Overview:
This all member convening was held to provide program and project updates as they relate to the Safe States’ strategic map and priorities, the recently released Health Equity Scan report, and the final report of a study conducted this year regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the injury and violence prevention workforce.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, deaths due to injuries and violence already represented a tremendous public health burden on individuals, families, communities, and the healthcare system. Since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the United States on January 21, 2020, national and local responses to the outbreak have had considerable implications for injury and violence prevention (IVP). The pervasive community and family level stressors associated with the pandemic and response activities have led to anticipated and observed increases in injury and violence prevention. At the same time, much of the IVP workforce is being called to pause their day-to-day IVP efforts to contribute to the COVID-19 response.
Nearly two years since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the United States, the injury and violence prevention (IVP) community has faced a number of personal and professional challenges. To identify the professional challenges created by these circumstances and produce recommendations for needed infrastructure enhancements to best equip IVP programs in handling future unforeseen scenarios, Safe States conducted an evaluation to gather information from state and local health departments and hospital-based IVP programs about the impact of the COVID-19 response on IVP infrastructure and activities, with particular emphasis on ensuing effects on equity. Safe States is excited to share the findings and set of targeted recommendations for national and community partners, health departments, and hospitals featured in the report.
Presenters:
- Sharon Gilmartin, Deputy Director, Safe States Alliance
- Shelli Stephens-Stidham, Senior Program Consultant, Safe States Alliance
During 2021, Safe States conducted an environmental scan requested by the Core States Violence ad Injury Prevention Program (CORE SVIPP) to explore how injury and violence prevention professionals advance health equity and racial equity in their programmatic work. The data and information used to inform this environmental scan was obtained from other Safe States evaluation initiatives, including the COVID-19 Impact Evaluation, the Connections Lab evaluation and the Safe States Member Survey.
While the report looks at equity approaches across all sectors, it highlights equity approaches and examples used by healthcare sectors, local health departments, and state health departments. Additionally, the review of the data sources also yielded a range of challenges these entities face and technical assistance opportunities that can further support these agencies in their work to address health inequities.
Presenter:
Shenee Bryan, Independent Consultant
Powerpoint slides are available here.
If you encounter any technical difficulties related to this training, please contact the Safe States Alliance at info@safestates.org or (770) 690-9000.
