SHIELD-UP Gun Lock Program
LEADERSHIP
- Executive Director, JCIRP
- Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery, Emergency Medicine, & Population Health
1015 Walnut Street
Suite 703
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Providing Gun Safety Education During Free Cancer Screenings
Our center collaborates with Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC) to distribute free gun locks to men in Philadelphia and the surrounding area to promote gun safety.
SKCCC utilizes a mobile van to provide preventive cancer screening to Pennsylvania and New Jersey residents. The van prioritizes serving underserved communities and those who do not have access to cancer screening in four Pennsylvania counties (Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, and Delaware) and three New Jersey counties (Camden, Gloucester, and Burlington).
JCIRP team members are staffing the mobile van and distributing free gun locks to men receiving screenings for prostate cancer. This initiative is a formal research project and will eventually extend to other Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center screening programs, such as breast cancer.
of patients seen on the van were from a racial or ethnic minority population. 25% were uninsured.
JCIRP team members staff the mobile van and survey how men view gun safety in the broad regional area of Philadelphia and South Jersey. Jefferson students and staff distribute free gun locks and educational materials on gun safety to families. Promoting proper gun safety measures can prevent suicide and accidental deaths.
Our team follows the men who receive free gun locks and gun safety education for 12 months, during which time they will complete four surveys that gauge the effectiveness of these prevention measures. The initiative may also serve as a model to be replicated across other health systems nationally.
The mobile screening van program has undertaken other initiatives to address adverse social determinants of health, including serving as a voter registration site, distributing food boxes, and connecting patients to primary care providers.