Clinicians have a unique opportunity to contribute to the prevention of firearm-related injury and death. The 3As Framework provides clinicians with the tools to have respectful, effective conversations about firearms with their patients and clients, their family members and caregivers.
These conversations can feel difficult. But with training and a risk-based approach, clinicians can guide patients and their families to better understand the risks of having firearms in the home.”
Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, PhD, MPH, and Shani Buggs, PhD, MPH, co-wrote an evaluation report alongside Christy Adams, PhD, MPH, RN and Ian Brown, MD, PhD on the UC Davis Medical Center (UCDMC) Wraparound Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program.
In this issue: Our BulletPoints Project has a number of exciting updates to share! This month we hosted a half-day virtual Train the Trainer Workshop on Clinical Firearm Injury Prevention for over 40 medical and mental health educators to teach them how to incorporate firearm injury prevention into their clinical and didactic teaching. Keep an eye out for a repeat of this free continuing education event.
“Red flag laws are a tool law enforcement and others can use when somebody is clearly at high risk of doing something with a firearm, but they can't be arrested because no crime has been committed and they don't appear to need a mental health hold or qualify for one,” Amy Barnhorst said. Read the article in UC Davis Health News.
In this issue: September is Suicide Prevention Month. Suicide is devastating, and it has far-reaching effects that often impact entire communities. It is one of the most common acts of fatal violence and is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States. Over 48,000 Americans died by suicide in 2021. According to the U.S.
In this issue: It’s that time of year when students everywhere are going back to school. In the spirit of education, why not take a few minutes to refresh your knowledge about safe practices for firearm storage? Only 1/3 of California gun owning households with children store their firearms in the most secure way: locked, unloaded, separate from ammunition, and with the keys and combinations inaccessible to unauthorized users.
Suicide is a pressing public health problem, and firearm owners are at especially elevated risk. Certain health conditions are markers of suicide risk, but more research is needed on clinical risk markers for suicide among firearm owners specifically. Our goal was to examine associations of emergency department and inpatient hospital visits for behavioral and physical health conditions with firearm suicide among handgun purchasers.
In this issue: When we talk about gun violence, we often focus on the acute physical wounds that bullets leave behind, yet the psychological trauma from gun violence persists, ever present for those who experience it. As national firearm-related death rates continue to rise, so does the burden on our collective mental health, especially for those who survive, witness, or lose someone to gun violence. This Mental Health Awareness Month, we want to call attention to these sometimes-hidden outcomes.
