Laboratory of Health and Road Safety (LaHeRS) belongs to the Department of Social Work of the Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU). LaHeRS aims at preventing injuries and promoting health and safety of communities through education, policy making and research. Injury prevention is one of the key priorities of LaHeRS and particularly prevention of unintentional injuries (e.g. motor vehicle injuries, falls, pedestrian-related injuries, natural disasters etc), and violence (child maltreatment, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, suicide, youth violence, etc). It is a unique academic laboratory combining health and social sciences into health and safety promotion strategies, while playing a key role in developing and delivering psychosocial services to economically deprived individuals residing in rural and remote areas with limited access to health and social care services. LaHeRS runs laboratory and field research, formulates policy and works directly with people to inform, educate, and empower them about health, mental health and social issues, particularly the underserved and those at risk. LaHeRS tests innovative solutions to treat individuals, couples, families and communities experiencing adverse bio-psychosocial circumstances and evaluates the effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of health, mental health and social welfare services. LaHeRS supports the development of scientific tools and material for use by academic, research and civil organizations; development of training material and lifelong training programs for front line professionals, and more.

• It conducts laboratory and field research, participates in policy formulation and works directly with the population to inform, educate and empower the vulnerable about health, mental health and social care issues, particularly those at risk.
• It tests innovative solutions for the treatment of individuals, couples, families and communities facing adverse bio-psychosocial conditions and evaluates the effectiveness, accessibility and quality of health, mental health and social care services.
• LaHeRS supports the development of scientific tools and materials for use by academic, research and policy organizations, educational materials and lifelong training programs for frontline professionals and more.
• LaHeRS has long involvement in research projects related to health promotion and injury prevention under national and European funding schemes [eg. European Union Health Program “738148/ORAMMA” and “Y-SAV 2009-12-22”, Leonardo da Vinci/Partnerships (LdV “LLP-LdV-TOI-2007-TR-008”), Directorate-General for Transport and Mobility/ DG-MOVE (MOVE/ C4/SUB/2011-294/SI2.628846/REHABIL-AID), the Directorate-General for Justice and the “DAPHNE III” programme, such as COMMUN-AID (JUST/2011-2012/DAP/ AG /3272) and WOM-POWER (JUST/2011-2012/DAP/AG/3008), Erasmus Lifelong Learning Program (Intensive Programs 2012 (IP)/International training for the training of road accident rehabilitation specialists) and is also a member of major European networks funded under the COST programme, such as ‘COST Action 357’ and ‘COST Action TU1101’.
• LaHeRS has published in international journals and conference proceedings. It maintains a clear interdisciplinary character with academic partners from health sciences, social sciences, statistics, engineering and biomedical informatics.

INJURY PREVENTION & HEALTH PROMOTION

LaHeRS is active in injury prevention

Injuries are “traditionally” distinguished (based on “intent”) into: unintentional and intentional, which are the result of self-inflicted or other-inflicted violence, including special cases such as intimate partner violence and child abuse.

• Intentional (eg child abuse, domestic violence, suicide)
• Unintentional (eg falls, traffic accidents, natural disasters, pandemics)

LaHeRS offers the following services:

• Psychosocial support for individuals, couples and families experiencing poverty.
• Career mentoring and counseling services for socially vulnerable individuals.
• Diagnostic services and brief family interventions for learning disabilities offered by an interdisciplinary mobile team of professionals.
• Counseling/therapeutic intervention programs for perpetrators and victims of domestic violence who are referred to the Laboratory by the Prosecutor’s Office within the framework of penal mediation.
• Intervention programs for juvenile offenders and violators of Road Traffic Law, who are referred to the Laboratory by the Prosecutor’s Office as part of reformative measures.
• Awareness raising and road traffic education provided in the context of organized school visits to the facilities of the Laboratory.
• School programs aiming at strengthening resilience and improving crisis management skills in primary and secondary education students.
• Personal development programs for primary and secondary education teachers and workers in public and private sector.
• Professional supervision for social workers and those employed in the caring professions.

LaHeRS has produced the following supporting material:

5. Online tool to support victims of sexual harassment

• Domestic Worker Support: Stop sexual violence in domestic work

6. Reports on Major Social Issues / Results of European Works

• Study of sexual aggression and victimization of young people in the countries of the European Union (YSAV project)
• European Road Accident Study and Statistics (COST TU1101)

7. TV / Radio (interviews)

8. Leaflets / informative material