Association Between Healing Hurt People Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program Participation and Trauma-Related Psychological Symptoms for Violent Injury Survivors

Theodore J Corbin; Loni P Tabb; Daria B Waite; Yang Xu; Shanna-Kay Townsend; Arturo Zinny; Erica Harris; James Gardner; Nina Gentile; Zeynep Isgor; John A Rich

doi:10.1016/j.acepjo.2025.100199

Association Between Healing Hurt People Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program Participation and Trauma-Related Psychological Symptoms for Violent Injury Survivors

J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open. 2025 Jul 24;6(5):100199. doi: 10.1016/j.acepjo.2025.100199. eCollection 2025 Oct.

Authors

Theodore J Corbin¹, Loni P Tabb², Daria B Waite^{3

4}, Yang Xu², Shanna-Kay Townsend^{3

4}, Arturo Zinny^{3

4}, Erica Harris^{5

6}, James Gardner⁷, Nina Gentile⁸, Zeynep Isgor¹, John A Rich⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
² Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ Department of Community Health and Prevention, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁴ Drexel University Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁵ Department of Emergency Medicine, Einstein Healthcare Network, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁶ Trauma Intervention Program, Einstein Health Network, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁷ Department of Emergency Medicine, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC, USA.
⁸ Department of Emergency Medicine, Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁹ RUSH BMO Institute for Health Equity, Rush University System for Health, Chicago, IL, USA.

Abstract

Objectives: Examine associations between engagement with the hospital-based violence intervention program, Healing Hurt People (HHP), and trauma-related psychological symptoms among violently injured people ages 18 to 30 years.

Methods: Participants selected from 3 hospitals' emergency departments (EDs) completed clinical scales for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire -8 (PHQ-8), sleep with the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), and perceived stress with the perceived stress scale at baseline (≤90 days after presenting to ED) and follow-up (intended follow-up 6 months after baseline). Controls were selected from the EDs of 2 hospitals before the launch of HHP between 2015 and 2016. Most intervention group participants were selected from the ED of the hospital where HHP was operational between 2014 and 2020. We performed linear and logistic regression analyses for associations between program participation and posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, sleep, and perceived stress, adjusting for baseline scores, age, sex (assigned at birth), race/ethnicity, injury type, and days between baseline and follow-up.

Results: The analytical sample contained 47 control and 43 intervention participants. In linear regressions, HHP was not associated with changes in any trauma-related psychological symptom scores. In logistic regressions, HHP was associated with a 9 and 21 percentage-point increase in the probability of any improvement in depression and sleep, respectively.

Conclusion: This study's findings constitute descriptive (ie, not causal) evidence, which suggests that HHP may be associated with improvements in trauma-related psychological symptoms. When randomized control trials are not feasible, future research using quasi-experimental studies that can better address unobserved heterogeneity is needed to evaluate hospital-based violence intervention programs.

Keywords: intentional injury; intervention; traumatic stress; violence.