Negative pressure therapy for the treatment of complex wounds
Invisible Wounds
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INVISIBLE WOUNDS Stephanie Barker Adler School of Professional Psychology Enlace Chicago
Transcript of Invisible Wounds
INVISIBLE WOUNDSStephanie BarkerAdler School of Professional PsychologyEnlace Chicago
Violent Injury: An Ignored Epidemic
•In 2010 violent injuries happened 15 thousand more times than homicides in Chicago
•The CDC reports that for every homicide there are more than 94 other violent injuries and 5 years after the injury 20% of the victims are dead
•The most reliable predictor of violent victimization is violent offending and termed this as the “victim-offender overlap”
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM5f9ymTHtg (1:55)
•The more serious the injury, the more likely the victim will become an offender in the future
•Victims are 15.2 times more likely to have a violent path
•Vicariously exposed victims are 10.8 times more likely
Causes and Effects of Violent Injury
•Increased violence in neighborhoods that have:
• High unemployment • Strong gang presence• High residential turnover• Limited means to informally control crime
• Values that condone violence• Is less cohesive, and • A general lack of trust
•Little Village ranked 6th in the amount of violent injuries out of 25 districts
•It is ranked 20th out of 77 for the total amount of crime in 2011
VIOLENT INJURY
PTSD
Depression
Low Self-esteem
Substance
Abuse
Suicide
Violence
Social Implications•Victims of violent injury are more likely to be Black or Hispanic, Male, and young (under 25)
•The impact on the Hispanic population may be even higher as demographic information does not always include Hispanic
Invisible Wounds: Detailed Accounts of Violent Injury in Little Village
•Examined the effects of violent injury on 18 Little Village residents
•5 females and 13 males• 77% identified as Hispanic and/or Mexican• Ages ranged from 12 to 37 and the average age is 20.22
•Sought to understand the nature of the violent injury that the participant chose to share with the interviewer • What happened and did they know who did it• How did they feel during and after the traumatic event• How they coped with the event• What they want other people in similar positions to know
• What they want from people who can help
Invisible Wounds •77% have been arrested
• 44% being convicted of a crime
• 55% spent time in jail or juvenile detention
•12 described traumatic events related to gang violence •Other 7 described events that were focused on the interpersonal aspect of the violence (e.g. intimate partner violence, abusive father etc.)
12
7
OffenderGang-related
Friend/Parent/Partner
*Partcicpants told more than one story, so total does not match
12 14 14 15 15 16 16 18 18 19 19 20 20 22 23 31 35 370510152025
Number of Traumatic Events by Age
Age
Trauma
tic Ev
ents
How They Coped•The most common way to deal with traumatic events is using drugs/alcohol to numb themselves,
•After their physical wounds had healed some stated that they have “never healed”, “the pain will always be there”, and feeling “numb”.
42%
19%
19%
12%8%
How They CopedDrugs/alcoholCommunity supportFamily/friendsReligionGot protection
Losing FriendsSean worries about the warm weather coming and that for him and his friends it mean that some of them are not going to see the leaves turning.
“Preparing for another summer of having people I know and love die”
No Safe Place“When I was 10 I joined the gangs, they
gave me acceptance, belonging, and support”
Juan got out of the gang when he was in prison; he states that he found Christ and finally felt that he had a purpose in life. Juan recommends that people learn from his mistakes and do not fall into the same pattern. Juan says that people who can help should “educate the youth—not judge them or just lock them up thinking that will help, and try to care and show that you care”
What Can We Do?•Here are some of their suggestions:•“Get them help—they need a leader to teach them how to get better”
•“More programs and more spaces for youth”
“Don’t Give Up On Us”•“Get youth off the street”•“Have harder consequences”•“Understand more”•“Pray that they will be around”
•“More guidance to deal with trauma”
•“Educate the youth”•“Get kids off the streets”
•The violence problem is a complex and multifaceted issue•We need more resources and collaboration to help avert the violence in Little Village.
•Research suggests that improving the family relationships, intervening early, and improving the neighborhood can have a big impact on violent injury recidivism
What Can We Do?•We need to build relationships, more collaboration, and attention paid to these factors. Here are some suggestions:• Trauma units have a direct connection to community resources; no break in treatment after injury
• Specialized trauma intervention workers in the trauma units
• Mental health professionals need to pay special attention to histories of violent injury
• Community workers should be more aware and sensitive of specific challenges that these people face
Healing Hurt People•Healing Hurt People is another model that we can strive for; violent injury is a teachable moment and can become a catalyst for a new direction in the victim’s life. There are five facets of intervention during the time that the patient is admitted and during recovery:• Assessment, case management, mentoring, peer groups, and child and family traumatic stress intervention.
• Began in 2012 in Philadelphia • This model can serve to help us intervene in ways that have not been done in the Little Village area before.
