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Physicians can prevent firearm injuries and violence by having non-judgmental, evidence-based firearm safety conversations with patients.
Firearms pose a significant human safety risk, especially given the high number of people who handle guns without proper safety precautions. Based on a University of Michigan report, many firearm injuries and deaths, including suicides, could be prevented if physicians took the time to discuss firearm safety with their patients. Authors of a New England Journal of Medicine article note how the researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention recommend that physicians implement firearm safety conversations as a regular element of their patient-care process. Offering data on firearm injuries and fatalities, as well as evidence-based patient-doctor discussion strategies for physicians, the article demonstrates why such conversations are a necessity. For instance, the authors suggest that physicians screen patients for firearm availability and access, advising them on firearm safety and the importance of locked storage. They also recommend specific intervention tactics aimed at thwarting tragedies like firearm-related suicide and domestic violence.
According to Patrick Carter, MD, Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, physicians play a crucial role in the prevention of firearm-induced violence via clinical interventions. This is especially poignant given the recent declaration by the US surgeon general, referring to gun violence as an “urgent public health crisis.” Rebecca Cunningham, MD, current president of the University of Minnesota, co-wrote the New England Journal of Medicine article with Dr. Carter. In their article, Dr. Carter and Dr. Cunningham point out that, spanning the demographics, firearms are a leading source of fatalities, as well as a major root of trauma for those affected by a loved one or community member who was injured or killed by a firearm. Furthermore, for 1 to 19-year-olds, firearms are the number one cause of fatalities.
Dr. Carter notes that research shows significant patient receptiveness to firearms safety conversations when physicians approach the subject in the “right way,” with he and Dr. Cunningham providing strategies in the article. Other resources in the article include examples of clinical screening questions that physicians can employ to engage in firearms safety conversations with patients. Dr. Carter and Dr. Cunningham also provide detailed guidance for how physicians can initiate evidence-based discussions with patients. In addition, the authors give a general description of how patients can safely store their firearms.
One key factor that physicians should bear in mind when discussing firearms safety with patients, note Dr. Carter and Dr. Cunningham, is the importance of providing non-judgmental, patient-centered counseling. Any physician engaging in firearm-safety conversations with patients must show respect for that person’s right to own firearms and their reasons for doing so. According to Dr. Carter and Dr. Cunningham, counseling reaches optimal effectiveness when physicians consider patients’ “motivations, goals, and values.” The authors also point out the importance of healthcare systems to give physicians the required time, training, and resources necessary for them to implement effective firearms safety discussion strategies.
