Hospital-Based Violence Prevention: Progress and Opportunities.

Abstract

Ideas and Opinions3 November 2015Hospital-Based Violence Prevention: Progress and OpportunitiesJonathan Purtle, DrPH, MSc, John A. Rich, MD, MPH, Joel A. Fein, MD, MPH, Thea James, MD, and Theodore J. Corbin, MD, MPPJonathan Purtle, DrPH, MScFrom Drexel University School of Public Health, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author, John A. Rich, MD, MPHFrom Drexel University School of Public Health, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author, Joel A. Fein, MD, MPHFrom Drexel University School of Public Health, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author, Thea James, MDFrom Drexel University School of Public Health, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author, and Theodore J. Corbin, MD, MPPFrom Drexel University School of Public Health, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M15-0586 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail A substantial body of research shows that violently injured patients are at high risk for violent reinjury, violence perpetration, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress (1, 2). The standard of care for assault injury, however, does not reflect this knowledge—physical wounds are treated and patients are discharged, often to return with repeated injuries. Although many physicians wish to act on this knowledge, as evidenced by a recent call to action endorsed by 8 medical societies (3), little concrete guidance on what they can do is available. In this commentary, we describe how hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) work to translate research ...