Shyama Kuruvilla and colleagues present findings across 12 country case studies of multisectoral collaboration, showing how diverse sectors intentionally shape new ways of collaborating and learning, using “business not as usual” strategies to transform situations and achieve shared goals

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Ilona Renner and colleagues describe cross-sectoral collaborative efforts in Germany to enhance the skills of parents to care for young children

Zusammenfassung Es ist eine seit langem bekannte und vielfach belegte Tatsache, dass familiäre psychosoziale Belastungen das Risiko für Kindesmisshandlung und -vernachlässigung sowie für Verzögerungen der kindlichen Entwicklung erhöhen. Was jedoch noch fehlt, sind verlässliche, repräsentative Daten zur Prävalenz von psychosozialen Belastungen in Familien mit kleinen Kindern in Deutschland. Solche Daten werden dringend benötigt, da der bundesweite Auf-und Ausbau von Ange-382 A. Eickhorst et al. 3boten und Netzwerken Früher Hilfen mit politischen Initiativen auf allen föderalen Ebenen aktuell verstärkt vorangetrieben wird. Um die Hilfelandschaft effektiv zu gestalten, ist fundiertes Wissen um psychosoziale Belastungen von Familien kleiner Kinder dringend erforderlich. Nur so kann auf den Hilfe-und Unterstützungsbedarf von Familien -zum Wohle der Kinder -adäquat reagiert werden. Die Erforschung der Lebensbedingungen, in denen Säuglinge und Kleinkinder aufwachsen, stellt für die Forschung eine methodische Herausforderung dar, da psychosozial hochbelastete Familien eher schwierig für die Teilnahme an einer Studie zu gewinnen sind und die Fragen von den Studienteilnehmern potentiell als heikel wahrgenommen werden könnten. Die KiD 0-3 Prävalenzstudie wurde 2015 an Familien mit 0-3-jährigen Kindern durchgeführt und wird zum ersten mal einen systematischer Überblick über die Verteilung empirisch bestätigter Risikofaktoren in Deutschland geben. Schlüsselwörter Psychosoziale Belastungen · Risiken für Kindesmisshandlung-/ vernachlässigung · Kindliche Entwicklung · Surveyforschung · Frühe HilfenThe KiD 0-3 study on the prevalence of psychosocial burden and early prevention in families with children aged 0-3: study design and potential of analyses Abstract Exposure to family psychosocial burden in early childhood has long been known to increase a child's risk of abuse and neglect as well as of developmental deficiencies. However, in Germany there is a lack of nationally representative evidence on the prevalence of psychosocial burden in families with young children. Such data is urgently needed to better understand the needs of families and to plan prevention efforts within the German federal action plan for early prevention. Surveying the conditions in which infants and toddlers grow up poses a formidable methodological challenge to the researcher, as families with high exposure to psychosocial burden tend to be hard to recruit in survey research and the questions tend to be sensitive. The KiD 0-3 prevalence study of families with children 0-3 years of age was conducted in 2015 and will provide a first systematic overview of empirically confirmed risk factors in Germany.Keywords Psychosocial burden · Risks of child abuse and neglect · Child development · Survey research · Early intervention/prevention

Background The success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is predicated on multisectoral collaboration (MSC), and the COVID-19 pandemic makes it more urgent to learn how this can be done better. Complex challenges facing countries, such as COVID-19, cut across health, education, environment, financial and other sectors. Addressing these challenges requires the range of responsible sectors and intersecting services – across health, education, social and financial protection, economic development, law enforcement, among others – transform the way they work together towards shared goals. While the necessity of MSC is recognized, research is needed to understand how sectors collaborate, inform how to do so more efficiently, effectively and equitably, and ascertain similarities and differences across contexts. To answer these questions and inform practice, research to strengthen the evidence-base on MSC is critical. Methods This paper draws on a 12-country study series on MSC for health and sustainable development, in the context of the health and rights of women, children and adolescents. It is written by core members of the research coordination and country teams. Issues were analyzed during the study period through ‘real-time’ discussions and structured reporting, as well as through literature reviews and retrospective feedback and analysis at the end of the study. Results We identify four considerations that are unique to MSC research which will be of interest to other researchers, in the context of COVID-19 and beyond: 1) use theoretical frameworks to frame research questions as relevant to all sectors and to facilitate theoretical generalizability and evolution; 2) specifically incorporate sectoral analysis into MSC research methods; 3) develop a core set of research questions, using mixed methods and contextual adaptations as needed, with agreement on criteria for research rigor; and 4) identify shared indicators of success and failure across sectors to assess MSCs. Conclusion In responding to COVID-19 it is evident that effective MSC is an urgent priority. It enables partners from diverse sectors to effectively convene to do more together than alone. Our findings have practical relevance for achieving this objective and contribute to the growing literature on partnerships and collaboration. We must seize the opportunity here to identify remaining knowledge gaps on how diverse sectors can work together efficiently and effectively in different settings to accelerate progress towards achieving shared goals.