Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights
From Surviving to Thriving

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Vocational
Rehabilitation


Caring for Torture Survivors
Online Course

Course Co-Directors: Michael A. Grodin, MD and Linda Piwowarczyk, MD, MPH

Project Coordinator: Rebecca Scudiere, BS

Center Staff Contributors: George Clark, BA, Sondra Crosby, MD, Avivah Goldman, LICSW, Alejandro Moreno, MD, MPH, Samantha Morton, JD, and Harpreet Singh, RDH, MS

Web Design: Office of Teaching, Learning, and Technology, Boston University School of Public Health; Hanae Hayashi, BA, YoungHee Jang, BA, Sachiko Ohde, M.Ed., Robert Schadt, Ed.D.

Copyright © 2005 the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights. All rights reserved. No parts of this course’s content may be reproduced without the written permission of the authors. Content may be used intact for non-commercial, educational purposes with appropriate attribution.

The Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights would like to thank the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture for a grant in partial support of the development of this course.

Man in a Tortoise , courtesy of International Rehabilitation Council for Treatment Centers, Denmark

Course Summary

Caring for Refugees and Survivors of Torture is an introductory human rights internet-based course for health professionals (i.e. physicians, nurses, social and public health workers, psychologists), lawyers, trainees, and human rights advocates who want to learn about survivors of torture and refugee trauma. 

The course covers four basic areas: The epidemiology of torture, background information on human rights and torture, legal considerations specific for refugees, asylees, and survivors of torture, and methods for holistically caring for this patient population. Professionals who work at the Boston Center for Health and Human Rights will demonstrate approaches to treating and supporting the refugees and survivors of torture in the course’s film. The course also offers links to legal and clinical documents, powerpoint presentations, and other helpful resources.

Participants will learn about the medical and public health consequences of torture, uprooting, and other human rights violations. They will also learn how to approach this patient population and recognize clinical signs and symptoms, and then screen, treat, and support individuals at risk.

Learning Objectives

  • To understand the scope, magnitude, and implications of human rights violations
  • To recognize signs and symptoms of torture and related trauma
  • To learn how to sensitively approach, screen, treat, and support these patients
  • To become aware of resources available for this patient population
 

Department of Health Law Bioethics and Human Rights

 Global Lawyers and Physicians Donations
Funded by the United Nations Voluntary Fund For Victims of Torture