Table 1.
Firearm Stakeholder Interview Guide
| Introduction: We are interested in hearing your thoughts about an intervention to reduce youth suicides by firearms. The specific intervention we’d like to talk to you about today is adapted from an evidence-based program that was originally developed as an office-based violence-prevention intervention. We have adapted the intervention to focus specifically on firearm safety and suicide prevention and to be delivered to guardians of all youth (aged 10–24) presenting in primary care. The name of the program is Firearm Safety Check. Firearm Safety Check consists of three components: a) healthcare providers asking all guardians of youth who present for well and/or sick visits in primary care about the presence of firearms in their home (screening), (b) providing brief counseling (<1 min) around safe gun storage to the guardians of all youth who present for well and/or sick visits, and (c) providing gunlocks, as needed, for firearm safe storage to the guardians of all youth who express interest during well and/or sick visits. I’m interested in your perspective on the appropriateness of Firearm Safety Check for primary care and how such an intervention might be perceived by firearm owners. It’s important for you to know that there are NO right or wrong answers. I’m really interested in your opinion and perceptions. |
| Q (Participant Information): First, could you tell me your role in _____ and briefly what you do in this position? |
| Q (Firearm Suicide Prevention): Estimates from the Center for Disease Control suggest that approximately, 5,900 youth in the US die by suicide each year, with 2,600 of those deaths carried out by firearms. We are interested in your thoughts as a firearm stakeholder about how to reduce those deaths. Tell me your thoughts about the best ways to reduce youth suicide by firearm. What strategies, if any, do you think would be appropriate for reducing youth suicide by firearm? Have you participated or had any experiences with suicide prevention efforts? |
| Q (Firearm Safety): [If not already covered] Tell me your thoughts about the role of firearm owners in efforts to promote safe firearm storage and/or suicide prevention. |
| Q (Firearm Stakeholders/Health Researchers Partnership): Tell me your thoughts about the role, if any, that the healthcare system should play in promoting safe firearm practices |
| Q (Health System/Primary Care and Firearms Counseling/Suicide Prevention): [If not already covered] What do you think about health care providers (specifically, pediatric primary care providers) discussing gun safety and safe gun storage with families as a suicide prevention strategy? |
| Are there any other individuals (e.g., gun shop owner, police officer, friends) from whom you would feel more comfortable receiving information about safe gun storage? |
| [If participant finds Firearms Safety Check to be unacceptable:] Do you have any suggestions for changes that could be made to Firearm Safety Check to make it more acceptable? [If not already covered] Would you prefer any alternative ways to disseminate information about safe gun storage other than through primary care (e.g., courses through the NRA)? |
| Q (Firearm Culture): [If not already covered] How might the culture around firearms in this country and in your community impact how a program such as Firearm Safety Check, a program to increase safe firearm storage to reduce youth suicide, would be perceived? |
| Q (Positions/Safety Promotion): Tell me about any work you have been involved with to promote firearm safety. How effective was that effort? |
| Q (Safety Check): [If not already covered] How would a program like Firearm Safety Check align or not align with any firearm safety promotion work you’ve been involved with? If consistent, what actions might firearm owners and advocates take to support wide-scale implementation? |
| Interviewer: Probe about what positions the person or their affiliated organizations has taken with respect to youth suicide prevention and/or firearm safety, or what advocacy work they have done in these areas? |
| Q (D&I): Tell me your thoughts on how to most effectively disseminate information about firearm safety. [If participant finds Firearms Safety Check to be acceptable]. What about your thoughts about how to most effectively implement a program such as Safety Check. (Probe specifically about barriers and facilitators) |
| Q (Champions): Do you know of any other potential champions of firearm safety or people that may be concerned about youth access to firearms who I should talk to? |