UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Telehealth Center has been awarded $600,000 from The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation through their Hillman Innovations in Care program.
Aiming to “help innovators, design, develop and deliver better, more equitable models of care,” the HIC program focuses on nurse-led models of care supporting systemically disadvantaged populations. This funding allows the SAFE-T Center to provide accessible, equitable care for victims of sexual assault in ten additional hospitals over the course of three years. Specifically targeting hospitals with fewer resources, they can now leverage this innovative program to improve access to expert sexual assault care.
“This funding enables us to adapt our traditional model to serve hospitals that are not able to keep a local sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) team in place. This new telehealth model can be readily adopted by hospitals with limited resources that would otherwise not be able to participate,” said Sheridan Miyamoto, associate professor in nursing and project Principal Investigator. “Our team has implemented a variety of systems to ensure every victim, regardless of economic status, race, sexual minority status, or geographic location, can be assured of high quality, respectful care that helps them and their community to better recover from this traumatic event.”
Sexual assault in the United States is a public health crisis, with over 400,000 individuals experiencing sexual assault annually. The adverse psychological, emotional, and physical impacts is well-established and can include post-traumatic stress disorder, sexually transmitted infections, onset of chronic illness and early death. Provision of trauma-informed care is paramount survivor healing, health, and future well-being.
Many hospitals in Pennsylvania and throughout the country do not have access to the expertise needed in providing the standard of care survivors deserve. To bridge the gap, the SAFE-T Center has taken its highly successful system and created a model specifically designed to support communities without sexual assault expertise. The new Telehealth Equitable Access Model for Sexual Assault Forensic Care program, or TEAM SAFE, uses proprietary telehealth technology to pair remote, expertly trained sexual assault nurse examiners with emergency providers minimally trained in conducting sexual assault exams to deliver a higher level of care. This model supports onsite providers by guiding them through trauma-informed, person-centered care as well as proper evidence collection to support justice outcomes. This model also alleviates the staffing burdens of our already strained hospital systems.
“Nurses are truly best positioned to be leading this care,” says Miyamoto. “However, the challenges facing hospitals continue to compound their already limited resources are further strained. Shortages of nurses and emergency department clinicians, especially following the impact of the pandemic, create serious staffing challenges and gaps in expertise for many hospitals. Hospitals want to deliver excellent care to sexual assault survivors. Our system provides the support these organizations need to provide care their communities deserve.”
For hospitals with limited resources and ongoing challenges associated with the impacts of the pandemic, the research generated from this project will inform how the system can be scaled most efficiently. Not only will growing the number of hospitals that deliver SAFE-T Center’s system help survivors, but it will also help policymakers and professional organizations reimagine how we navigate ideal sexual assault care that supports survivor recovery.
SAFE-T System’s network of expertly trained nurses' partner with the following hospitals to deliver a new standard of sexual assault care: UPMC Wellsboro, Penn Highlands Huntingdon, Penn Highlands DuBois, Penn State Health’s Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hampden Medical Center, Holy Spirit Medical Center, St. Joseph’s Medical Center, and Lancaster Medical Center.
If you or your organization are interested in partnering with SAFE-T Systems, please visit: safetcenter.psu.edu.