Duke Orthopaedics Partners with City of Durham on Gun Violence Prevention

DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke Orthopaedic Trauma Section is partnering with the City of Durham for the launch of the Durham Impact Project, a gun violence prevention program. The program will work with a coalition of local barbershops to form focus groups aimed at connecting vulnerable community members with existing resources.

The program plans to engage the community through events focused on addressing preventive health topics and community needs such as food insecurity. They also plan to partner with the existing Violence Recovery Program at Duke University Hospital which supports victims of gun violence.

Program organizers hope that by creating community trust through various channels, they’ll be able to touch lives and curb violence.

“As orthopaedic trauma surgeons, we are commonly the people at the end of an incident trying to help the patient recover from bone fractures after gun violence,” said program lead, Malcolm DeBaun, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Duke University School of Medicine.

“This is a first-of-its-kind effort to develop a cross-sector collaboration to address gun violence as a public health issue and improve social drivers of health in our most vulnerable communities,” said Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams. “Partnership and collaboration are essential to our ability to serve Durham residents.”

DeBaun said preventing violence would not only improve health and well-being, it could also help save an estimated $1.2 million a year in state costs related to gun violence hospitalizations.

Read the full News Article

https://corporate.dukehealth.org/news/duke-orthopaedics-partners-city-durham-gun-violence-prevention

For more information on OEP and upcoming initiatives, visit the OEP website: https://externalpartnerships.duke.edu/

Follow Duke OEP on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/duke-s-office-for-external-partnerships/

#DukeOEP #OEP #Duke #Partnerships #Collaboration #HigherEducation #DukeUniversity #Engineering #Research #Innovation #IndustryPartnerships #StrategicPartnerships #Duke100