title: Impact of Community-Based Approach as Policy Tool: World Health Organization-Designated Safe Communities of Korea and Health Action Zones of the United Kingdom.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study is to ascertain and identify the effectiveness of area-based initiatives as a policy tool mediated by societal and individual factors in the five World Health Organization (WHO)-designated Safe Communities of Korea and the Health Action Zones of the United Kingdom (UK).
  
  
  METHODS
  The Korean National Hospital discharge in-depth injury survey from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and causes of death statistics by the Statistics Korea were used for all analyses. The trend and changes in injury rate and mortality by external causes were compared among the five WHO-designated Safe Communities in Korea.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The injury incident rates decreased at a greater level in the Safe Communities compared with the national average. Similar results were shown for the changes in unintentional injury incident rates. In comparison of changes in mortality rate by external causes between 2005 and 2011, the rate increase in Safe Communities was higher than the national average except for Jeju, where the mortality rate by external causes decreased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When the Healthy Action Zones of the UK and the WHO Safe Communities of Korea were examined, the outcomes were interpreted differently among the compared index, regions, and time periods. Therefore, qualitative outcomes, such as bringing the residents' attention to the safety of the communities and promoting participation and coordination of stakeholders, should also be considered as important impacts of the community-based initiatives.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Administration (Health and Welfare), Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Changhyun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: ICT Statistics Center, Korea Information Society Development Institute, Jincheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jihyung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Policy, Birmingham University, UK.
authors.forename: Bob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Matthews
keywords: Health Action Zones; World Health Organization Safe Community; area-based initiatives; policy tool; safety policy of Korea