Developing a trauma-informed, emergency department-based intervention for victims of urban violence

J Trauma Dissociation. 2011;12(5):510-25. doi: 10.1080/15299732.2011.593260.

Abstract

The Surgeon General's report on youth violence, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other national organizations are calling for public health approaches to the issue of youth violence. Hospital-based violence intervention programs have shown promise in reducing recurrent violence and decreasing future involvement in the criminal justice system. These programs seldom address trauma-related symptoms. We describe a conceptual framework for emergency department-based and hospital-based violence intervention programs that intentionally addresses trauma. The intervention described--Healing Hurt People--is a trauma-informed program designed to intervene in the lives of injured patients at the life-changing moment of violent injury. This community-focused program seeks to reduce recurrent violence among 8- to 30-year-olds through opportunities for healing and connection. Healing Hurt People considers the adversity that patients have experienced during their lives and seeks to break the cycle of violence by addressing this trauma.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Combined Modality Therapy / methods
  • Crime Victims / psychology*
  • Crisis Intervention / organization & administration*
  • Domestic Violence / prevention & control
  • Domestic Violence / psychology
  • Emergency Service, Hospital / organization & administration*
  • Female
  • Homicide / psychology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Healing
  • Models, Psychological
  • Patient Care Team / organization & administration
  • Psychotherapy, Group / methods
  • Secondary Prevention
  • Social Work, Psychiatric / organization & administration
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / therapy*
  • Urban Population*
  • Violence / prevention & control*
  • Violence / psychology*
  • Wounds and Injuries / psychology
  • Wounds and Injuries / therapy
  • Young Adult