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NCT Number: NCT06263647

Launching the Houston Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (Houston-HVIP): Developing and Evaluating a Hospital-Based Intervention to Reduce Recurrent Violence

A prior violent injury is one of the strongest predictors of future violent injury, highlighting the importance of effective hospital-based interventions to prevent reinjury. This project will establish and evaluate the Houston Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (Houston-HVIP). Using a randomized controlled trial, the study will assess the effectiveness of Houston-HVIP in reducing violent reinjury and improving behavioral, mental, and physical health outcomes over a 12-month follow-up period among those enrolled in the study in ages 16-35 years of age.

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Key information

Conditions

Firearm Injury

Age range

16 year–35 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • presented for a gunshot injury stemming from community violence at Memorial Hermann Hospital
  • English or Spanish-speaking
  • provide informed voluntary consent to participate in the study
  • live in Harris County at time of enrollment

Exclusion criteria

  • presenting for a firearm injury arising from a self-inflicted gunshot or unintentional gun violence
  • actively detained by criminal justice systems at time of enrollment

Treatment and study plan

Houston-HVIP treatment

Behavioral

Participants will be assigned a case manager to provide a brief assessment of , psychological and social needs and a risk assessment and create individualized discharge planning. Participants will be referred to tailored social service programs based on the needs, including assessments of social determinants of health, educational and financial needs, and subsequent referral for programs such as job training, educational support, housing assistance, or financial assistance programs for identified needs. Participants identified at risk for violence perpetration via a risk assessment screener will be referred to the violence interrupter services. Long-term opportunities for engagement with the trauma survivors' network within Memorial Hermann Hospital will be available and encouraged.Participants will receive a structured curriculum that will include regular check-in with an assigned case manager over 6 months to promote successful community-based program integration and completion.

Standard of Care

Behavioral

Participants will be assigned a case manager to meet with the injured patients to briefly assess (a) psychological and social needs and (b) a risk assessment and create individualized discharge planning. Resources for the patient to connect with social service programs will be provided by the case manager. Long-term opportunities for engagement with the trauma survivors' network within Memorial Hermann Hospital will be available and encouraged. Follow-up contacts and services from an assigned case manager over two weeks following discharge from the hospital to ensure that the patient has contacted the community-level violence outreach organizations.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in repeat violent victimization as assessed by the number of participants who return to the hospital system for for an intentional firearm injury

    Time frame: Baseline , 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in repeat non-firearm violent victimization as assessed by the number of participants who return to the hospital system for an intentional non-firearm injury

    Time frame: Baseline , 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months

  2. Change in attitudes towards firearm violence as assessed by Firearm Violences Attitudes (Sheley; Shapiro) questionnaire

    Time frame: Baseline , 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months

    This is a 13-item questionnaire; however, only items 3,4,7,9,10,12 and 13 will be asked. Each is scored from 1(strongly disagree) - 4(strongly agree), Maximum score of 28 .Higher score indicates more aggression.

  3. Change in post-traumatic stress as assessed by the post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist Version 5(PCL-5)

    Time frame: Baseline , 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months

    This is a 20-item questionnaire; however only items 1 and 4 of the PCL-20 will be asked. These 2 items will be anchored to a stressful experience. And each is scored form 0(not at all)-4(extremely), maximum score of 8, higher score indicating worse outcome

  4. Change in aggression as assessed by the Copeland-Linder questionnaire.

    Time frame: Baseline , 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months

    This is a 7-item questionnaire; however, only items 1, 5, and 6 will be asked. Each is scored from 1(strongly disagree) - 4(strongly agree). Maximum score is 12. Higher score indicates more aggression

  5. Change in general health as assessed by the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12)

    Time frame: Baseline , 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months

    This is a 12 item questionnaire; however, only item #1 will be asked. It is scored from 1(excellent) - 5(poor), higher number indicating worse outcome

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Alexander Testa, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

(210) 276-9000

Sandra McKay, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

(713) 500-5666

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

Registry information

Official study title

Launching the Houston-HVIP: Developing and Evaluating a Hospital-Based Intervention to Reduce Recurrent Violence

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2028
Study completion
2028
First posted
Feb 16, 2024
Registry last updated
Jan 21, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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