Ulm University Hospital, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychotherapy, Steinhövelstr. 5, Ulm, 89075, Germany.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2022 Apr 28;22(1):571. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-07905-7.
Child maltreatment, due to its high prevalence and often long-lasting (health and/or psycho-social) consequences, is one of the main reasons for global health inequalities. The medical field offers many opportunities to support affected children. This gives physicians and other health professionals the opportunity to provide protective measures and therapies to affected children at an early stage. However, the level of training concerning child protection is often too low among health professionals. This can affect the quality of care as well as providing the appropriate treatment and thus, the long-term (health) burden. The present work aims to survey the state of knowledge and capacities of health professionals regarding child protection in medicine and elicit health professionals' perspectives who absolved a child protection online course on a potential need for action in Germany.
From June 2016 until February 2021, 3,360 health professionals were interviewed. Using quantitative and qualitative items, the questionnaire assessed demographic and professional background information as well as assessments regarding the awareness of child protection, abilities in child protection among health professionals and training offers in medicine.
The analysis indicates that the topic of child protection in medicine is not as present as the high prevalence of child maltreatment would imply. The majority (94.0%; n = 3.159) of the health professionals stated that they need more knowledge and capacities regarding child protection in medicine. More than half of the health professionals assessed the importance of the issue of child protection as low among health professionals. The reasons cited included child protection as an uncomfortable topic, an unwillingness among managers, and a lack of training on the topic.
There is too little awareness and importance regarding child protection in the medical field in Germany. Hence, it is difficult to ensure adequate care for those affected. Child protection topics should be mandatory in the training curricula of all health professionals, and quality standards for prevention and intervention should be implemented in medical institutions. Furthermore, networking in child protection has to be improved, and medical campaigns should address the topic to sensitize health professionals and society to the issue and to destigmatize the topic.
儿童虐待是全球健康不平等的主要原因之一，其发病率高且后果往往长期存在（对健康和/或心理社会造成影响）。医疗领域为支持受影响儿童提供了许多机会。这使医生和其他卫生专业人员有机会在早期为受影响的儿童提供保护措施和治疗。然而，卫生专业人员在儿童保护方面的培训水平往往较低。这会影响护理质量，以及提供适当的治疗，从而影响长期（健康）负担。本研究旨在调查德国卫生专业人员在医学儿童保护方面的知识和能力状况，并了解参加儿童保护在线课程的卫生专业人员对该领域潜在行动需求的看法。
2016 年 6 月至 2021 年 2 月，对 3360 名卫生专业人员进行了访谈。调查问卷采用定量和定性条目，评估了人口统计学和专业背景信息，以及对儿童保护意识、卫生专业人员在儿童保护方面的能力以及医学领域培训机会的评估。
分析表明，医学儿童保护这一主题并没有像儿童虐待的高发病率所暗示的那样受到重视。大多数（94.0%；n=3159）卫生专业人员表示，他们需要更多关于医学儿童保护方面的知识和能力。超过一半的卫生专业人员认为卫生专业人员对儿童保护问题的重视程度较低。引用的原因包括儿童保护是一个令人不适的话题、管理人员不愿意以及缺乏相关培训。
德国医疗领域对儿童保护的认识和重视程度不足，因此难以确保受影响者得到适当的护理。儿童保护主题应成为所有卫生专业人员培训课程的必修课，医疗机构应实施预防和干预的质量标准。此外，必须加强儿童保护方面的网络建设，医疗宣传活动应针对该主题，使卫生专业人员和社会了解该问题，消除对此问题的污名化。
