KP Launches Center for Gun Violence Research and Education

The mega-health system cites its 'unique position' to address the epidemic of gun violence.

Kaiser Permanente wants to "amplify" the opening of its Center for Gun Violence Research and Education by doling out $1.3 million to nonprofits with a shared interest in gun violence prevention.

"It is increasingly and distressingly clear that gun violence is a public health crisis in the U.S., claiming lives and creating trauma with untold, long-lasting consequences for countless people," said Bechara Choucair, MD, chief health officer and senior vice president for Community Health at Kaiser Permanente.

"As a major health care organization caring for 12.6 million people, we are in a unique position to expand, amplify, and implement promising work underway by healthcare and public health leaders to prevent future gun-related injuries and deaths, starting with a series of grants to organizations focused on addressing gun violence," Choucair said.

Grant partners include:

• UC Davis — To provide core support for the Violence Prevention Research Program;
   
• UCSD — To support the Center on Gender Equity and Health, including support for its “California Study on Violence Experiences Across the Lifespan” and related dissemination activities;
   
• The Ad Council — To scale the End Family Fire campaign, which promotes safe gun storage in order to prevent shootings involving unsecured or misused firearms;
   
• Association of State and Territorial Health Officials — To develop materials on evidence-based public health approaches to gun violence and suicide prevention, as well as to plan a national summit and develop collateral materials for broad use;
   
• Big Cities Health Coalition — For public education on public health approaches to gun violence prevention:
   
• Health Alliance for Violence Intervention — To convene researchers and experts to study the effectiveness of hospital violence intervention programs and their ability to break and prevent the cyclical nature of gun violence;
   
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - To support the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, including efforts to study the implementation of extreme risk protective orders and the role clinicians can play in raising awareness of these measures:
   
• National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) — To provide core support for NICJR violence reduction initiatives in states impacted by increased rates of gun violence;
   
• RAND Corporation — To support the 2022 National Research Conference on Firearm Injury Prevention, including dissemination of emerging research that focuses on gun violence prevention through care delivery innovation.