Medical Education Online
Volume 22, Issue 1, 2017

Training US health care professionals on human trafficking: Where do we go from here? (Article)

Powell C. , Dickins K. , Stoklosa H.*
  • a Department of Pediatrics, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, United States
  • b College of Nursing, Rush University, Chicago, IL, United States
  • c Department of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Abstract

Some 21 million adults and children are labor-trafficked or sex-trafficked through force, fraud, or coercion. In recognition of the interface between trafficking victims and the healthcare setting, over the last 10 years there has been a notable increase in training of health care professionals (HCPs) on human trafficking (HT) and its health implications. Many organizations have developed curricula and offered training in various clinical settings. However, methods and content of this education on trafficking vary widely, and there is little evaluation of the impact of the training. The goal of this study was to assess the gaps and strengths in HT education of HCPs in the US. This mixed-method study had two components. The first component consisted of structured interviews with experts in human trafficking HCP education. The second portion of the study involved an analysis of data from HCP calls to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC). The interviews captured trainerspecific data on types of HT training, duration and frequency, key content areas, presence of evaluation approaches and indicators, as well as an assessment of barriers and strengths in HT training for HCP. NHTRC call database analysis demonstrated increasing trends since 2008 in calls by HCPs. Overall findings revealed the need for standardization of HT training content to assure correct information, trauma-informed and patient-centered care, and consistent messaging for HCPs. Evaluation metrics for HT training need to be developed to demonstrate behavior change and impact on service delivery and patient-centered outcomes for HT victims, according to our proposed adapted Kirkpatrick's Pyramid model. HT training and evaluation would benefit from an agency or institution at the national level to provide consistency and standardization of HT training content as well as to guide a process that would develop metrics for evaluation and the building of an evidence base.

Author Keywords

sex trafficking Community health Adolescent health Social justice emergency department patient-centered outcomes Violencemedical education Free clinics labor trafficking Migrant health

Index Keywords

Health Personnel Interviews as Topic Hotlines education hospital emergency service Emergency Service, Hospital in service training Inservice Training hotline Education, Medical, Continuing medical education human trafficking organization and management interview health care personnel human Humans

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85015071142&doi=10.1080%2f10872981.2016.1267980&partnerID=40&md5=dfd55cec02c7a041c286ce8557e4e764

DOI: 10.1080/10872981.2016.1267980
ISSN: 10872981
Cited by: 22
Original Language: English