Health Care Providers’ Perceptions of Human Trafficking: Contextualizing Future Steps in the U.S. Frontier
Neely Mahapatra, MSSW, PhD & Kirsten Havig, MSW, PhD | September 22 | 3:15-4:15 pm
Topic: Research, Healthcare | Knowledge Level: Advanced
Studies indicate that victims of human trafficking may be encountered in a wide range of healthcare settings (Chisolm-Straker et al., 2016; Ravi et al., 2017). This not only emphasizes the role of health care providers in providing medical services to trafficking victims but situations where a health care provider necessitating identification and referral to proper services. The challenges of rural health care are not new; however, an understanding of human trafficking in the rural and frontier contexts is still emerging. The qualitative findings reported here are part of a larger mixed-methods study that examined the following research questions: (1) What knowledge do health care professionals have about the issue of human trafficking in a frontier state? and (2) What needs do health care professionals have in terms of identification of victims of trafficking and responding to human trafficking in a frontier state? Two open-ended questions about the ability to effectively identify human trafficking in the state and to manage unique challenges were included. 235 respondents provided responses to both open-ended questions. Responses fell along six primary themes: education and training needs; identification and response tools; community- and system-level support; cultural elements of the state; challenges of rural geography/frontier settings; and coordination with Tribal nations that share a reservation in the state. The findings reflect new knowledge of the state context to inform future efforts to strengthen practice, policy, training, and research capacity. Recommendations for education and training, service coordination, and research will be provided.
Presentation Objectives:
· Describe health care provider perceptions of the issue of human trafficking in the frontier context
· Identify cultural, social, professional, and other barriers to health care providers’ ability to respond to human trafficking
· Provide recommendations for impacting those barriers and improving research, policy, training, and service capacity for human trafficking victims and survivors