The participants also provided a list of open-ended questions with specific wording to spark conversations. The questions center around expressing genuine concern for the patient’s emotional and mental state, reassuring the patient, asking for permission to hear more and reiterating that confidentiality is a priority.

“We need to listen to the advice of those who have experienced child trafficking and do what we can to incorporate their suggestions for screening and response,” said Dr. Virginia Jordan Greenbaum of the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta. Dr. Greenbaum, who wasn’t involved in the new study, researches child trafficking at the Stephanie V. Blank Center for Safe and Healthy Children.

“We need to listen more than we talk. We need to see the child beyond the chief complaint that initiated their health visit,” she told Reuters Health by email. “We need to ask questions, be direct, and empower our patients to choose what they want to tell us.”

Although awareness is growing in emergency departments, health care workers still lack training around human trafficking response, which may require funding and institutional support, said Steven Donahue, an emergency nurse at Paoli Hospital in Pennsylvania. Donahue, who wasn’t involved in the study either, trains health care workers on recognizing and helping patients who may be trafficked.

“If you are heartbroken by the exploitation of others and inspired to help, you can make a difference at your health care facility,” he told Reuters Health by email. “Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance in implementing something at your health care facility. We are all here to help and work towards a common goal of healing those in need.”