategies that address the disparities.

BackgroundFalls are the leading cause of injury-related hospitalizations and deaths for older adults (>65 years) in BC, Canada, with an average 13 397 hospitalizations and over 500 fatalities each year. However, these injuries are preventable. Almost 62% of older adults who use the internet do so to search medical or health-related information, and 32% use social networking websites such as Facebook.ObjectivesTo determine whether Facebook advertisements are an effective communication tool for disseminating falls prevention messages and directing users to the FindingBalanceBC campaign website.MethodsThirty advertisements promoting four evidence-informed falls prevention messages ran on Facebook from October 30 to November 30, 2017 (campaign period) through the FindingBalanceBC Facebook page. Messaging targeted community-dwelling older adults and their caregivers living in BC. Engagement with advertisements were measured through tracking clicks, comments, shares, and reactions.FindingsDuring the campaign period, 4470 people engaged with the advertisements, with 5583 link clicks, 321 reactions, 36 comments, and 181 shares. Advertisements were on screen a total of 3 35 114 times (impressions) and 1 40 049 people saw the advertisements at least once (reach). The FindingBalanceBC Facebook page received 188 new likes as a result of the advertising campaigns. The number of visits to the FindingBalanceBC website during this campaign period were comparable to previous years, where out-of-home and print advertising methods were used and Facebook advertisements were not.ConclusionFacebook advertisements are an effective and low-cost method of engaging older adults and their caregivers in falls prevention communications. Further research is needed on best practices for composition of advertising content, for heightened engagement and assessing knowledge retention. Policy implicationsFacebook advertising should be considered as an effective means to disseminate health promotion messages among older adults.

Background This study examines social disparities across neighbourhood levels of income, education and employment in relation to overall injury hospital separations in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Further, the study examines the relationships of social disparities to a set of three injury prevention priorities in British Columbia, namely, transport (motor vehicle occupant, pedestrian and cyclist), falls among older adults, and youth self-harm. The goal being to better understand area-based injury incidence with a view to precision prevention initiatives, particularly for more vulnerable populations. Methods Acute hospital separations from the Discharge Abstract Database were identified for all causes of injury and the three BC injury prevention priorities for the period April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2014, inclusive. An ecological approach was applied where each hospital separation case was attributed with the income, education and employment level according to the injured individual’s area of residence, derived from the 2011 CensusPlus data. Results Injury hospital separation data were available for 191 Forward Sortation Areas in BC. Between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2014, there was a total of 177,861 injury-related hospital separations, averaging 35,572 hospital separations per year and an annual rate of 779 injury hospital separations per 100,000 population. Injury hospital separation rates varied with the measured neighbourhood area socioeconomic status variables. Injury hospital separation rates demonstrated an inverse relationship with neighbourhood levels of income and education. Neighbourhood area socioeconomic status differences were also associated with the injury hospital separation rates for falls among older adults, motor vehicle crashes involving motor vehicle occupants, pedestrians, cyclists and young drivers, and youth self-harm. Conclusions The study results show that neighbourhood levels of income, education and employment are associated with the risk of injury hospital separation. In particular, low education levels in FSAs was associated with increased risk of injury hospital separation, mainly for motor vehicle occupants, pedestrians, young drivers, and youth self-harm. The results of this study provide useful information for implementing injury prevention initiatives and interventions in BC to align with the provincial public health system and road safety strategy goals, particularly for identified priorities.