Torture Treatment Program

Seeing torture survivors in the setting of a larger torture treatment program has some specific implications.

Articles

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, and Somatic Symptoms in U.S. Mien Patients

Moore L.J., Boehlein J.K. (1991). Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 179:728-733.

This report describes treatment over a period of 6 years of Mien refugees from highland Laos in the Indochinese Psychiatric Program of the Oregon Health Sciences University (Portland, OR). The medical and psychiatric problems of 84 patients were presented through somatic symptoms such as headache, dizziness, or musculoskeletal pain. Primary care medical problems were identified and treated, with the major focus on the two most common psychiatric diagnoses: major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Webinars

Managing Primary Healthcare for Torture Survivors

Sarah Combs developed this webinar for primary healthcare workers that work with survivors of torture on a regular basis. The first objective is to perform a health assessment prior to referral to service providers. Areas of interest could be medically neglected chronic illness, undiagnosed chronic illness, infectious diseases (including SDIs), women’s/men’s & Children’s, and preventative care vaccines.

The second objective describes the components of a referral to a provider.

The Value of Integrating Primary Medical Care into the Treatment of Survivors of Torture

Description:

In this webinar Dr. Kate Sugarman will present on the collaborative healing relationship between torture rehabilitation staff and primary care physicians and the value of integrating psychological and medical care into a torture survivor’s treatment plan.  Dr. Sugarman and Laurel Smith-Raut, MSW, a social worker at ASTT, will present on their unique approach to this model.

Objectives:

After attending this webinar participants will be able to:

  1. Describe one medical approach to treating  survivors with comorbid conditions
  2. Recognize the importance of documenting a survivor’s