Getting Real About The Talk (GReAT) Project

The killing of young black men by police officers is a major public health issue and is a clear health disparity. Black men are 21 times more likely to be fatally shot by a police officer than white men. Homicide is the second-leading cause of death of black males, ages 15-34. It is disconcerting to consider that this statistic includes homicide by police officer. Pediatricians have an opportunity to contribute to violence prevention efforts and social justice advocacy for young black men in regards to interactions with police officers.

We seek to engage residents in social justice advocacy by preparing them to discuss safely navigating police encounters with young black males. Adverse police encounters can result in poor mental health outcomes, physical trauma, and death. We will develop a conversation script with input from existing expert resources, black male youth, and their caregivers. The script will be patient-centered and will be used to facilitate a conversation about safely navigating encounters with police officers. Utilizing a train-the-trainer model, attending pediatric physicians will be trained to use the script in their practice as well as model and demonstrate how to use the script for pediatric residents. We hypothesize that pediatric residents trained in the conversation script will be empowered to facilitate discussions on safely navigating police encounters in the primary care clinic setting and will exhibit increased comfort and greater levels of self-efficacy from baseline measures.