HOSPITAL GUIDANCE

1

WHAT IS THE CARDIFF VIOLENCE

PREVENTION MODEL? 

More than half of violent crime in the United States is 

not reported to law enforcement, according to the U.S. 

Department of Justice. That means cities and communities 

lack a complete understanding of where violence occurs, 

which limits the ability to develop successful solutions.

The Cardiff Violence Prevention Model provides a way for 

communities to gain a clearer picture about where violence 

is occurring by combining and mapping both hospital and 

police data on violence. But more than just an approach to 

map and understand violence, the Cardiff Model provides a 

straightforward framework for hospitals, law enforcement 

agencies, public health agencies, community groups, and 

others interested in violence prevention to work together 

and develop collaborative violence prevention strategies.
TOOLKIT: HOSPITAL GUIDANCE 2

WHO COLLECTS THE INFORMATION? 

Nurses may be in the best position to collect violence-related injury information when asking 

general screening questions during intake or registration. If the registration process is completed 

by a non-nurse, this staff member could also be considered to be the primary point of contact for 

data collection.

WHAT SPECIFIC INFORMATION IS COLLECTED? 

Hospital and healthcare personnel collect violence-related injury information* that can be used 

to track local violence trends and develop prevention programs. This information includes:

• When the injury occurred (date and time)

• Where the injury took place (exact location: business name and/or street address)

• How the injury happened and/or weapon used (e.g. hit, stabbed with a knife)

Violence-related injury information may be collected at any point during the patient visit. For 

example, the U.K. Cardiff Model and U.S. pilot sites collected data during registration or initial 

triage to prevent any disruption in the workflow.

WHEN IS THE INFORMATION COLLECTED?

It is recommended that data be collected in the emergency department (ED), including the 

trauma bay if the hospital is a trauma center. If the hospital has a separate, on-site urgent care 

clinic and/or trauma unit, these intake points may also be used to collect injury information.

WHERE IN THE HOSPITAL IS THE INFORMATION COLLECTED?

HOW IS THE INFORMATION COLLECTED?

The violence-related injury information can be integrated into the existing electronic medical 

record (EMR) or collected via separate data forms and databases. Integration of violence-related 

injury information into the EMR permits the most efficient data collection and data extraction 

process.

Violence-related injury data from hospitals in combination with law enforcement records are used to map where violence occurs. The U.K. Cardiff 

Model collects intentional injuries only; in the U.S., unintentional and/or intentional (violent) injuries have been collected and shared with the 

*

community safety partnership. Each hospital and community can decide whether to focus on violence or injuries more broadly.
TOOLKIT: HOSPITAL GUIDANCE 3

HOW OFTEN DOES VIOLENCE INFORMATION GET SHARED?

Violence information can be shared on any mutually agreeable timeframe within the community 

safety partnership (CSP). Past partnerships have found monthly sharing to be useful, although 

more frequent sharing could occur.

CHALLENGES OF USING ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS (EMRS) TO COLLECT AND 

SHARE DATA

Protection of private patient information is a major consideration in the implementation of the 

Cardiff Model. The Cardiff Model shares information that captures an injury location, date and 

time, and the weapon used. The model uses real-time hospital and law enforcement data to help 

communities identify and map areas where violence frequently occurs such as in public spaces 

like street corners or bus stops and businesses. 

In some hospitals or healthcare facilities, using the EMR or other forms of a patient medical 

record to collect data that will be shared outside of the institution may raise privacy concerns. 

These concerns are addressed in the "Legal, Technical, and Financial Considerations" document.
TOOLKIT: HOSPITAL GUIDANCE 4

KEY STEPS TO ESTABLISHING THE CARDIFF MODEL IN YOUR HOSPITAL:

1. BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

a. Establish a violence prevention partnership with local law 

enforcement, a public health agency, and other applicable partners

b. Determine the most useful injury information for the local partnership 

to collect, with a focus on keeping information collection brief. It is 

important to weigh the advantages of including the information that 

stakeholders might like to have against the consequences of making 

the screening process too long. It is best to focus on the information 

that is most critical. 

c. Gain hospital leadership (e.g. management and nursing) and support

2. COLLECTING AND SHARING DATA

a. Identify the personnel or departments with the capacity to integrate 

Cardiff Model fields in the health record or EMR

b. Establish procedures for collecting injury information

c. Train nurses and other staff to collect injury information

d. Determine strategies to monitor and improve data quality 

e. Find out what laws and regulations must be considered in order to 

collect and share violence information outside of the hospital or 

healthcare system

f. Establish procedures for extracting and sharing injury information

g. Identify hospital information technology/data quality team to set up a 

data sharing process

h. If necessary, develop and sign a shared data use agreement to protect 

the information that is shared

3. BUILDING A COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP

a. Work with law enforcement and public health partners to establish a 

broader community board to review the maps on violent injury

b. Help to develop a culture of decision-making based on real-time data

c. Assist in implementing multi-agency prevention programs and 

initiatives at locations identified in the mapping of the data
TOOLKIT: HOSPITAL GUIDANCE 5

TRAINING OPTIONS FOR HOSPITAL STAFF

Training can be delivered in many different formats. Below are some of the advantages and 

challenges with different training formats. The U.S. Cardiff Model pilot sites tested multiple 

methods of training; in-person training is most helpful for rapid scale-up and close adherence to 

the model when starting a new Cardiff Model program.

FORMAT DELIVERY 

METHOD ADVANTAGES CHALLENGES

Self-study E-mail, online, 

paper

Easy and does not require 

significant personnel time 

or effort, can be integrated 

into standard staff training 

and education platforms

Difficult to evaluate the 

extent and efficacy of 

training process

Staff In-service Large group 

instruction

Face-to-face, provides the 

opportunity to ask questions

Requires on-site trainer until 

all staff have completed 

training; in-services may 

be infrequent and slow the 

initiation of project activities; 

training may not reach new 

staff

Regular staff 

or shift change 

meeting

Small group 

instruction

Face-to-face, provides the 

opportunity to ask questions

Requires trainer or project 

champion on shift until 

everyone is trained and in 

continuation to educate new 

staff

One-on-one 

training

Individual Face-to-face, opportunity to 

ask questions, able to assess 

knowledge

Requires on-site trainer; 

resource intensive

LEARN MORE about the Cardiff Model and how to start using it in your community’s violence 

prevention efforts at www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/fundedprograms/cardiffmodel

This material was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The pilot 

of the Cardiff Violence Prevention Model was a collaboration between the CDC, DeKalb County 

Police Department, Grady Health System, the University of Pennsylvania, and the CDC Foundation. 

Support for this pilot was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.