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Health professionals' perspectives on child protection capacities, training and need for action

Background Child maltreatment is because of its prevalence and consequences one of the main reasons for global health inequalities and a major public health problem. The medical field offers many opportunities to support affected children. However, there is often very limited awareness concerning ch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of public health 2021-10, Vol.31 (Supplement_3)
Main Authors: Maier, A, Fegert, JM, Hoffmann, U
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Background Child maltreatment is because of its prevalence and consequences one of the main reasons for global health inequalities and a major public health problem. The medical field offers many opportunities to support affected children. However, there is often very limited awareness concerning child protection beyond a few engaged professionals. The present work aims to survey the state of knowledge and capacities in view of child protection in the medical field and explores health professionals' perspectives on a potential need for action. Methods From 06/2016 until 02/2021 3,360 health professionals were interviewed. Using quantitative and qualitative items the questionnaire gathered demographic and professional background information as well as assessments regarding the awareness of child protection, capacities in child protection among health professionals and training offers in medicine. Results The analysis indicated that the topic child protection in medicine is not as present as the high prevalence demands it. The majority (94.0%; n = 3,159) of the probands stated that they need more knowledge and capacities regarding child protection in medicine. More than half of the probands assessed the importance of the issue child protection as low among health professionals. The reasons cited included child protection as being an uncomfortable topic, unwillingness among managers, and a lack of training on the topic. Conclusions It turned out that there is too little awareness and importance regarding child protection in the medical field. Hence, it is difficult to ensure an adequate care for those affected. Child protection topics should be made mandatory in the training curricula of all health professionals as well as quality standards for prevention and intervention should be implemented in medical institutions. Key messages Too little attention is paid to child protection in the medical field. More training in child protection and quality standards must be established in the medical field.
ISSN:1101-1262
1464-360X
DOI:10.1093/eurpub/ckab165.510