Creation and evaluation of a participatory child abuse and neglect workshop for medical students

Abstract

Background Since child abuse and neglect (CAN) is prevalent worldwide, medical students should acquire basic knowledge, skills, and confidence in identifying and addressing CAN. Although significant educational efforts have been previously described, none has focused on using participatory methods to teach medical students CAN. Purpose To: 1) develop a participatory educational workshop in CAN for medical students, 2) gather, train, and establish a peer-to-peer teaching group, and 3) assess the effectiveness of the workshop in gain of knowledge and improvement of self-confidence for participants. Methods A two-hour workshop was created with role-playing, the use of mannikins and peer-to-peer teaching. A 15-item knowledge and a 9-item self-confidence questionnaire were used before, right after, and six months after each workshop. Results Nine workshops in two academic pediatric departments with a total attendance of 300 6th year medical students were conducted. For the 69 students who completed the questionnaires at all three times, there were statistically significant gains in knowledge right after (p < .001) and six months after (p < .0001) the workshops. Similarly, self-confidence increased right after (p < .0001) and six months after (p < .001) the workshops. Self-selection bias testing indicated that these 69 students who completed all three questionnaires were representative of those who completed the pre-testing and the testing right after. Conclusions We successfully established a peer-to-peer teaching group to conduct nine participatory workshops that improved the participants’ knowledge and self-confidence in CAN. This feasible and novel active learning approach may help address inadequacies in medical curricula.

Knowledge of child abuse and neglect in nursing students: Assessment and perspectives

“…The scientific literature lacks specific information on preferred methodologies that should be used to teach child abuse and neglect. Recently, Giannakas et al conducted an interesting study in which they proposed a participatory approach for medical students [25]. Particularly, they created a workshop on role‐playing using manikin and peer‐to‐peer teaching.…”

“…Particularly, they created a workshop on role‐playing using manikin and peer‐to‐peer teaching. This methodology could also be used for nursing students, as the study demonstrated that this approach improved participants' knowledge and self‐confidence in child abuse and neglect [25].…”

“…Recently, Giannakas et al conducted an interesting study in which they proposed a participatory approach for medical students [25].…”

Knowledge and Attitudes of Medical and Nursing Students in Greece Regarding Child Abuse and Neglect

“…In addition, part of this structured training should build the understanding that all healthcare professionals, irrespectively of their seniority and especially those that deal with children, should recognize early signs of CAN and act appropriately. Of note, recent efforts have been made in Greece to increase the knowledge of medical students with the aid of novel methods such as role playing and the use of manikins [ 29 ].…”