Beyond Wound Care: Implementing a Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program to Meet the Complex Needs of Youth Experiencing Community Violence

Hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) provide assault-injured youth access to comprehensive services at the time of injury. Despite mounting evidence of the benefits of HVIPs, limited information is available about how to best implement HVIPs. In this study, we used qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of multidisciplinary hospital professionals (n = 17) to assess the needs of patients and the service structures important to HVIP implementation. Analysis using a grounded theory approach generated three themes: (1) Patients experiencing assault-related injuries have complex socioeconomic needs that impact recovery requiring intensive case management and service navigation; (2) Assault-injured patients have complex behavioral health needs at the individual, peer, and family levels requiring clinical intervention; and (3) Assault injured youth and their families require care, support, and mentoring. The results highlight the need for innovative hospital–community partnerships designed to expand services to address the long-term psychological and social sequelae of violent injuries.