Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this program is to provide an overview of a model of medical care designed for human trafficking survivors.

Summary: Human trafficking for sex and labor is a national epidemic. Most victims access health care while being trafficked. Once rescued, many victims need medical and mental health services. A comprehensive "one-stop shop" model of health care offering multidisciplinary services in a single location for survivors of human trafficking was designed to provide a patient centered approach within an environment that fosters compassion, trust, support and stability was designed and implemented to assist survivors with access to primary care, Women's health and mental health services. The clinic's goal is to establish stable and consistent health care that is respectful, comprehensive, and sensitive to survivor needs.

Outcomes: Key components of the model include consistent providers and streamlined intake procedures to reduce redundancy of patient history details often painful to repeat. All were rescued as adults, and trafficked on average over 15 years. Multiple chronic medical and psychiatric morbidities include PTSD, hepatitis C, pelvic pain, depression, anxiety, suicide ideation, and chronic headaches. In addition to sexual abuse, a history of physical abuse is a common finding. Isolation and fear are predominate. Social support and family networks rarely exist for this population. Despite years of abuse and neglected health care needs, they survived. Trust with providers is key to improving adherence. The tragic stories of abuse & torture have a dramatic emotional impact on staff; programs must devote attention & incorporate interventions into programs to assist staff & faculty with coping.

Implications: Every individual story for these women is different and tragic, however the human spirit among these patients is strong. Most have been seen by health care providers while being trafficked. Nurse Practitioners providing health care in a variety of settings will benefit from this presentation to gain knowledge regarding the recognition and known strategies to provide interventions for this population.

Author Details

JoNell Potter, PhD, FAAN; Stephen Symes, MD; D. Jeffrey Newport, MD, MS, MDiv; Anastasia Godur, MPH, MPA; Grechen Mills, BS; Ira Karmin, MD; Panagiota Caralis, MD, JD

Sigma Membership

Non-member

Type

Poster

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

N/A

Research Approach

N/A

Keywords:

Human Trafficking, Project THRIVE, Comprehensive "One Stop Model of Care"

Conference Name

20th Annual NPWH Premier Women's Healthcare Conference

Conference Year

2017

Conference Location

Seattle, Washington, USA

Conference Host

Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Full Text of Presentation

wf_yes

Download

Share

COinS