Building the Rutgers Gun Violence Care Center (RGVCC) in New Brunswick, NJ:

the aim of this project was to establish the Rutgers Gun Violence Care Center (RGVCC) which involves extensive collaboration among surgeons, interventionalists, primary care practitioners, behavior health specialists, and Hospital Violence Intervention Program social workers to provide better clinical outpatient care and improve socioeconomic and mental health resources to survivors. The psychology of violence and complex trauma symptoms experienced by survivors was evaluated to ultimately provide better trauma informed care.

This was a retrospective study of patients aged 15 or older who presented to a single center Level 1 academic trauma center between January 2017 and May 2024 following firearm violence. A phone survey was conducted among survivors. Patients responded to a phone survey on life satisfaction, the impact of relationships and connection on recovery, strengths associated with resilience, and gun-related activism.

The highest level of satisfaction was felt for physical safety and family relationships and the lowest levels of satisfaction were felt for work and economic status. Connection and support from family and engagement in hobbies were reported to be most helpful. The strengths rated most helpful were personal determination and a sense of meaning, reflecting regulatory and meaning making strengths.

The study shows that gun wound survivors were able to achieve modest levels of life satisfaction, particularly for physical safety and family relationships. These are very important given that these are violence survivors and family relationships are a vital part of support systems. Areas in which gun wound survivors need more support include work and economic status, pointing to the complexities of achieving a stable socioeconomic condition.

Strengths rated most helpful were determination (regulatory) and a sense that life has meaning (meaning-making). While these strengths were correlated with well-being, depression, and anxiety the strongest correlation with these indicators of well-being was for feeling appreciated and valued by others (meaning-making). Together the results indicate the importance of resources and strengths in overcoming the adversity of gun violence and provide an indication that prolonged well-being is possible for this population.