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John Rich, MD, MPH
Drexel University School of Public Health
In 2007, the Thomas Scattergood Foundation awarded Drexel University's School of Public Health with a five-year grant to establish the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice. The Center's work is guided by the belief that human society can evolve to be nonviolent and socially just. Our goal is to build a change momentum to evolve current policies, systems and practices toward a more trauma-informed model so that the personal, social, economic and multi-generational wounds caused by sustained exposure to violence can be healed for the public health and welfare
One of our cornerstone programs is "Healing Hurt People," a hospital-based program, developed by emergency medicine physician Dr. Ted Corbin, that helps victims of violence ages 15 to 30 to heal in a comprehensive and compassionate manner. Often, individuals who have been shot and/or stabbed report that while in the emergency department, their thoughts are to either change their way of life or to retaliate. Most often these youth return, without any support, to the hostile environment in which they were injured. Our work is to intervene and provide support and a connection to various services to prevent retaliation and to help youth envision and move toward a positive future.
Gun violence is a public health problem that affects all of us. Aside from the tragic loss of young lives from homicide, suicide and accidental shootings of children, the widespread presence of guns in our society causes trauma to friends, families and communities. Public health studies show that far from making us safer, unregulated hand guns make us less safe.
As in the case of tobacco-related disease, asbestos-related disease and drunk driving, public health can have its strongest impact when it promulgates common sense regulations to address epidemic problems. We can do this with gun violence. We can decrease the epidemic of violent deaths. Moms Against Guns is an enlightened first step.
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