Hospital-Based Violence Intervention-Saving Lives and Money

• In Event: Roundtable: The Health Approach to Violence Prevention

Abstract

Hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) are a powerful way to stop the revolving door of violent injury in our hospitals and communities. Engaging patients during their recovery is a golden opportunity to change their lives and reduce retaliation and recidivism. Without intervention, in the U.S. there is a 5-year reinjury rate as high as 45% for victims of gunshot wounds and stabbings. And yet, most communities do not yet partner with hospitals to address the cycle of violence. The presenter will explain how HVIPs combine in-hospital intervention with intensive community-based case management and provide targeted services to high-risk populations to reduce risk factors for reinjury and retaliation while cultivating protective factors. Rigorous evaluations of HVIPs have demonstrated promising results in preventing violent reinjury, violent crime, and substance misuse. HVIPs have been the subject of five randomized controlled evaluations. An evaluation of an HVIP in Baltimore found that the intervention group was half as likely to be convicted of any crime and four times less likely to be convicted of a violent crime, translating into approximately $1.25 million in incarceration cost savings. The same evaluation found the intervention group to have a lower hospital recidivism rate (5% vs. 26%).

Author

• Anne Marks, YouthAlive!