Hospital-based Injury and Violence Prevention Programs : The Trauma Center Guide for all Healthcare Professionals

Preface: The Role of Injury Prevention in Comprehensive Trauma Care Systems

Glen Tinkoff ; Brendan Campbell

·         Synopsis:   Describes the integration of an organized approach to injury prevention into comprehensive trauma care systems. Readers will be introduced to the burden of injury as a major public health problem. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) model trauma care system plan, introduced in the early 90s, will be described as a strategy for population-based management of the injured. The rationale for support of hospital-based injury prevention programs, the professionals who manage these programs, and this unique literary offering will be provided including introductions to the forthcoming chapters authored by accomplished and expert hospital-based injury prevention professionals.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Christy Adams; Glen Tinkoff 

·         Synopsis:  This chapter provides an overview of the history and development of Hospital-based Injury and Violence Prevention (HIVP) programs within the context of U.S. health and trauma care systems. We discuss historical and ongoing challenges faced by HIVP programs and the trauma center staff tasked with injury prevention duties. This chapter will also describe the current state of HIVP programs across the U.S., including national practices on job roles and responsibilities. We offer a framework for HIVP program development informed by the national consensus-based Standards and Indicators for Model Level I and II Trauma Center Injury and Violence Prevention Programs and the Resources for Optimal Care of the Injured Patient (2022 Standards).

Chapter 2: Public Health Fundamentals for an Effective Approach to Injury Prevention

Shelli Stephens-Stidham ; Beverly Miller

·         Synopsis:   This chapter will introduce readers to public health frameworks and concepts that inform effective injury and violence prevention interventions. While hospitals and trauma centers function under an acute care model (i.e., treat each individual patient's injury or injuries one at a time), the greatest long-term successes to preventing injuries and violence have utilized a public health approach, which is designed to protect large groups of persons. This requires moving beyond considering individual treatment options to an "upstream approach" designed to prevent the incidents that cause the injuries. These may include socio-economic inequity, structural racism, and national, state, and local policies that have denied educational pursuits, economic opportunities, and access to services across the health care continuum. To address the multiple issues that contribute to injuries and violence, a collaborative, comprehensive, multi-layered approach is essential.

Chapter 3: The Importance of Cultural Humility in Hospital-based Injury and Violence Prevention Programs

Randi N. Smith ; Christine Castater; Thea James

·         Synopsis:  Most matrices considering context of trauma fail to recognize the importance of social determinants of health (SDH). Many factors including structural racism, socioeconomics, gender, sexuality, and geography intermingle to exacerbate trauma disparities. When taking all of these into consideration, socioeconomics plays the greatest role. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic experiences that occur in childhood and play a role in widening socioeconomic disparities. Redlining was a discriminatory practice that created disparate socioeconomic communities and has perpetuated health inequalities that still exist today. Understanding the historic and