Health care professionals' self-efficacy in identifying and treating human trafficking victims

Abstract

Background: Human trafficking is characterized as a violation of human rights that exploits males and females of any age for personal or financial gain. Recently, health care professionals have been identified as feasible change agents in this global issue. However, many health care professionals are not trained in identifying and treating human trafficking victims. Through human trafficking education, health care professionals have the potential to be better equipped to recognize and assist trafficking victims and guide them to the specialized care they need.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of a trauma-informed human trafficking education intervention and the impact of this training on the self-efficacy of health care professionals in identifying and recognizing human trafficking victims in healthcare settings.

Design: The study was a quasi-experimental research design with snowball and convenience recruitment SETTING: 100 % virtual, online.

Participants: Health care professionals (N = 30) including Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Certified Medical Assistants, Certified Nursing Assistants, Emergency Medical Technicians, and Paramedics from a variety of healthcare settings.

Methods: 30 min total program to include Qualtrics pre-intervention Violence Against Women Health Care Provider survey, 20 min educational intervention on YouTube©, and an identical Qualtrics post-intervention survey.

Results: Total of 30 sets of paired data. The results showed statistically significant improvement in self-efficacy in all survey questions pre- and post-human trafficking educational intervention (p < .001).

Conclusions: An increase in health care professionals' self-efficacy in identifying and treating human trafficking victims yields better patient and health care system outcomes. Trauma-informed human trafficking education for all health care professionals is recommended.

Keywords: Health care professionals; Human trafficking; Human trafficking education; Self-efficacy; Trauma-informed care.