Water Safety Implementation Project: A Delphi study to develop an Implementation Framework for drowning prevention.
1
School of Population health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Drowning remains a preventable public health challenge in high-income countries (HICs) where notwithstanding decades of investment, significant numbers of fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents still occur[1,2,3]. Despite evidence for interventions which raise awareness, educate, guide behaviour, and change regulations, translating these into lasting practice has proven difficult[4-6]. The need to better understand drowning prevention implementation has been identified as a priority by global experts[7], the United Nations[8] and World Health Organization[9]. Implementation Science examines how evidence can be translated into practice to enhance intervention impact[10]. It can also identify factors influencing uptake and strategies encouraging evidence-based approaches[11]. The Water Safety Implementation Project (WSIP), is establishing a framework to support the design and implementation of evidence-based drowning prevention interventions in HICs. This presentation will highlight Delphi study results which assess the usefulness of an existing implementation science framework for drowning prevention and water safety interventions and detail progress towards the creation of a Water Safety Implementation Framework.
METHODS:
WSIP employed a two-round Delphi survey with 48 participants to assess the relevance of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) for drowning prevention and water safety.
RESULTS:
CFIR was deemed appropriate for drowning prevention, with many domains and concepts found to be relevant. Constructs with 100% relevance included adaptability, engaging and assessing needs of the target group, reflecting and evaluating interventions and implementation strategies. Additional constructs identified included communicating community feedback, equity and use of theory.
CONCLUSIONS:
There is an identified need for improved approaches to implementing evidence-informed drowning prevention and water safety interventions. These research insights, combined with findings from a systematic review[4], reflexive thematic analysis[12] and mapping study [under review], will inform a refined framework suited to drowning prevention interventions. The Water Safety Implementation Framework may also benefit broader injury prevention efforts.
Drowning remains a preventable public health challenge in high-income countries (HICs) where notwithstanding decades of investment, significant numbers of fatal and non-fatal drowning incidents still occur[1,2,3]. Despite evidence for interventions which raise awareness, educate, guide behaviour, and change regulations, translating these into lasting practice has proven difficult[4-6]. The need to better understand drowning prevention implementation has been identified as a priority by global experts[7], the United Nations[8] and World Health Organization[9]. Implementation Science examines how evidence can be translated into practice to enhance intervention impact[10]. It can also identify factors influencing uptake and strategies encouraging evidence-based approaches[11]. The Water Safety Implementation Project (WSIP), is establishing a framework to support the design and implementation of evidence-based drowning prevention interventions in HICs. This presentation will highlight Delphi study results which assess the usefulness of an existing implementation science framework for drowning prevention and water safety interventions and detail progress towards the creation of a Water Safety Implementation Framework.
METHODS:
WSIP employed a two-round Delphi survey with 48 participants to assess the relevance of the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) for drowning prevention and water safety.
RESULTS:
CFIR was deemed appropriate for drowning prevention, with many domains and concepts found to be relevant. Constructs with 100% relevance included adaptability, engaging and assessing needs of the target group, reflecting and evaluating interventions and implementation strategies. Additional constructs identified included communicating community feedback, equity and use of theory.
CONCLUSIONS:
There is an identified need for improved approaches to implementing evidence-informed drowning prevention and water safety interventions. These research insights, combined with findings from a systematic review[4], reflexive thematic analysis[12] and mapping study [under review], will inform a refined framework suited to drowning prevention interventions. The Water Safety Implementation Framework may also benefit broader injury prevention efforts.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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