ALCOHOL AND INJURY--BELIEFS ABOUT PREVENTABILITY

The overall goal of the research proposed herein is to reduce the incidence of premature death and disability that is due to injury. Healthy People 2000, the nations's health promotion and disease prevention agenda, acknowledges that more years of potential life ar lost to unintentional injury than to any other cause (US Department of Health and human Services, 1990). That document also emphasizes that, "efforts to reduce death and disability from unintentional injuries must be (emphasis added) combined with efforts to reduce alcohol and drug abuse." Specifically, the proposed study will assess the public's beliefs about whether the five leading causes of unintentional injury death are preventable, and if so, how. Special efforts will be made to elicit respondents' understanding of how alcohol contributes to our nation's injury problem, and whether they feel its role can be modified. Data will be collected via a cross sectional telephone survey administered to a nationally representative sample that is generated using random digit dialing techniques. The case is clearly made that past inquiry into this area of study has been inadequate. In justifying further exploration, the author cites the necessity of understanding existing public beliefs before attempting to alter them, documents that beliefs about alcohol, as well as injury preventability, have been linked to the likelihood of engaging in risk- related behaviors, and provides support for the argument that beliefs about the efficacy of prevention measures are correlated with public support for, and passage of, legislative interventions. Finally, there is evidence to suggest that professionals' current conceptions of public preventability beliefs may be unfounded, and could have unintended consequences that undermine prevention efforts. This study's findings should facilitate the work of injury prevention advocates and other supporters of effective alcohol policies.