MHCP Leaders Continue to Elevate Violence Prevention
COMMUNITY HEALTH
In the last 18 months, the City of Milwaukee has experienced an unprecedented increase in all aspects of gun, assaultive and interpersonal violence among adults and children. In 2021, there were 194 homicides and 872 non-fatal shootings. In the Milwaukee Health Care Partnership’s (MHCP) 2018 shared Milwaukee County Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), 16% of respondents named violence as a significant community health issue. Preliminary findings from the 2021 CHNA also show 35% of respondents overall, and more than 50% of African American and Hispanic respondents, named violence as a top health issue.
The MHCP’s 2021-2022 Plan Priories include violence prevention as a focus area, and its provider members are coming together with the City of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention, Milwaukee County, the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) Comprehensive Injury Center and others to advance the Milwaukee Blueprint for Peace and increase violence prevention and intervention efforts in health care settings.
The MHCP supports initiatives that address Blueprint for Peace goals by coordinating and expanding health care efforts and participating in cross-sector collective impact work.
“Violence prevention and intervention work is expanding in health care organizations to address this serious and escalating public health issue,” said Reggie Moore, Director of Violence Prevention Policy and Engagement, MCW Comprehensive Injury Center. “By working together, we have increased our understanding of the issue and can respond on a broader scale to support victims and slow the spread.”
MHCP collaborative activities include working to expand hospital data submission and analysis, utilizing the MCW CARDIFF model for violence data surveillance and prevention, and improving the coordination and expansion of hospital/health care-based violence intervention services. The 414 Life Hospital-Based Violence Interrupter Program, first piloted at Froedtert Hospital will be expanded to other hospitals in 2022, and Project Ujima, is a violence intervention program supporting children and youth served by Children’s Wisconsin.
The MHCP’s health care sector Workplace Violence Learning Collaborative, launched in 2019, also provides the opportunity for health care leaders representing nursing, HR, security and other departments to exchange information and seek alignment around policies and practices to prevent violence perpetrated against health care workers, patients and visitors in hospitals, clinics and home-care settings. Assessment and improvement of provider education on human sex trafficking and forensic nursing services are also planned for 2022.