Projects

Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP) Evaluation

Hospitals are the primary location where patients who have suffered a violent injury seek medical care. HVIPs engage patients shortly after hospital-based care is sought for a violent injury to provide individualized assessments, psychosocial interventions, and case-management services. Life Outside of Violence (LOV), the St. Louis region-wide HVIP, has been implemented into clinical practice as an evidence-based HVIP to break patients out of the cycle of violence. We are currently evaluating program implementation, enrollment, and participant outcomes (e.g., recurrent violent injury and completion of participant individual treatment plan goals). These data support ongoing LOV program implementation, and inform HVIP operations and evaluation at other centers across the United States (U.S.).

Acute and recurrent firearm and other violent injury epidemiology

Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death in U.S. children, and the cycle of violence is an under addressed public health threat disproportionately affecting Black youths. We have created a new multi-hospital, multi-healthcare system regional data source to evaluate acute and recurrent violent injuries, St. Louis Region-Wide Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program Data Repository. This repository houses data on all patients who present to a partner St. Louis adult or pediatric level I trauma hospitals with a violent injury. These hospitals care for the majority of violently injured patients in the St. Louis region, which spans Missouri and Illinois. We are currently investigating regional trends in index and recurrent firearm injuries, and the interplay between other types of assault and firearm injuries. These data will support ongoing regional and national violence intervention and prevention programing.