Business View Caribbean | Feb 2019

health model to prevent the “transmission” of violent crime. The model works by interrupting transmission of the disease; reducing the risk of those at highest risk to commit violent crime; and changing community norms. The findings presented in this report are based on the analysis of qualitative and quantitative data collected before, during, and after the progr- am’s 26-month implementation period. The key findings of Evaluating Cure Violence in Trinidad and Tobago include: • Within one year of the launch of Project REA- SON, the violent crime rate in the treatment area was 45.1% lower than in the comparison area that was not part of the program. • Calls to the police for murders, shootings, and woundings decreased in the treatment area by 22.6%; while increasing by 10.4% in the compari- son area over the same period. • Port of Spain General Hospital, the closest hospital to the intervention area, experienced a mean reduction of roughly 38.7% in the number of gunshot wound admissions following the im- plementation of Project REASON. The findings presented in “Evaluating Cure Vi- olence” in Trinidad and Tobago provide strong evidence that expanding the Cure Violence methodology will be an effective way to reduce homicides, woundings, and shootings as well as to contribute towards improving lives in Trinidad and Tobago. 11