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OPINIONS ON HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TALKING ABOUT GUN SAFETY Results from the 2018 California Safety and Wellbeing Survey (CSaWS)
University of California
UCFC Firearm Violence Research Center
On average, 109 people die from firearms every
day in the U.S. and many more come to
hospitals with injuries.
Access to firearms comes with risk. Safe
gun practices can reduce the risk of harm for
everyone who lives in a home with a firearm.
Patients often expect to have conversations
with their doctors about risks to health
and safety.
2 in 3 said conversations about gun safety were at least sometimes appropriate “in general”
25%
50%
75%
100%
In general has thoughts of suicide
has trouble with drugs or alcohol
has dementia or a similar condition
lives with children or
teens
lives with someone with dementia or
a similar condition
65%57%69%67%71%37%
23%27%
20%23%18%
30%
6%9%6%5%6%
20%
6%7%
6%
4%4%
13%
Don't Know Never Appropriate Sometimes/Usually Appropriate Always Appropriate
How often is it appropriate for
health professionals to talk about gun safety when the
patient has guns in the home and…
More than 4 in 5 said gun safety conversations were at least sometimes appropriate when there were guns in the home and
someone in the home was at increased risk for firearm injury.
?
We asked Californians whether it was appropriate for doctors and other health professionals to talk with patients about gun safety in general and when there is a gun in the home and the patient or someone in the home was at increased risk for firearm-related injury.
Health professionals can ‣ identify patients at higher
risk for gun injury ‣ talk with them about the
importance of gun safety ‣ take action to prevent harm
when risk is imminent
Pallin R, et al. Health Affairs 2019; 38: 1744-1751 DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00602
Read the full study
Practicing gun safety means safely and responsibly handling and storing firearms. Storing guns securely is important to help prevent gun deaths and injuries.
The most secure way to store a firearm is:
• Unloaded and separate from ammunition
• Locked up using a locking device, such as a cable lock,
a lock box, or a gun safe
Health professional counseling on storing guns securely may be important to help prevent injuries
Guns in the home put everyone who is living or spending time there at increased risk of injury and death.
Most Californians, including most gun owners, agree that • gun safety conversations
between health care providers and patients are appropriate when there is a gun in the home and risk of injury is elevated.
• health care provider intervention is appropriate when a patient has access to a gun and is at acute risk for injury.
These results support provider engagement in clinical efforts to prevent firearm injury.
The California Safety and Wellbeing Survey (CSaWS) is a statewide, probability-based Internet survey developed by UCFC and administered by Ipsos Public Affairs, LLC in late 2018. CSaWS asked questions on a wide range of topics related to firearm ownership and exposure to violence and its consequences. More than 2,500 California adults completed CSaWS, and their answers are weighted to be statistically representative of the adult population of the state.
Funding for CSaWS comes from the State of California.
Key points
UCFC
The University of California Firearm Violence Research Center (UCFC) is housed at the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program. For more information, visit health.ucdavis.edu/vprp/ucfc or send an email to [email protected]. This content is solely the
responsibility of the study’s authors and does not necessarily represent the views of UCFC.
October 2019
MORE ON FIREARMS AND PATIENT HEALTH
WHAT DO GUN OWNERS THINK? Fewer gun owners thought conversations about gun safety “in general” were appropriate compared with those who don’t own guns.
Although 40% of gun owners thought these conversations were never appropriate “in general,” similar proportions of owners and non-owners thought that conversations when risk was increased and interventions by providers when risk was imminent were appropriate.
How often is each intervention by doctor appropriate when a patient has a gun and is thinking of using it to harm themselves or someone else?
‣ Health care providers might ask about patient access to firearms when the patient or someone in the patient’s home is at increased risk.
‣ Decreasing access to guns for someone going through a crisis can be lifesaving.
‣ Health care providers can answer questions about safe gun practices, who is at higher risk and why, and what to do to help when someone’s in crisis.
‣ If you’re interested in learning more, resources are available at health.ucdavis.edu/what-you-can-do.
64%55%66%67%75%
24%29%
23%21%15% 4%6%5%4%4%
8%10%
7%8%
6%
Don’t Know Never Sometimes or Usually Always
Counsel not to hurt anyone
Counsel to have someone else keep the gun
Inform patient's
familyInform police
Inform mental health
professional
What is gun safety?
More than
4 in 5 said that each of these interventions by doctors was appropriate when a patient had access to a gun and was at
acute risk.
