News Release

Leaders nationwide to learn how to stop violence
through PREVENT Institute at UNC

CHAPEL HILL -- More than 50 people from violence prevention teams in 10 states will attend the 2005 PREVENT Institute to be held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Aug. 1 through 3.

The institute is part of PREVENT (Preventing Violence Through Education, Networking and Technical Assistance), a training program funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. PREVENT’s focus is on teaching violence prevention skills to professionals working in governmental and nonprofit settings such as domestic violence coalitions, public health departments and law enforcement agencies.

Violence in all its forms is a large public health issue: The CDC estimates that in 2003, more than 2 million nonfatal violence-related injuries occurred nationwide.

The PREVENT Institute provides teams of between three and five professionals from diverse backgrounds with an opportunity to receive leadership training, as well as information on basic public health concepts.

At the core of PREVENT training is the idea of primary prevention, stopping violence before it starts. Although teams are working in different areas of violence – suicide, child maltreatment, intimate partner/domestic violence, sexual violence and youth violence – there is often common ground in the similarities of their efforts, said Dr. Carol Runyan, director of UNC’s Injury Prevention Research Center.

"While each type of violence has unique aspects, we are aiming to encourage the use of basic public health-oriented planning skills," added Runyan, also professor of health behavior and health education at UNC’s School of Public Health.

"While we recognize the critical need for mental health, legal and other services for victims of violence, we are eager to help people see violence problems like other major public health problems – for example, AIDS, obesity or motor vehicle crashes – and think broadly about prevention strategies that include both behavioral and environmental changes."

The program aims to show the teams how to use the best science available to direct their efforts and then help contribute to what is known about what works, Runyan said. "For many topics, the science is limited, so these participants really are pioneers, and we are very excited about their innovative work."

Teams coming to Chapel Hill in August also visited Chapel Hill for four days last January and returned to their communities to apply what they learned to specific projects. Teams are returning to share their progress with each other, PREVENT staff and the CDC.

Projects include topics such as using health-care providers to talk about teen dating violence, developing school safety standards, reducing child sexual abuse through parental education, increasing domestic violence prevention programs and promoting violence-free lifestyles.

States represented at the August institute include Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wyoming.

PREVENT is part of a broader training program, the National Training Initiative for Injury and Violence Prevention, operated by two national organizations devoted to injury control: the Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research and the State and Territorial Injury Prevention Directors’ Association.

PREVENT is operated by the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center and the N.C. Institute for Public Health. Based in UNC’s School of Public Health, the N.C. Institute for Public Health directs numerous training programs and conferences, and it provides consulting services to local health departments and other health organizations. The institute joins academia and the field in the latest public health initiatives, such as genomics, homeland security and community design to combat obesity.

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PREVENT contact: Jenny Cook, (919) 843-1672 or jenny_cook@unc.edu

Health Behavior & Health Education contact: Carol Runyan at (919) 966-1808 or carol_runyan@unc.edu

UNC News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu