CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Children's hospital has crafted a way to make gun safety training virtually engaging in an effort to reduce gun-related deaths, particularly of children.
The Gun Violence Prevention Counseling Virtual Reality program is the hospital's effort to help physicians prepare for what can sometimes be difficult conversations with patients and families.
"More than ever we're seeing children in the clinical setting that are having firearm-related injuries or individuals that are impacted by firearm-related injuries," said Dr. Joe Real, a general pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's.
Real is one of the doctors, along with the hospital's digital experience team, partnering with Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for Gun Violence Prevention to bring the virtual program to life.
MGH is known for its robust gun safety training curriculum, but with real actors. Children's said that became difficult with the onset of the pandemic, so they worked with MGH for about three months conceptualizing the VR training before launching the prototype.
Data from the New England Journal of Medicine shows guns are now the leading cause of death for kids nationwide.
About one-third of homes with children have firearms and about 75% of children in those homes know where the firearm is located.
"A striking statistic to me is that many of those children have actually handled the firearm without their parents knowledge," Real said.
Real said tragedy commonly strikes when kids get their hands on loaded firearms lying around the home. That's why his team's virtual program focuses on safe storage techniques, including unloading firearms, using gun locks, putting the firearms in a secured location and keeping ammunition separate.
"Just like we talk about car seats, and helmets and pool safety in the summer, talking about firearms and how to store them safely and giving families the best tools to keep their children safe falls right in our wheelhouse as pediatricians," said Dr. Matthew Zackoff, a critical care pediatrician
He and Real stress gun safety should be talked about in routine clinical care, but for physicians to do it effectively requires training. That's where the virtual program comes in.
Because every family and situation is different, the system adapts, offering varying scenarios and behaviors for physicians to interact with.
While they ask questions and work towards positive suggestions and outcomes, a facilitator can control the simulated patient and family's responses and even body language to help physicians develop conversational skills to use in real life.
"Unfortunately, since I work in the intensive care unit, I just see when things go poorly, so I think there's a lot we can do to empower families on how to make safe decisions -- regardless of what their choices are around guns and guns in the home," Zackoff said.
The program is currently being rolled out in Children's Primary Care Clinic. Zackoff said his team will eventually take feedback and findings to determine which other departments could benefit from the training.
Though the program is mainly designed to be used in VR, it can also be shared on other digital platforms, including Zoom. Zackoff and Real said that's enabled their team to train other physicians at medical centers across the country.
"I think we need to move beyond talking about the problem and do something about it," Real said. "Safe storage is something we know can save lives. As pediatricians we care about the safety of children. This is our job."
