Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
This doctor says violence is contagious, and we should treat it like a disease
Battling violence in the US may not be so different than fighting AIDS in Africa
By Ana Swanson October 2 at 2:26 PM
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The end game here is really to understand and change the behaviors. And we?ve been able to show that you can drop the amount of shootings and killings very fast by using health-based detection and behavior change methods. Health workers can drop the numbers of shootings and killings in a neighborhood 50%, 70%, up to 100%.
How do health workers do that specifically?
In cities like Chicago, Baltimore, Kansas City and New York, there are workers called interrupters. And their job is to find out who is upset or angry or thinking about doing a shooting. No event has happened yet, but maybe someone was mad at someone last night at a party, or someone messed around with somebody?s girlfriend.
Because of how they were selected and trained, those interrupters are trusted, and they find out who is at risk in the neighborhood. These workers approach the person, and they help cool people down and try to find some kind of resolution. And the research has shown that we can stop those events.
These workers act the same way as other health workers, who are looking for active cases of tuberculosis that could spread. Right now, there is very little plague or bird flu or SARS, why is that? Because there are health workers out there looking for cases, and they?re able to prevent a first case, or if there is a first case, they?re able to prevent the spread.
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Full text:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...tagious-and-should-be-treated-like-a-disease/
Battling violence in the US may not be so different than fighting AIDS in Africa
By Ana Swanson October 2 at 2:26 PM
...
The end game here is really to understand and change the behaviors. And we?ve been able to show that you can drop the amount of shootings and killings very fast by using health-based detection and behavior change methods. Health workers can drop the numbers of shootings and killings in a neighborhood 50%, 70%, up to 100%.
How do health workers do that specifically?
In cities like Chicago, Baltimore, Kansas City and New York, there are workers called interrupters. And their job is to find out who is upset or angry or thinking about doing a shooting. No event has happened yet, but maybe someone was mad at someone last night at a party, or someone messed around with somebody?s girlfriend.
Because of how they were selected and trained, those interrupters are trusted, and they find out who is at risk in the neighborhood. These workers approach the person, and they help cool people down and try to find some kind of resolution. And the research has shown that we can stop those events.
These workers act the same way as other health workers, who are looking for active cases of tuberculosis that could spread. Right now, there is very little plague or bird flu or SARS, why is that? Because there are health workers out there looking for cases, and they?re able to prevent a first case, or if there is a first case, they?re able to prevent the spread.
...
Full text:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...tagious-and-should-be-treated-like-a-disease/