School of Social and Political Science

Description

Developing trauma-informed health and mental health services for people exploited by trafficking

Health care providers play an important role in identifying victims of human trafficking and addressing their unique medical needs. We established an interdisciplinary medical home in central Texas to serve as a model for delivery of physical and mental healthcare to survivors of human trafficking that was sensitive to their history of trauma, or “trauma-informed.” “Trauma-informed care” refers to patient-centered care that is delivered with an awareness of how trauma can affect an individual’s behavior and health decisions, and it is the guiding philosophy when working with this population.

Trafficking is a brutal cycle of exploitation that involves psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. Our research indicates that victims are vulnerable to a variety of medical conditions including chronic pain, malnutrition, sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy, physical and traumatic injuries, dental disease, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. In addition, individuals are often fearful and distrusting of physical and mental healthcare providers and might avoid seeking care.

An overview of the topic is provided along with a description of the stakeholders’ involved and the steps that were taken to create the clinic. This information is presented with the intention of educating clinicians on the long-term physical and mental health needs of survivors and on how they can establish a similar clinic or plan for such interdisciplinary care in their community. We will wrap up this seminar with a discussion about the various roles of mental health clinicians in the United Kingdom, the United States, and globally.

Donna Rolin is the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program director at the University of Texas at Austin since 2012, and she became the Nursing Co-Director of the university's Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA) in 2017. She worked in collaboration with the School of Social Work, School of Medicine, and Refugee Services of Texas in providing services and leadership to the volunteer “Hope Through Health” Medical Home Clinic for Refugee Survivors of Trafficking and Domestic Violence from 2013-2015. Her clinical psychiatric background encompasses provision of  psychotherapies, psychiatric evaluation, and pharmacotherapy for persons with mental illness in outpatient, community, inpatient, and forensic psychiatric settings. 

Noël Bridget Busch-Armendariz is a nationally recognized expert gender-based violence having acted as an expert witness in nearly 100 criminal, civil, and immigration cases. She contributed to the Obama-Biden White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault and led the most comprehensive and methodologically innovative study of its kind in the nation on campus sexual misconduct. This included innovating campus change such as the implementation of restorative practices. She and her research institute co-developed a Blueprint with The University of Texas System