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Catalyst Center for Firearm Injury Prevention

A New Center for State and Territorial Health Officials

March 28, 2023

ASTHO is excited to announce the Catalyst Center for Firearm Injury Prevention, which will take action to address firearm injury and death as a public health issue using evidence-based and equity-driven public health approaches that engage multiple partners. ASTHO is committed to meeting states and territories where they are and engaging public health leaders at different stages in their efforts to prevent firearm suicide and violence in their jurisdictions.

The Catalyst Center will support health officials and their teams design and implement policy and programmatic strategies to prevent firearm injury. As new data and evidence emerge, ASTHO will bring high-quality, timely, and relevant technical assistance resources and peer-to-peer learning opportunities to state and territorial health agencies. The Catalyst Center is dedicated to equipping public health leadership with the necessary tools to prevent firearm injuries and deaths.

The Catalyst Center

  • Facilitates cross-jurisdictional learning about firearm injury prevention efforts, including strategies to address suicide, community violence, and accidental firearm injuries.
  • Strengthens research-to-practice connections by connecting health agencies with leading firearm injury prevention researchers.
  • Curates resources and tools that catalyze action to address firearm injury.
  • Provides technical assistance and capacity building opportunities to support the widespread adoption of effective policies and practices to prevent firearm injuries.
  • Incorporates boundary-spanning leadership principles to build collaborative partnerships between public health, academic, medical, and firearm-owning communities to address shared goals related to community safety and well-being.

Current Catalyst Center opportunities include:

Peer-to-Peer Learning

  • Establishing specialized workgroups for health officials on suicide, community violence, and policy initiatives.
  • Connecting health officials to alumni and ASTHO leaders reserve corps.

Resources

  • Providing planning support using a roadmap to address and prevent firearm injury.
  • Sharing effective communication strategies.