The medical community has traditionally addressed the downstream effects of social determinants, particularly when it comes to violence and injury. Surgeons have been reactive to the disease processes, including trauma, by treating the acute ailment as the person presents to the emergency department, trauma center, or primary care setting. With a growing focus on addressing the root causes of firearm injury and violence prevention, the American Academy of Surgeons (ACS) Committee on Trauma assembled a multidisciplinary workgroup of health care providers and community advocates who have knowledge and experience in chronic diseases, including trauma, to understand how they intersect with inequity and health care disparities.

During the session Addressing the Social Determinants to Reduce Firearm Violence, five members of the Improving Social Determinants to Attenuate Violence (ISAVE) work group will share how they are working upstream to address structural racism and the social determinants of health that contribute to violence and firearm injury. Their work has coalesced around four themes:

• Integrating social care practices into trauma care
• Developing a curriculum for trauma informed care
• Creating a roadmap for investing in at-risk communities affected by violence
• Characterizing a trauma center’s role in advocacy around social determinants of health and equity

The session begins at 2:00 pm CDT, Tuesday, October 6. It will follow the Scudder Oration on Trauma, and the panel will include speakers Rochelle Dicker, MD; Theodore Corbin, MD, MPP, FACEP; Earl Fredrick, MD; and Kimberly Joseph, MD, FACS.