Free Online Violence Prevention Course

From Joan Tabachnik...

Hi All

I thought that some folks might find this helpful. It is very theoretical, but gives a great overview of prevention from a public health perspective.

Free On-Line Violence Prevention Course!

Each year, more than 53,000 people lose their lives to violence. In addition to the tremendous physical and emotional toll, violence has substantial medical and lost productivity costs. In 2000, these totaled more than $70billion in the United States. The figure grows when we add criminal justice system costs, social services, and other expenses.

As Dr. Rodney Hammond, Director of CDC's Division of Violence Prevention, says, "Violence isn't something that just happens that you can't do anything about. It can be prevented. "One way CDC is helping the nation prevent violence is a free on-line course that's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's called Principles of Prevention.

The course, which offers continuing educationcredits, teaches key concepts of primary prevention, the public health approach, and the social-ecological model. Participants complete interactive exercises to learn to help prevent five types of violence:

• Child abuse and neglect
• Intimate partner violence
• Sexual violence
• Suicide
• Youth violence

The course is designed for those working to stop violence from ever happening. It helps professionals move from the problem to the solution. This course teaches the fundamentals of effective violence prevention methods and incorporates the growing body of research on what works.

The Principles of Prevention course includes:

• Interviews with leading experts in the field
• Dynamic graphics
• Interactive exercises
• Compelling storytelling that makes the case for violence prevention

The course is available at www.vetoviolence.org/pop.

For additional information on Principles of Prevention, contact Jennifer Middlebrooks (jod5@cdc.gov).

Thanks to Joan for sharing this information.

RJW