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Violence Intervention Advocacy Program and Community Interventions

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Pediatric Firearm Injuries and Fatalities

Abstract

In 2006, after a resurgence of youth violence in the City of Boston, MA, the Violence Intervention Advocacy Program (VIAP) was established at Boston Medical Center (BMC). Like other hospital-based violence intervention programs, BMC’s VIAP is an emergency department (ED)-centered program taking advantage of the short window after a traumatic injury when the victim of violence is at a crossroads and may be more amenable to an intervention. The VIAP trains staff as peer advocates for victims of violence and their family, aiding in the physical and emotional recovery from injury. These advocates partner with hospital and community groups to deliver a broad spectrum of care and offer local and national trainings in peer advocacy and trauma-informed care.

The VIAP presents the case of an 18-year-old male who suffered a gunshot wound to the head resulting in complete loss of vision. This case highlights the importance of family support, trauma-informed care, patient advocacy, and addressing social determinants of health in the recovery of young victims of firearm injury. Pediatric clients, defined here as 24 years old or younger, comprise 44% of the violent penetrating injuries presenting to the BMC ED over the history of the VIAP, and 54% of these pediatric injuries were gunshot wounds. The 12-year downward trend in the overall number of violent penetrating injuries at BMC appears to exclusively be the result of a dramatic decrease in the number of pediatric injuries, suggesting that youth violence is preventable and that violence intervention programs save lives and reduce reinjury.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Thea James of Boston Medical Center for her contributions to the founding of VIAP and the National Network of Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs (NNHVIP) and her continued efforts toward achieving health equity.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Authorship Statement

All authors have approved the manuscript, made significant contributions, and have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Is violence a contagious disease?

    By Felice J. Freyer

    February 27, 2017. The Boston Globe

    Elizabeth C. Pino and Francesca Fontin contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Elizabeth C. Pino, Francesca Fontin & Elizabeth Dugan

Authors
  1. Elizabeth C. Pino
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  2. Francesca Fontin
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  3. Elizabeth Dugan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elizabeth Dugan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Lois K. Lee

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Eric W. Fleegler

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Pino, E.C., Fontin, F., Dugan, E. (2021). Violence Intervention Advocacy Program and Community Interventions. In: Lee, L.K., Fleegler, E.W. (eds) Pediatric Firearm Injuries and Fatalities . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62245-9_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62245-9_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-62244-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-62245-9

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