Briana Woods-Jaeger ( bwoodsjaeger@emory. edu ) is an assistant professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia. She was an assistant professor of pediatrics at Children's Mercy, in Kansas City, Missouri, when this work was conducted.
Jannette Berkley-Patton is a professor in the Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics, School of Medicine, and in the Psychology Department at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Health Aff (Millwood). 2019 Oct;38(10):1679-1686. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00607.
The burden of community violence on young African Americans includes disproportionate rates of physical and mental health consequences. To develop appropriate and sustainable interventions that mitigate the negative consequences after violence exposure, it is critical to incorporate the lived experiences and perspectives of African American youth. We conducted five focus groups that collectively included thirty-nine African American youth living in income-disadvantaged urban neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri, to examine their experiences and perceptions of community violence and identify priorities to reduce the negative consequences of community violence. Youth-identified priorities included increasing proactive responses from multiple community sectors; reducing racial discrimination; and creating safe environments, including access to mental health care and other supportive services. Incorporating these findings into current policy and cross-sector initiatives offers a promising opportunity to improve the health and well-being of African American youth exposed to community violence.
社区暴力给年轻非裔美国人带来的负担包括不成比例的身心健康后果。为了制定适当和可持续的干预措施，减轻暴力暴露后的负面影响，必须将非裔美国青年的生活经历和观点纳入其中。我们进行了五次焦点小组讨论，共有 39 名生活在密苏里州堪萨斯城收入贫困的城市社区的非裔美国青年参加，以探讨他们对社区暴力的经历和看法，并确定减少社区暴力负面影响的优先事项。青年确定的优先事项包括增加多个社区部门的积极应对；减少种族歧视；创造安全的环境，包括获得心理健康护理和其他支持性服务。将这些发现纳入当前的政策和跨部门倡议为改善遭受社区暴力的非裔美国青年的健康和福祉提供了一个有前途的机会。
