A hospital-based violence prevention tour: a collaborative approach to empower youth

Youth violence is a significant problem in the United States with high recidivism rates. Considering these high recidivism rates in youths after an initial injury, we hypothesized a hospital-based violence prevention program aimed at increasing awareness, empowering positive conflict resolution, and promoting future vocational goals would benefit at-risk youth before they are injured.

A feasibility study was completed on our Violence and Injury Prevention (VIP) tour program at our urban Level I trauma center. Participants were at-risk youth, aged 11 years to 17 years. Anonymous data were collected using an Audience Response System.

One hundred eighty-five students participated from January 2007 to August 2008. Sixty-three percent were 6th to 8th graders, 70% were boys. Seventy-nine percent stated that they knew someone who had been injured or killed because of violence, with significantly more boys than girls (p = 0.05). More boys than girls stated that they have access to a gun (p < 0.05). Almost 60% of the participants stated that they had engaged in violence within the past 6 months, with no difference by gender (p = 0.085). Of the respondents, 84.2% reported an increase in their awareness on the consequences of violence. This was more significant for girls than boys (p < 0.05). Of the participants, 86.3% reported increased understanding of hospital care for a trauma patient. Participants stated that they would recommend VIP to others.

VIP educated local urban youth about violence and increased their awareness of the injuries resulting from violence. In addition, at-risk youths were exposed to career opportunities in health care.