School and Hospital-Based VIP

Working together with the community is the foundation of our work. Gun Violence reduction strategies must impact multiple age groups, all gender identities, all cultures, races and ethnicities and all geographic areas. A strong collaborative of agencies endeavoring to address the social determinants of health that underlie gun violence in Albuquerque is essential. In cities where gun violence reduction models are most effective, there are multi-agency collaboratives that support the work of custom notifications and street outreach. The Violence Intervention Program partners number of organizations in order to create a service provider collective that works across agencies to support VIP participants.

The VIP All In! Echo Meeting is held on the first Friday of every month. The meeting consists of a didactic presentation and a case review. Please contact Angel Garcia [email protected] or Gerri Bachicha [email protected] to be invited to the meeting.

The VIP team is piloting an intervention program with victims of gun violence at the University of New Mexico Hospital.

UNM HVIP Pilot Goal/Objectives

Goal:

To provide a comprehensive approach to treating victims of gun violence through the development of an HVIP to address risk factors associated with violent injury, thereby providing more complete trauma care, and ultimately improving health outcomes, reducing recidivism and repeat hospital room visits.

Objectives:

1. Reduce the number of youth and adults who are repeat victims of gun violence.
2. Promote positive development and quality of life for clients and families affected by violence.
3. Reduce the number of clients with injuries caused by violence (firearms, stabbings, and assaults).
4. Reduce the number of recurring hospital and emergency room visits at UNM Hospital.

Principles

Methodology:

• HVIPs use the "teachable moment," approaching hospitalized target population patients with culturally competent case managers (CMs).
• Mental health resources are linked and offered as a core component of HVIPs.
• VIP Case Managers develop rapport with clients and begin identifying/addressing individual needs with long-term commitment.
• VIP Case Managers shepherd clients through risk-reduction resources via strong community/city ties and knowledge of the landscape, such as access to job training, education, substance abuse treatment, domestic violence agencies, and so on.

A public health approach to violence prevention:

• Modifiable risk factors associated with violent injury
  • Poor education
  • Lack of job opportunities
  • Injury and criminal recidivism
  • Socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods
  • Substance abuse
  • Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Lack of positive role models
• Notion of violence as a public health issue with modifiable risk factors first acknowledged by the U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, MD, FACS, in the 1980s.

Goals of Initial Bedside Visit

• Addressing any immediate needs the patient might have (for example, helping them to understand what is going on in the hospital, making them as comfortable as possible, helping them follow up on contacting family, etc.).
• Explaining how the program works, what it offers, and what is expected of the patient and his/her/their family members (include the process of connecting youth and family to community-based services).
• Reviewing the violent incident (when talking about the incident, be aware of people in the immediate area as information may be a part of an ongoing police investigation).
• Preventing any retaliation that may be planned by friends or family (be prepared to explain the cycle of violence as it relates to the patient and his/her/their friends and family).
• Learning how long the patient expects to be in the hospital and establishing a plan for a follow-up meeting within 3 days.
• Completing an initial needs/strengths assessment (sometimes this needs to be completed in the next visit or even over the course of the next few visits, depending on the emotional and physical health status of the patient).
• Providing program contact information, including the Intervention Specialist's business card, to the patient and any friend or family members present.