Americans are significantly more likely to die from gun violence compared to those in other high-income countries, making this a pressing health challenge unique to the United States. The disparities and inequities in firearm injury are often driven by social forces such as racism and poverty. NINR hopes to address the root causes of firearm injury and reduce rates of firearm violence by focusing on social determinants of health (SDOH).
Dr. Stephanie Hawkins, Vice President of the Transformative Research Unit for Equity (TRUE) at RTI International, joined NINR Director Dr. Shannon Zenk to discuss the role of nursing research in advancing science in firearm injury prevention using an SDOH lens. Dr. Hawkins presented an overview of the importance of firearm injury prevention research and risk reduction interventions to address this complex health concern.
In the lecture, Dr. Hawkins delved into why the SDOH lens matters when approaching firearm injury prevention research. She highlighted opportunities for firearm injury risk reduction such as focusing on the health care system and shifting narratives to center on equity principles. To do so, she shared that there needs to be a fundamental change in all aspects of the research enterprise and acknowledgement of the biases, assumptions, and social and political context that create health inequities.
Video Highlights
- Introduction, Overview, and Lived Expertise
0:00 Dr. Zenk’s opening remarks and speaker introduction
5:47 Lecture objectives
6:20 Lived expertise
- Background, Statistics, and the SDOH lens
9:20 The lake metaphor
14:22 Firearm violence statistics
16:00 The SDOH lens
20:40 Mindset matters and violence prevention video
- Risk Reduction and Reconceptualization
26:06 Opportunities for risk reduction
35:26 Centering equity principles in research
37:23 Addressing and transforming all elements of research
39:09 Reconceptualizing diversity
41:36 Reconceptualizing inclusion
43:15 Reconceptualizing equity
- Resources and Q&A
44:00 Equity-Centered Transformative Research Framework QR code
44:40 Q&A
