HEAL Trafficking Train the Trainers  

Guest blog authors: Kiran Masroor and Hanni Stoklosa of HEAL Trafficking  

Summary:  

Human trafficking is a widespread issue with serious health and social consequences, and healthcare providers are often in a unique position to help. Despite the fact that many trafficking survivors seek medical care while being exploited, healthcare providers often miss the opportunity to intervene due to a lack of training. To bridge this gap, HEAL Trafficking, in partnership with the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions, developed a course designed to educate healthcare professionals on how to recognize and respond to human trafficking, the HEAL Trafficking Train the Trainers. 

This innovative program, which integrates technology with key learning theories, has already trained 107 professionals across multiple countries. By the end of 2023, graduates had gone on to educate nearly 60,000 additional clinicians, amplifying the program’s impact.  

What Health Professionals Need to be Trained 

The majority of labor and sex trafficking survivors access healthcare while being trafficked. However, most of these encounters do not lead to intervention. Survivors report that they are not identified, feel judged, or fear arrest or deportation when seeking health care. 

By equipping healthcare professionals with the right skills and knowledge, we can change that. But to be effective, training needs to go beyond individual awareness—it must foster collaboration among physicians, nurses, social workers, and other healthcare team members to create systemic change. 

How the Train the Trainer Works 

The HEAL Trafficking course is built on three core learning theories: 

• Social Cognitive Theory – Learning is shaped by social context and motivation. The program encourages participants to reflect on their personal role in addressing trafficking and emphasizes agency by involving them in setting course norms. 

• Social Constructivist Theory – Peer interaction drives behavior change. Participants work in small groups to analyze cases, share experiences, and design teaching modules for their institutions. 

• Experiential Learning – Hands-on practice leads to deeper understanding. Each morning, trafficking survivors share their experiences, prompting reflection. Participants co-teach a human trafficking module and receive feedback to refine their teaching approach. 

The Power of a Virtual Learning Community 

Originally developed as an in-person program, the training transitioned online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than limiting engagement, technology has helped sustain and expand the learning community. 

• WhatsApp creates a space for ongoing discussions and sharing of materials. 

• Flipgrid allows participants to introduce themselves via short videos, fostering connections before the course even begins. 

• Virtual Sessions maintain the interactive nature of the training, ensuring that participants stay engaged and connected despite physical distance. 

Real Impact: What the Data Shows 

Since launching, the program has demonstrated meaningful improvements in participants’ knowledge and skills. Graduates report increased confidence in identifying trafficking victims, teaching others about human trafficking, and implementing response protocols in their organizations. 

Key outcomes include:
✔️ 107 healthcare professionals trained across the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Trinidad & Tobago.
✔️ 59,755 clinicians reached through graduates’ subsequent trainings.
✔️ Sustained impact—participants’ commitment to supporting trafficking survivors remained strong. 

Join the Movement 

HEAL Trafficking’s Train the Trainer program is more than just a course—it’s a growing community of professionals committed to improving healthcare’s response to human trafficking. By leveraging evidence-based teaching methods and survivor-centered approaches, we can create lasting change in healthcare institutions worldwide. 

The program is offered annually in the fall. If you’re interested in joining, or if you’d like to bring this training to your institution, visit HEAL Trafficking’s website for more details. 

Citation: Farrell, Susan & Bosson, Rahel & Stoklosa, Hanni. (2024). Using Theory and Technology to Build an Interprofessional Community of Human Trafficking Educators. The Journal of continuing education in the health professions. 10.1097/CEH.0000000000000585. 

Hanni Stoklosa, MD, MPH, is co-founder and CMO of HEAL Trafficking, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) with appointments at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. Dr. Stoklosa is an internationally-recognized expert, advocate, researcher, and speaker on the wellbeing of trafficking survivors in the U.S. and internationally through a public health lens. She has advised the United Nations, International Organization for Migration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of State, and the National Academy of Medicine on issues of human trafficking and testified as an expert witness multiple times before the U.S. Congress. Moreover, she has conducted research on trafficking and persons facing the most significant social, economic, and health challenges in a diversity of settings including Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Liberia, Nepal, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, South Sudan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Uganda. Among other accolades, Dr. Stoklosa has been honored with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Women’s Health Emerging Leader award, the Harvard Medical School Dean’s Faculty Community Service award, has been named as an Aspen Health Innovator and National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leader. Her anti-trafficking work has been featured by CNN, the New York Times, National Public Radio, Fortune, Glamour, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, STAT News, and Marketplace. Dr. Stoklosa published the first textbook addressing the public health response to trafficking, “Human Trafficking Is a Public Health Issue, A Paradigm Expansion in the United States.” 

Kiran Masroor, MS1, is a medical student at Duke School of Medicine, where she is involved in multiple initiatives, including the Moral Movements in Medicine elective, the Black Maternal Health Equity Initiative, and a Bass Connections project investigating congenital heart defects in children in conflict zone settings. Kiran graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a double major in Neuroscience and Ecology & Evolutionary. She has also worked for the Yale Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine on a clinical research project examining the relationship between stroke and sleep apnea, and has also conducted research in the global health field with the Yale School of Public Health. She has also served as a Global Health Advocacy Fellow with the Fund for Global Health. She has received recognition for her writing, and her work, scientific as well as creative, has been published in journals such as the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the Yale Global Health Review, and others.