John Coverdale

• MB, ChB., M.D., M.Ed., FRANZCP.
• Baylor College of Medicine

Objective Given the vulnerability of and the importance of caring for the specific health care needs of the growing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) population, the authors attempted to identify all educational interventions in psychiatric settings with quantitative outcomes targeting medical students, residents, and physician...

There has been little attention given to roles played by human trafficking in health care organizations' supply chains. Hand sanitizers and gloves, for example, might be produced by forced labor, which tends to increase in prevalence during pandemics, mass violence, migration, or other global crises. This article considers the nature and scope of h...

The United States Supreme Court decision on the case of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization abolished federal protections of abortion, leaving abortion legislation at the discretion of individual states. Trafficked persons are a population especially vulnerable to the impacts of this ruling. Because there is no existing literature describ...

Increasingly large numbers of children and youth are migrating across international borders with many seeking employment in both formal and informal work sectors. These young people are at high risk of exploitation. Healthcare professionals need to be able to recognise vulnerable patients and advocate for their protection and safety, yet there is a...

Reproductive control or reproductive coercion has negative health consequences but has not been systematically studied within the context of sex trafficking. Our goal is to identify the range of methods used by sex traffickers and buyers to control the reproductive choices of trafficked women and to provide specific examples of these methods. We se...

The June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abolished federal protections for reproductive choice. In states where subsequent legislation has restricted or banned access to abortion services, physicians and trainees are prevented from providing ethically justified evidence-based care when patients with...

Human trafficking, which includes sex and labor trafficking, is a pressing issue that needs to be more adequately addressed. Health care professionals have a unique opportunity to assist people who are experiencing human trafficking. However, no consensus exists concerning the involvement of law enforcement through mandatory reporting of trafficked...

Human trafficking is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into performing a commercial sex act or other labor services for a profit. Burgeoning research has shown perpetrators of labor trafficking (LT) can be anyone, including intimate partners. The current study utilized retrospective chart reviews of hospital patients who repor...

Incivility among physicians, between physicians and learners, and between physicians and nurses or other healthcare professionals has become commonplace. If allowed to continue unchecked by academic leaders and medical educators, incivility can cause personal psychological injury and seriously damage organisational culture. As such, incivility is a...

Purpose: This study aims to provide trauma informed recommendations for screening and discusses responsibilities of the physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) provider for responding and advocating for patients experiencing human trafficking. Materials & methods: Existing literature relating to human trafficking across rehabilitation settings...

Although human trafficking is recognized as a public health issue, research on the health effects of human trafficking and best intervention practices is limited. We describe 2 citywide collaborative victim services models, the THRIVE (Trafficking, Healthcare, Resources, and Interdisciplinary Victim Services and Education) Clinic at the University...

Objective: This annotated bibliography provides an overview of sentinel and influential literature about human trafficking for general mental health practitioners. Methods: A modified participatory ranking methodology was used to create the list of articles. Results: We identified 25 articles relevant to trafficking and mental health which cov...

Trauma-informed care (TIC) as practiced within anti-human trafficking work is still in its early stages, and there is a significant need for specific guidelines concerning how to apply TIC principles along various phases of behavioral health care. Thus, the goals of this article are to (1) provide an overview of the framework of TIC; (2) identify a...

The new Texas abortion law requires the physician to determine whether a fetal heartbeat is present and prohibits abortion after a heartbeat has been documented. An exception is allowed when a “medical emergency necessitated the abortion.” These and the other provisions of the statute are to be enforced through “civil actions” brought by private ci...

Purpose This paper draws on eighteenth-century British medical ethics to elucidate compassion and empathy and explains how compassion and empathy can be taught, to rectify their frequent conflation. Compassion in the History of Medical Ethics The professional virtue of compassion was first described in eighteenth-century British medical ethics by...

Objectives Clinical innovation and research on maternal–fetal interventions have become an essential for the development of perinatal medicine. In this paper, we present an ethical argument that the professional virtue of integrity should guide perinatal investigators. Methods We present an historical account of the professional virtue of integrit...

Climate change is a threat to the public health with wide-reaching impacts that are becoming more studied and recognized. An aspect of climate change that has not yet gained adequate scholarly attention is its potential impact on human trafficking. We review the potential impact of climate change on risk factors to human trafficking including pover...

It is estimated that 40 million people worldwide have experienced human trafficking (UN, International Labour Organization & Walk-Free Foundation, 2019), with 313,000 trafficked persons in the state of Texas alone (Busch-Armendariz et al., 2016). These staggering numbers are indicative of human trafficking as a growing public health concern. To dat...

Baylor College of Medicine, in collaboration with city of Houston officials and local healthcare and social service agencies, created a hospital-based program to better identify and address the complex and urgent needs of patients with a history of human trafficking exploitation. This article describes the development of the city-wide public health...

Limited opportunities exist for university premedical students to gain exposure to the realities of clinical practice through physician shadowing or through a formal curriculum. Medical Professionalism and Observership utilizes didactics, reflective writing, small- and large- group discussions, and clinical observerships to enhance the process of p...

The aim of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of human trafficking from a mental health standpoint. The goal is to inform education about and clinical services for individuals experiencing human trafficking or those recovering from human trafficking exploitation. The chapter (1) defines human trafficking, (2) reviews risk factors for human...

Foreign-born individuals immigrating to or residing in the United States are especially vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers. Being trafficked elevates the risk for a variety of physical and mental health problems; thus, victims will often come into contact with health professionals. Because there is a dearth of literature concerning the treat...

The aim of this article is to emphasize that starvation is an important potential consequence of psychosis and to provide recommendations for management of this condition. A review of the literature on food refusal and starvation in patients with psychotic illnesses was performed. Our search strategy returned 54 articles with one article meeting in...

Purpose: Delusions of pregnancy are associated with functional impairment and psychological distress. Previous works have focused on characterizing their etiology and identifying contributory social and cultural factors. The purpose of this review is to give an overview of the literature on medical or surgical comorbidities associated with delusion...

A comprehensive accessible approach to the everyday ethical challenges faced in obstetric and gynecological practice. Offering practical guidance for practitioners at all levels, the text also provides a sustained exploration of professional ethics in the intersection of obstetrics and gynecology with psychiatry. The chapters cover a multitude of t...

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Association of American Medical Colleges has called for a temporary suspension of clinical teaching activities for medical students. Planning for the continued involvement of learners in patient care during this pandemic should include teaching learners professional formation. The authors provide an ethical...

This is an edited book which serves as a guide for mental health professionals and which details the screening, assessment and treatment of sex and labor trafficked persons, the epidemiology of human trafficking, and the development of anti-human trafficking services. The publisher is the American Psychiatric Association.

Providing health care services to human trafficking victims may negatively impact the psychological wellness and decision-making process of health care providers, especially mental health providers. This article highlights John Gregory’s concept of medical professionalism and discusses how the fundamental virtues, integrity, compassion, self-sacrif...

Human trafficking is a crime associated with serious adverse health and mental health outcomes. It has been estimated that more than 40 million people worldwide have been victimized, which has resulted in high rates of traumatic injuries, unwanted and high-risk pregnancies, mental illness, substance use disorders; and suicidality among trafficked p...

Climate change is increasingly recognized as having multiple adverse mental health effects, many of which are just beginning to be understood. The elevated rates of suicides observed in some communities affected by climate change and rising rates of suicide in the United States as climate change intensifies have suggested the two may be associated....

Trustworthiness is the cornerstone professional virtue in the practice of medicine. The authors' goals for this Invited Commentary were to provide an account of the professional virtue of trustworthiness and its historical origins as well as to suggest how trustworthiness in a professional curriculum can be taught and assessed. They identified two...

Introduction: Human trafficking is an international public health concern in which healthcare professionals are in a unique position to intervene. It is unclear how professional medical organizations have responded to the need to identify and assist trafficked patients. Methods: Using key phrases “human trafficking,” “medical organization,” and “po...