Violence and Injury Prevention Program

Mission

To prevent and reduce the impact of violence and injury through an equitable, data-driven, and evidence-based public health approach by implementing and evaluating interventions, providing education and resources to local communities and policy makers, developing collaborative relationships with federal, state, and local partners, and supporting efforts to create a violence and injury-free Rhode Island.

What we do

• Inform and educate interest holders about the public health benefits of violence and injury prevention programming including but not limited to:
• Rape prevention and Education - Collaborates with community partners to address risk and protective factors for sexual violence in the following areas: creating protective environments, strengthening economic supports, and promoting social norms that protect against violence.
• Suicide prevention - Supports the implementation of cross cutting, statewide initiatives that work on systemic approaches to preventing suicide such as the Suicide Prevention Advisory Committee, Suicide Fatality Review Team, and Rhode Island Suicide Prevention State Plan. For more information on suicide prevention in Rhode Island, or to view the Rhode Island Suicide Prevention State plan, please visit PreventSuicideRI.org.
  • Partners with community behavioral health clinics to augment community-based suicide prevention efforts to meet the needs of Veterans and their families through outreach, case management, and connection to Veterans Affairs (VA) and community resources. To learn more about Veteran resources, please visit RIDOH’s Support for Veterans page.
    • Collaborates with multi-sectoral partners to implement evidence-based community, healthcare, and upstream prevention strategies aimed at men ages 25-64 years old.
• Motor Vehicle Crashes – Collaborates with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s (RIDOT) Office of Highway Safety to educate road users on road safety practices and recommend policies and legislation to improve roadways in Rhode Island.  
• General Injury Prevention – Works to reduce risk factors associated with drowning and other preventable injuries by promoting safety awareness and education. In addition, the program strengthens protective factors such as positive childhood experiences that contribute to long-term health and resilience.
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)- Establishes a person-centered statewide system of services and supports that maximizes the independence, well-being, and health of Rhode Islanders affected by traumatic brain injury.
  • Supports data collection, analysis, and maintenance of the TBI registry to inform policy and practice for traumatic brain injury prevention.
    • Educates healthcare providers, school professionals, athletic trainers, and others on concussion prevention, diagnoses and management.
• Falls Prevention – Implements evidence-based fall prevention programming and increase the fall prevention workforce.
• Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Maternal Violence – Builds a surveillance system for IPV, promoting screening and referral via training, and implementing a mother mentorship program in collaboration with Sojourner House.
  • Monitor and evaluate programmatic and grant impact through qualitative and quantitative assessment of data.
• Protect  all individuals especially the most vulnerable populations by using data to drive actions that increase protective factors against violence and injury.
• Serve  the people of Rhode Island by cultivating a sense of community, providing data around the topic areas, supporting work that strengthens economic supports that reduce risk factors, providing educational and internship opportunities, and increasing collaboration and safety networks.
• Engage  local community members and organizations with information and resources to spark change, strengthen their ability to respond to issues relating to violence and injury, and help people empower themselves using a collaborative approach.
• Center the voices of people with lived and living experience by providing opportunities to participate in program development and implementation, attend community meetings, and give feedback on communication materials.
• Collaborate  with local non-profits, schools, community organizations, and other public-serving programs to provide technical assistance and funding that support the mission of creating a Rhode Island free of violence and injury.