This paper, the second in a series of two, presents and analyses the results of an extended literature review undertaken for a Master's dissertation, the purpose of which was to establish the evidence base for the learning and teaching of skills for child protection practice. The review, discussed in the previous paper, was carried out in two stages. An initial search yielded a very small number of studies of direct relevance but they provided the trigger and the key words for a second search. Many potentially useful areas had to be omitted from the second stage because of limited resources, but the two stages in the search generated large amounts of material, much of which was indirectly relevant to child protection practice. The review did not achieve the original aim of determining skills that are identifi ed through research and other evidence as being essential for child protection practice, but it was possible to draw some conclusions. For example, evidence was found of the importance of a range of communication skills, whether these be child focused, carer focused or interprofessional. Skills in managing confl ict and challenge were found to be crucial, with the importance of role clarifi cation being acknowledged. There was some evidence of the use of decision-making skills and problem-solving skills, but little research that explored procedural skills.

This article, the fi rst of two, provides an account of an extended literature review that was undertaken in order to establish the evidence base for the learning and teaching of skills for child protection practice. It considers the contribution to the knowledge base from child abuse inquiries and from policies, guidelines and other documents from governmental departments and professional bodies. The subsequent analysis of terminology used for the review illustrates the complexity of searching for evidence that relates to concepts about which there are many differing perspectives, and also highlights the relevance to the study of activities undertaken by practitioners from a wide range of backgrounds. The paper describes the review method beginning with an initial search from which several hundred articles were located, only six of which generated evidence of value to the study. These six, however, highlighted a range of skills that provided the basis for a second, more focused search. Following an account of organisation and analysis of material, the paper concludes with discussion of some of the challenges presented during the process of this review, the complexities of which are refl ected in the paper's title. A second paper will present the fi ndings.

No abstract

No abstract

This article describes a small-scale qualitative study of health visitors' experiences of skill mix. The author finds that the implementation of skill mix has been more successful where health visitors have control over the process and are supported during the change.