Potential Lost, Potential for Change – The Cost of Injuries in Canada 2021
Injuries divert essential hospital resources and cost Canadian residents $29.4 billion annually.
Injury remains the no. 1 cause of death for Canadians age 1 to 44, and annually causes 17,475 deaths, 231,530 hospitalizations, and 4.6 million trips to emergency departments: the majority of these injuries are predictable and preventable. TORONTO, July 5, 2021 – Preventable injuries cost the Canadian economy $29.4 billion in a single year, including $20.4 billion in direct health-care costs. That’s just one of the findings from Potential Lost, Potential for Change: The Cost of Injury 2021, a new report published today on National Injury Prevention Day by Parachute, Canada’s national charity dedicated to injury prevention.
“While this report unmasks the economic costs of injury, and the biggest causes of injury, that’s only part of the story,” says Pamela Fuselli, President and CEO of Parachute. “The human cost of injury brings pain, suffering and diminished health and well-being to individuals and their families. It impacts everyone’s potential to live long lives to the fullest. “
The report, created by Parachute in collaboration with the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit and supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada, pulls together and examines data on injury across Canada from 2018, the latest year for which full statistics are available. Key findings
- Unintentional poisonings have overtaken transport incidents as the third-biggest cause of injury-related deaths in Canada for the first time. While transport incident deaths have declined, the number of poisoning deaths has more than doubled since 2010, largely attributable to opioid-related poisonings.
- Falls remain the biggest cause of death through injury in the country, followed by suicide/self-harm.
- Unintentional injuries, caused by things such as falls and transport incidents, accounted for 86 per cent of injury costs ($25.3 billion). Falls had a higher total cost than any other cause in 2018, accounting for $10.3 billion, or 35 per cent, of the total cost of injury.
The story of injury in Canada is a story of potential lost. “Injury is the leading cause of death for Canadians aged one to 44, ahead of cancer and heart disease. The human and societal potential lost through injury is immense,” says Fuselli, when these young people’s lives are cut short. “In 2018, injuries stole 333,791 years of potential life lived, of missed celebrations, milestones, family memories, and contributions through work and volunteering.”
The total cost of injuries, $29.4 billion “equals a cost of $80 million to the Canadian economy every day,” says Dr. Ian Pike, a Parachute Board Director, director of the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit, professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia and investigator with BC Children’s Hospital. “The total direct cost of $20.4 billion translates to an average of $56 million spent per day in the Canadian health-care system. Investing even a fraction of that amount in injury prevention would free up resources for other important needs in the system: for example, fewer injuries would lead to more critical-care hospital beds available for patients with other health concerns.”
We have the potential to change the story “Almost all these injuries and deaths, and the resulting costs, could have been prevented,” says Fuselli. “We know how to prevent incidents and have to take action to create a different story of a Canada free from serious injuries and deaths.” The report authors recommend embracing three key investments to reduce injury and its costs in Canada:
- Invest in advocacy to ensure that our laws, the spaces and places where we live, play, work and travel, and the products we use are all built to standards that minimize injury.
- Invest in preventative measures that we know work to reduce or eliminate injury, and educate people about their effectiveness to ensure these are widely adopted.
- Invest in research to grow our evidence of what is effective so we can stem Canada’s tragic loss of potential by preventing injuries and saving lives in the years to come.
“The Public Health Agency of Canada is proud to support Parachute as we work to gain a better understanding of the true cost of injury in our country,” says Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada. “Many injuries are predictable and preventable, and key to prevention is education. I encourage all Canadians to learn about what they can do to minimize the risk of preventable injuries.” Explore the full report atparachute.ca/costofinjury. About the Cost of Injury Report Parachute created The Cost of Injury in Canada 2021 in collaboration with the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit, with support from the Public Health Agency of Canada. This report is the fourth of its kind. A Cost of Injury in Canada report was last published in 2015, with 2010 data. Using a similar but updated methodology, the 2021 report presents data on all injuries at the national level from the year 2018, the last year where complete data are available. For the first time in the report’s history, the report is published interactively, featuring Tableau data visualizations that can be filtered by the viewer. About Parachute Parachute is Canada’s national charity dedicated to reducing the devastating impact of preventable injuries. Injury is the No. 1 killer of Canadians aged 1 to 44. The financial toll is staggering, with injury costing the Canadian economy $29.4 billion a year. Through education and advocacy, Parachute is working to save lives and create a Canada free of serious injuries. For more information, visit us at parachute.ca and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. View the report here.
- distress when a child was in pain and when a family was grieving; and
- sadness in the event they were not able to save a child in their care.
- concern for the injured child and the child’s family;
Particularly traumatic events, such as those involving vivid sights and sounds (e.g., families holding each other and having extreme reactions), stuck with the practitioners, having long-lasting impressions on them and causing them to re-live these events in the years following their exposure.
Even after their shift was over, practitioners said that they changed how they approached parenting and how they perceived safety during play as a result of witnessing these traumatic events. They reported having more knowledge of the causes and consequences of severe injuries, such as those that require hospitalization or emergency care. For example, practitioners were more likely to enforce boundaries around where their children could play, such as by forbidding their child to play near busy streets. They also were more likely to tell their child about safe play environments and equipment, and put this equipment on their child before play, such as explaining the benefits of using helmets while riding bikes.
Practitioners were more likely to enforce boundaries around where their children could play, and use safety equipment, such as bike helmets.
Practitioners also described being concerned about their children’s play near open windows, around large bodies of water unsupervised, and in environments where firearms were present. They also expressed worry about their children’s play on trampolines and on motorized vehicles, such as ATVs. Findings related to trampoline play safety concerns were published in the journal Injury Prevention.
Observing family grief due to child injury or death affected the mental well-being of health care practitioners, drawing attention to the need for mental health supports for those involved in caring for severely injured and dying patients.
"Raise more resilient children through play...watch and see how your child handles challenging tasks without intervening right away." —Dr. Michelle Bauer
Building resilience through play
How can parents help their children build resilience? By letting them play!
The experiences that practitioners witnessed encouraged them to support their children in building resilience through play; specifically, by supporting children in learning to cope with failure, overcome fear, build self-confidence, develop distress tolerance, and regulate negative emotions. Findings related to building resilience through play were published in the journal Child: Care, Health, and Development.
Parents fostered resilience in their kids by:
- helping their kids get back on bikes after they fell off and wanted to try again;
- sitting on their hands so they did not instinctively reach for their children when their children fell down; and
- encouraging participation in challenging and thrilling activities in forests and water while safety equipment was used.
"There are a few ways that parents can raise more resilient children through play that are supported by literature and our study findings," said Dr. Bauer. "One: watch and see how your child handles challenging tasks without intervening right away."
"Two: Ask your child how they want you to help—let them tell you what makes them feel safe and happy during play. Let them lead. And three: make play both safe and exciting by encouraging risk-taking, teaching them how to avoid hazards, and using safety equipment.”
This research was supported through Drs. Bauer’s and Gilley’s receipt of a clinical and translational research seed grant from the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR), Dr. Bauer’s BCCHR postdoctoral fellowship award, and additional training provided to Dr. Bauer through her participation in the Programs and Institutions Looking to Launch Academic Researchers (PILLAR) program through ENRICH, a national organization training perinatal and child health researchers.
Learn more about the study through two infographic posters:
Graphics and posters by Milica Radosavljevic
