by Amber Fredrick
New research from our Traumatic Stress Studies Group aimed to answer questions about the real-world impact of survivor-centered care, championed by victim-service providers. For instance, is survivor-centered care was linked to important survivor outcomes – from empowerment and PTSD symptoms to people’s intention to seek help in the future?
To answer such questions, we asked 173 survivors of sexual violence to fill out an online survey and share their experiences of their interactions with medical and legal services, mental health services, crisis lines, and advocates.
The findings help document the value of survivor-centered care.
Survivors who described their care as more survivor-centered also reported greater safety-related empowerment. Safety-related empowerment is when survivors feel confident in their skills to make their own decisions around increasing well-being and safety. In turn, greater safety-related empowerment was linked with lower PTSD symptom severity.
Survivor-centered care made a difference, even in agencies that were not focused on serving survivors. In fact, survivors who said they got more survivor-centered care in medical, legal, mental health or other similar non-victim-specific services also said they’d be more likely to seek help in the future if needed.
Taken together, these findings revealed that survivors who received survivor-centered care reported more positive mental health outcomes and said they were more likely to engage in services in the future. This pattern suggests that when care prioritizes survivor autonomy, needs, and unique contexts, they are more likely to feel more equipped to make decisions about their well-being and safety.
When we looked more closely at the data, one finding stood out: LGBTQIA+ survivors reported significantly lower intentions to seek help in the future. This finding lines up with what a few LQBTQIA+ survivors shared about their experiences. Specifically, they shared that services were not affirming for transgender and queer identities. This finding points to the importance of identify-affirming and population-specific resources for LGBTQIA+ people, who are at high risk for sexual victimization.
One of the most encouraging parts of this research is that, as our team gets to see first-hand, many organizations are already practicing survivor-centered care. Of course, there is room to grow in terms of building ever-more inclusive, affirming care for survivors who are marginalized. When survivors feel supported, they tell us that they are more likely to have positive outcomes, and they are more likely to seek out help in the future.
These preliminary data offer a window into the importance of survivor-centered care for increasing positive survivor outcomes. In the face of long waitlists, funding cuts, and other challenges, these findings show that advocates play a pivotal role in empowering survivors on their healing journey through survivor-centered care.
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Note: This research was conducted for Amber Fredrick’s master’s project. The research was reviewed by a faculty committee but not yet peer reviewed as part of the journal publication process. Stay tuned for updates as we submit this work for publication!
Trauma Research Notes 