Citation

O'Malley TL, Documet PI, Burke JG, Garland R, Terry A, Slade RL, Albert SM. Health Promot. Pract. 2018; 19(3): 427-436.

Affiliation

University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Society for Public Health Education, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1524839917697914

PMID

29161927

Abstract

Death review teams are a common method for assessing preventable deaths, yet they rarely review adult homicides and do not typically include community members. Academic-community partnerships can enhance public health research by encouraging translation of research into practice and support a data-driven approach to improve community health and well-being. We describe the Pittsburgh Homicide Review Group, a community-partnered initiative to prevent future homicides through data review and community dialogue. Group members reviewed all 42 Pittsburgh 2012 homicides informed by three primary data sources: publicly available data, local service databases, and community outreach resources. Thirty-two individuals representing relevant county agencies and community groups participated in eight reviews. Data sharing among partners resulted in a comprehensive understanding of the context of homicides. Review meetings supported a collective discussion around potential contributing factors to homicides, intervention implications, and recommendations. Academic-community homicide review partnerships are a productive approach to inform homicide prevention and interventions that are relevant to communities and should be implemented widely.

Language: en

Keywords

community-based participatory research; health research; injury prevention/safety; partnerships/coalitions; violence prevention