The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) proposes the advancement of the Mississippi Violent Deaths Reporting System (MS-VDRS) through the “Advancing Surveillance of Violent Deaths Death Using the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS)” grant opportunity CDC-RFA-CE22-2201. The MS-VDRS is a continuously improving statewide violent death reporting surveillance system with collaboration between the Office of Preventive Health and Health Equity, Office of Health Statistics and Vital Records, the Office of Health Data and Research, and the Office Against Interpersonal Violence at MSDH. A violent death is defined as a death resulting from the intentional use of force or power (e.g., threats or intimidation) against oneself, another person, or against a group or community. With one of the highest homicide mortality rates in the nation, and with significant racial and geographic disparities in violent deaths, the MS-VDRS seeks to advance statewide capacity for all 82 counties to systematically collect integrated, high quality, and comprehensive surveillance data on all violent deaths, disseminate violent death data to improve the effectiveness of violence prevention efforts implemented by all state, municipal, and community stakeholders, and continue to build and leverage strong relationships with key partners.
MS-VDRS will build capacity for epidemiologic science and geocoding to conduct linkages to data with information on social determinants of health or other relevant data. The use of a public-facing data dashboard will promote data access and dissemination efforts. The MS-VDRS outcomes include improved completeness, quality, and timeliness of violent death surveillance data, stronger relationships and increased use of data key partners, and increased ability to describe the geographic distribution of violent death and understand the social determinants of health in relation to violent death-related health disparities. The MS-VDRS is guided by an Advisory Committee that helps collect required data and provides input on the quality of the surveillance system. The Advisory Committee includes primary MS-VDRS data partners such as local coroners/medical examiners (C/ME), law enforcement (LE), and the MSDH Office of Health Statistics and Vital Records. To accomplish program outcomes, the MS-VDRS will advance the following outputs: a continuously improving surveillance system that collects high quality and comprehensive information on violent deaths in Mississippi in a timely manner that complies with CDC guidelines; geocoding and linkage of social determinants data; and the production and/or dissemination of data through reports, fact sheets, presentations, policy briefs, and other products that support the prevention of violent deaths in Mississippi. MS-VDRS will continue to provide critical insight into the magnitude, trends, and factors that may contribute to violent deaths in Mississippi. The program’s objective is to advance the planning, surveillance, and knowledge of violence prevention to improve disparities and health outcomes for the citizens of Mississippi.
