Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

Virginia Commonwealth University

Code:

NCT04813185

Conditions

Violence

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Bridging the Gap

Study Details

Brief summary:

The purpose of this research study is to find out if a hospital-based violence intervention (Bridging the Gap) is effective for reducing violence. The researchers think that adults who receive Bridging the Gap will see greater improvements than those who do not receive the intervention. This study will allow them to learn more about the intervention's effectiveness. The study will also help them understand if the violence intervention affects other behaviors, such as firearm use, drug use, aggression, risky behaviors, and rates of violent re-injury.

Conditions

Violence

Study ID

NCT04813185

Start date

Jul 27, 2021

Status verified date

Feb, 2026

Completion date

Dec, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • They receive treatment in the hospital for a violence-related injury (e.g., gunshot wound)
  • They are 18 years or older
  • They are English speaking
  • They are eligible for BTG services (which includes living within the BTG catchment area for the hospital; Richmond City and neighboring counties)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-English speaking
  • Age <18
  • Prisoners

Study Design

Enrollment

616 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

no intervention: Treatment as usual

Adults who will not receive BTG services and will receive treatment as usual (TAU) in the hospital.

experimental: In-hospital intervention

Adults randomized to Bridging the Gap (BTG) services will receive a hospital-based violence prevention program with 6-months of community case management and a firearm counseling program.

Interventions

Bridging the Gap

Bridging the Gap Bridging the Gap is a hybrid model for violence prevention which integrates a hospital-based brief violence intervention (BVI) delivered to the patient while in hospital with a wrap-around community case management prevention strategy.

Firearm Counseling Program The firearm counseling program was developed to be administered in the hospital alongside the 6-step intervention program, as well as in the patient's home after hospital discharge. The firearm safety counseling program includes 3 components aimed at understanding patient risk, reducing firearm-related violence risk-factors, and helping patients increase firearm safety practices.

Primary outcome measure

  • Firearm-related violence [ Time Frame: 12-months ]
  • Firearm-related re-injury [ Time Frame: 12-months ]
  • Firearm-related mortality [ Time Frame: 12-months ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Nicholas Thomson

804-628-5541Nicholas.Thomson@vcuhealth.org

Locations

Virginia Commonwealth University

Recruiting

Richmond, Virginia, United States, 23298

Principal Investigator:

Nicholas Thomson, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

Virginia Commonwealth University

Last update posted

Feb 4, 2026

Last verified

Feb, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Virginia Commonwealth University on 2026-02-04.