A Hospital-based Intervention for Youth Injured Through Violence

Purpose

The firearm violence epidemic is a major public health problem, especially for youth. Every day in the US, approximately 100 people fall casualty to firearms through forms of violence, such as homicide, suicide, and unintentional or accidental injuries. Among youth, firearm violence remains the leading cause of death, and each year the rate of firearm-related mortality is increasing. Beyond the significant and devastating cost of human life, firearm violence is an enormous economic burden to the US, which totals an estimated $229 billion annually. In urban communities with high rates of firearm-related violence, firearm-related emergency department visits are extremely draining on the hospital system. At the national level, firearm-related injuries account for $2.8 billion annually in emergency department care each.

Condition

  • Violence

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 13 Years and 17 Years
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  • Aged 13-17 years old - English speaking Youth participant

Exclusion Criteria

  • Youth aged <13 years and >17 years old - Non-English speaking - Youth of caregivers younger than 18 years old Adult/caregiver participant inclusion criteria: - Aged 18 years or older Adult/caregiver participant exclusion criteria: - Aged younger than 18 years

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Non-Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Intervention Model Description
Youth (aged 13-17 years) who received treatment in the hospital for an intentional or unintentional injury, or youth recruited from community partners and other referrals; caregivers of youth participants (18 years and older). 180 youth-caregiver dyads (N=360)
Primary Purpose
Other
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Experimental
Youth 		Youth (aged 13-17 years) who received treatment in the hospital for an intentional or unintentional injury, or youth recruited from community partners and other referrals.
  • Other: Elevate Virtual Reality (VR)
    Elevate VR is a brief violence intervention program founded on the principles of positive psychology, motivational goal setting (via gameplay), psychoeducation, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy. Elevate VR includes five psychoeducational topic modules creating a 40-minute brief violence intervention. This duration is similar to well-established brief hospital-based violence interventions.
Experimental
Caregiver 		Caregivers of youth participants (18 years and older).
  • Other: Elevate Virtual Reality (VR)
    Elevate VR is a brief violence intervention program founded on the principles of positive psychology, motivational goal setting (via gameplay), psychoeducation, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy. Elevate VR includes five psychoeducational topic modules creating a 40-minute brief violence intervention. This duration is similar to well-established brief hospital-based violence interventions.
  • Other: Assessement completion
    Questionnaires will be administered to assess Firearm-related violence ( The Gun Violence Questionnaire), Violent crime (Violent Crime Assessment) and Firearm-related attitudes and beliefs (Firearm Aggression Questionnaire)

Recruiting Locations

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia 23298
Contact:
Nicholas Thomson
804-628-5541
nthomson2@vcu.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Virginia Commonwealth University

Study Contact

Terri Sulivan
804-828-9304
tnsulliv@vcu.edu

Detailed Description

In the state of Virginia, the rates of firearm-related fatalities are over seven times higher than the national rates, and the pandemic has made this worse, as we have seen a 52% increase in firearm-related hospitalizations. With the surge in firearm violence seen nationwide, there is a dire need for new, innovative, and effective interventions for preventing firearm-related violence, injury, and mortality among youth. Hospital-based brief violence interventions can result in long-term improvement. There is a plethora of research supporting that brief violence interventions can result in long-term improvements, including interventions for violence. Less is known about the extent to which they are effective for reducing firearm-related violence. Hospital-based brief violence interventions save lives and money. Most of the people who are violently injured are indigent and without health insurance. Inpatient costs for injury at VCU Trauma Center ranging from $33,000 to $300,000 per youth, and a national cost of violence estimated at $21 billion annually. The goal of this project is to evaluate Elevate VR an effective and innovative virtual reality (VR) brief violence intervention to prevent firearm-related violence, injury, and mortality among youth.