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PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Med.
Sec. Obstetrics and Gynecology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1537930
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing HIV Treatment and Prevention for Cisgender Women: Approaches to Optimize Health Outcomes View all articles
A Trauma-informed Care Model for HIV Prevention and Care for Refugee Women in the United States: Perspectives and Implementation Framework
Provisionally accepted
Emmanuel Nazaire Essam Nkodo 
Nada Fadul *- University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, United States
HIV disproportionately impacts women, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and other low-and middle-income countries, where conflict and displacement heighten their vulnerability to HIV. Refugee women face compounded challenges, including trauma before and during migration and healthcare inequities in host countries. This perspective paper aims to assess existing evidence on HIV treatment and prevention for refugee women resettling in the U.S., using intersectional stigma and the status-neutral service delivery model as theoretical frameworks, to propose an implementation strategy. Trauma-informed care (TIC) offers a promising approach to address these challenges, emphasizing culturally responsive, safe, and empowering healthcare. Integrating TIC with the status-neutral model, which centers on HIV testing and pathways for prevention or treatment, can improve care access and outcomes. Moreover, including refugee women and stakeholders in designing tailored interventions that address individual and systemic-level barriers is critical to fostering health equity.
Keywords: HIV prevention and care, Women, Refugee, Trauma informed care, Implementation Framework
Received: 02 Dec 2024; Accepted: 24 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Nkodo and Fadul. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Nada Fadul, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, United States
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