The understanding of the current healthcare professional mental health epidemic, in concordance with the unique experience of treatment of human trafficking patients, is lacking. COVID-19 has contributed to this epidemic through a substantial loss of both patient and healthcare professional resources exacerbating both aforementioned issues. AMWA-PATH seeks to determine the factors that contribute to healthcare professional fulfillment and emotional resilience while treating human trafficking patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 16 item cross-sectional electronic survey, and the Stanford Professional Fulfillment index was constructed in the beginning era of COVID-19 in the U.S. and was electronically distributed between September 2020-May 2021 to various healthcare professionals nationwide. This is the first study to characterize the experiences and effects on HCPs’ emotional reserve as they treat HT patients in the era of healthcare changes induced by COVID-19. The results of our study facilitate comprehension of factors that influence this healthcare mental health crisis in the United States, as well as identifies what resources are most likely to be helpful moving forward for the betterment of both HCPs and their vulnerable patient populations.
