Helping Individuals With Firearm Injuries

About 250 individuals present to an emergency department in King County, primarily Harborview Medical Center (HMC), for firearm-related injuries each year. Almost two-third of these patients require admission for their injuries. While the number of patients with firearm injuries who present to HMC is relatively small, these individuals are at substantially increased risk of subsequent re-hospitalization for another firearm or assault-related injury, arrest for firearm-related or violent crime, non-firearm-related nonviolent crime or firearm-related death in the five years after discharge from the hospital. Thus, interventions among this high risk population have the potential to reduce recidivism, morbidity, and mortality as well as decrease firearm violence and its consequences in the community.

Patients with gunshot wounds (GSWs) seen at HMC receive many services; however, currently there is no standardized intervention offered to GSW patients. A number of hospitals across the country have created violence prevention and intervention programs to help patients who sustain violent injuries. These programs engage patients in the hospital during their recovery period, which is seen as an opportunity ("teachable moment") to change their life and reduce retaliation and recidivism. As a result of the growing number of violence prevention and intervention program, the National Network of Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programs, has been established. Through working groups, meetings, e-newsletter, and conferences, Network members collaborate in research and evaluation, explore opportunities for funding sustainability, develop and share best practices, and identify ways to collectively have an impact on policy. While the creation of this infrastructure is a step in the right direction, researchers have not rigorously tested the effectiveness of these intervention programs. Specifically, no trials have evaluated the effectiveness of hospital-based violence intervention programs offered to GSW victims.

The investigators aim to conduct a cluster randomized trial of an violence intervention program that combines a brief, hospital-based intervention, a structured outreach program, and multi-agency attention. Study staff will provide a brief intervention derived from motivational interviewing (MI). MI is is a patient-centered behavioral technique based on the stages of change model and attempts to engage patients in order to find reason to change behavior. By empathetically exploring ambivalent feelings about health-related behavior, MI encourages reduction in risky behavior. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of providing MI-based brief interventions in the Emergency Department (ED) or inpatient wards, primarily for alcohol use disorders but also for violent behaviors. Specifically, brief, MI interventions have been successful at reducing youth violence in large urban populations, with effects sustained through one year. Additionally, a behavioral-based intervention including MI targeting adolescents admitted to HMC with trauma showed a reduction in weapon carriage during the year post-hospitalization.

A longitudinal outreach intervention program provides the added benefit of continued engagement. GSW patients must transition back to the community after their hospitalization, and the transitional period, when patients must navigate a complex and fragmented system of care, is especially challenging. Providing GSW patients with outreach and follow-up after the healthcare encounter holds promise for reducing their future violence and criminal activity. The Critical Time Intervention (CTI) approach may provide a strong framework for providing these patients with appropriate outreach and follow-up. Strong evidence supports CTI's effectiveness. The CTI model meets the Coalition for Evidence-based Policy's rigorous "Top Tier" standard for interventions: well-designed and implemented randomized controlled trials, preferably conducted in typical community settings, [that] produced sizable, sustained benefits to participants and/or society. CTI is a time-limited, evidence-based case management model that mobilizes support for society's most vulnerable individuals during periods of transition such as discharge from inpatient services to the community. It facilitates community integration and continuity of care by ensuring that a person has enduring ties to their community and support systems during these critical periods. CTI has been used worldwide among veterans, people with mental illness, homeless or incarcerated individuals, and many other groups. From the beginning, CTI was thought of as an intervention that could be applied in myriad contexts. This approach has the potential to provide an intervention framework for a second tier outreach to GSW victims in King and neighboring counties.