International Models of Hospital Interdisciplinary Teams for the Identification, Assessment, and Treatment of Child Abuse

Abstract

The well-being of a child who has experienced abuse or neglect is dependent on whether or not an interdisciplinary, holistic treatment perspective is applied in the hospital setting. This paper examines the different interdisciplinary approaches used by two major hospitals, one in the United States and the other in Brazil, in their attempt to confront the social problem of child maltreatment.

Hospital social workers' assessment processes for children at risk: positions in and contributions to inter-professional teams

“…There is, on the one hand, the holistic approach, but on the other, the current trend toward increased specialization and the separation rather than the coordination of proficiencies. However, hospital social work (HSW) still basically rests on an interdisciplinary holistic foundation and hospital social workers perhaps more than other hospital personnel have a particular interest in promoting inter-professional collaboration (Abramson & Mizrahi, 1996;Harr, Fairchild, & Souza, 2008) and upholding the holistic approach in making assessments. Yet the fact that at-risk children are not reported to the social services to the extent that they should by the Swedish health care (SOU 2001:72;Ö stberg, 2010) indicates insufficient inter-professional collaboration, suggesting an inability to reconcile professional differences that might lead to mutual respect regarding different competences.…”

Children At Risk of Maltreatment

“…Harr, Fairchild, and Souza (2008) report that hospital-based interdisciplinary child maltreatment teams should serve to provide clear procedures and protocols for the management of suspected child maltreatment cases. To date, there are limited studies in the literature describing the structure and function of hospital-based child maltreatment teams.…”

Assessing children at risk: organizational and professional conditions within children's hospitals

“…Harr et al . ; Agirtan et al . ), but the research on other forms of organizational support is weaker.…”

“…Interprofessional teamwork is intended to bridge the gaps between the professions' knowledge areas, and wellfunctioning teams may be essential to strengthen the integration of differing knowledge areas (Robinson & Cottrell 2005). Hospital social workers (HSWs) seem to a greater extent than other hospital personnelto have a particular interest in promoting interprofessional collaboration (Abramson & Mizrahi 1996;Harr et al 2008) and upholding the holistic approach to making assessments of children at risk. Although health care personnel do not seem to report to the extent that they should, HSWs often take an active position in assessments of children who might be at risk, although some take a more reflective or even passive approach, the latter as a consequence of following the physician's judgements and decisions (Svärd 2014a).…”

“…The field of research on child protection teams is strong (refer to, e.g. Harr et al 2008;Agirtan et al 2009), but the research on other forms of organizational support is weaker. However, in their systematic review, Louwers et al (2010) found that, in emergency departments, training and checklists that showed indicators of child abuse increased awareness among the staff because they broke some barriers to reporting.…”