Like COVID-19, gun violence is a pandemic that must be treated as a public health crisis because if not, it will spread and kill just like any other disease. Decades of divestment in urban communities have created the environments in which both COVID-19 and gun violence flourish. Violence is a health equity issue and a social duty that community residents, leaders, governmental authorities, and professionals can solve.
As a collective, we may provide all people with fair opportunities to have the best health outcomes possible. Equitable opportunities start with recognizing the many health inequities our communities face and highlighting paths to health equity. Health Equity is genuinely an endeavor requiring the collaboration of numerous leaders and entities whose priorities are to prevent violence and achieve health equity.
I am personally very familiar with the effects of health inequities and gun violence. Both of my brothers were shot, with one of them succumbing to his injuries.
As a social work practitioner and Doctorate of Social Work student at the University of Southern California, my studies include designing systems to address community violence and health inequities, which are part of the Grand Challenges of Social Work.
As founder and executive director of Affirming Youth Foundation, Inc, I provide services to youth and families to reduce child maltreatment, foster positive health outcomes, reduce health care costs, reduce poverty, and enhance economic stability.
The exposure I have had to people’s needs has provided me much insight into analyzing health equities and developing effective interventions and best practices. Offering resources or alleviating only certain areas of concern can perpetuate social, emotional, and financial problems among youth and their families, creating greater dependency rather than providing a path towards independence and productivity.
Families, workplaces, schools, social services, institutions, and communities are potential resources to support health equity through the lens of public health. Multi-sector and community-based mental healthcare approaches can increase access to effective trauma-focused treatment and services in communities for children and adolescents and their families.
Also, targeting areas of risk in the community will help give those who have already experienced the consequences of the challenges and barriers to well-being and health with resources to achieve recovery, remediation, and guidance to advance personally, academically, and professionally, allowing equal access to social and economic opportunities and the tools needed to thrive.
The first approach is an awareness of the multiple forces existing at all social-ecological levels (i.e., individual, interpersonal, organizational/institutional, community, and policy) that facilitate or obstruct mental health. The second is an investment in community participation to provide resources and inform interventions, recognizing expertise outside of the healthcare system. The third is the prioritization of community mental health and social outcomes. Studies have noted the importance of community organizations and social services, mainly when inequities play a prominent role in determining results and require assistance beyond the healthcare sector.
All agencies and organizations should be collaboratively working together on a comprehensive approach. Social services must deliver services addressing all areas of concern, from mental health to academics to family support and supervision in their communities. Also, communities and neighborhoods must receive funding and governmental resources to decrease violence and provide a greater sense of safety for all community members. This challenge is truly an endeavor requiring the collaboration of numerous leaders and entities whose priority is to create health equity and prevent violence. The knowledge and tools are available to execute this vision.