Alexandra Soldatou1, Aphrodite Stathi2, Alexander Panos3, Bilio Paouri3, Electra Koutsoukou2, Panagiotis Krepis3, Maria Tsolia3, Resmiye Oral4, John M Leventhal5. 1. 2nd Department of Pediatrics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Thivon & Levadeias, Goudi, 11527, Athens, Greece. alsoldat@med.uoa.gr. 2. ELIZA, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Ermou & Christopoulou 2, 10563, Athens, Greece. 3. 2nd Department of Pediatrics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Thivon & Levadeias, Goudi, 11527, Athens, Greece. 4. Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA. 5. Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, 333 Cedar St, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
Abstract
Education is necessary to improve child physical abuse detection and management. A few studies have described national child abuse training programs, but none has measured changes in knowledge among participants. A collaboration of child abuse experts from the USA, an academic pediatric department, and a non-governmental organization in child protection aimed at (a) training hospital physicians in a train-the-trainer course for the detection and management of child physical abuse and (b) conducting workshops and measuring attendance and gain of knowledge of participants. A train-the-trainer and a national curriculum were created. A 78-item and a 20-item knowledge questionnaire were used pre and post the train-the-trainer course and all workshops, respectively. Nineteen physicians from all pediatric departments of the seven medical schools in Greece attended the course. Eight workshops in seven cities took place with a total attendance of 1220 health care professionals. Gain of knowledge was demonstrated for participants in the train-the-trainer course (p = 0.0015) and local workshops (p < 0.001). Conclusion: We successfully engaged physicians from all medical schools in Greece and conducted a train-the-trainer module and eight workshops in major cities that improved the participants' knowledge in child physical abuse. This approach may help address physician deficiencies in emerging areas of child abuse clinical practice. What is Known: • Education is necessary to improve child physical abuse detection and management. • Although national training programs have been described, none has measured participants' changes in knowledge. What is New: • A collaboration of child abuse experts, all medical schools in Greece, and a non-governmental organization resulted in a national educational campaign in child physical abuse and gains in knowledge for participants. • This approach may help address deficiencies in emerging areas of clinical practice.
Education is necessary to improve child physical abuse detection and management. A few studies have described national child abuse training programs, but none has measured changes in knowledge among participants. A collaboration of child abuse experts from the USA, an academic pediatric department, and a non-governmental organization in child protection aimed at (a) training hospital physicians in a train-the-trainer course for the detection and management of child physical abuse and (b) conducting workshops and measuring attendance and gain of knowledge of participants. A train-the-trainer and a national curriculum were created. A 78-item and a 20-item knowledge questionnaire were used pre and post the train-the-trainer course and all workshops, respectively. Nineteen physicians from all pediatric departments of the seven medical schools in Greece attended the course. Eight workshops in seven cities took place with a total attendance of 1220 health care professionals. Gain of knowledge was demonstrated for participants in the train-the-trainer course (p = 0.0015) and local workshops (p < 0.001). Conclusion: We successfully engaged physicians from all medical schools in Greece and conducted a train-the-trainer module and eight workshops in major cities that improved the participants' knowledge in child physical abuse. This approach may help address physician deficiencies in emerging areas of child abuse clinical practice. What is Known: • Education is necessary to improve child physical abuse detection and management. • Although national training programs have been described, none has measured participants' changes in knowledge. What is New: • A collaboration of child abuse experts, all medical schools in Greece, and a non-governmental organization resulted in a national educational campaign in child physical abuse and gains in knowledge for participants. • This approach may help address deficiencies in emerging areas of clinical practice.
Entities:
Keywords:
Child abuse curriculum; Child maltreatment; Child protection; Continuing medical education; Educational workshops; Train-the-trainer program
Authors: Mohammad H Al-Qahtani; Haitham H Almanamin; Ahmed M Alasiri; Mohammed H Alqudaihi; Mohammed H AlSaffar; Abdullah A Yousef; Bassam H Awary; Waleed H Albuali Journal: Children (Basel) Date: 2022-06-14