Staff Survey Reports on Usefulness of PEARR Tool

In 2018, CommonSpirit Health was awarded a $948,921 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to expand our Human Trafficking Response Program and evaluate efforts to provide trauma-informed care and services to patients identified as victims of abuse, neglect or violence, including human trafficking. As part of these efforts, Arizona State University's Schools of Social Work and Sex Trafficking Intervention Research (STIR) surveyed staff in Bakersfield, California (Central Valley Market, California Region), about the CommonSpirit PEARR Tool’s effectiveness, availability and ease of use. The PEARR Tool is available for download here.

The voluntary “PEARR Tool Training and Implementation Survey” was made available to approximately 300 emergency department physicians, advanced practice providers and patient-facing staff at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, Mercy Hospital Downtown and Mercy Hospital Southwest. In October 2020, the first “wave” of the voluntary survey was distributed and completed by 75 staff members. In June 2021, Arizona State distributed the survey again, and 104 more staff members completed it. Between the two data collection dates, a total of 179 staff completed the survey. 

The survey results were encouraging, with staff members who had used the PEARR Tool finding it valuable and easy to use. This positive feedback is a testament to the tool's effectiveness and role in empowering our staff to provide better care. Most survey respondents who did not use the PEARR Tool reported they did not use it because they did not suspect any patients to be victims. 

Very few respondents reported that they did not understand how to use the PEARR Tool, could not find it when they were with a patient, did not have access to the materials when they were with the patient or could not find guidelines in Cerner. These responses decreased from October 2020 to June 2021 as the PEARR Tool continued to be socialized among staff. 

Read the full published findings in Frontiers in Medicine.

CommonSpirit deeply appreciates the contributions of all the hospital-based leaders, staff and partners who have made this success possible in the Bakersfield area. Pictured below at a tabling event in 2021 for World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (from left to right) are Brenda McMurtrey, Michelle Caton-Wheeler, Sandy Woo-Cater and Enly Solis — just a few of the many dedicated individuals who have helped expand and enhance our Human Trafficking Response Program.