Inter-agency collaboration factors affecting multidisciplinary workers' ability to identify child maltreatment.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to clarify the factors of successful inter-agency collaboration that affect multidisciplinary workers' abilities to identify child maltreatment. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted; the contents of the questionnaire included the Collaboration Evaluation Scale we developed and the workers' abilities to identify child maltreatment. In total, 277 individuals from various agencies in Japan participated in this study. To examine the factors of successful inter-agency collaboration affecting workers' awareness of child maltreatment, we used hierarchical multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The analysis showed the positive effect of "commitment with loyalty" on the workers' awareness of child maltreatment-related information in all fields (ß = .18-.31, p < .05), the effect of "strong leadership" on information about maltreated children and the home environment (ß = .18, p < .05; ß = .16, p < .05, respectively), and the effect of "resources" on the information about mothers' information during pregnancy and of fathers' feelings towards their children during the perinatal period (ß = .17, p < .05; ß = .22, p < .01, respectively). In conclusion, commitment with loyalty, strong leadership, and resources are factors of successful inter-agency collaboration that affects the ability of multidisciplinary workers to recognize signs of child maltreatment.

Hospital-based child protection teams that care for parents who abuse or neglect their children recognize the need for multidisciplinary collaborative practice involving perinatal care and mental health professionals: a questionnaire survey conducted in Japan.

BACKGROUND: Child abuse and/or neglect is a serious issue, and in many cases, parents are the perpetrators. Hospital-based child protection teams (CPTs) play pivotal roles in the management of not only abused and/or neglected children but also of their parents; this is generally conducted through multidisciplinary practice. The aim of this study is to survey hospital-based CPT members to determine the professions they perceive to be most applicable to participation in CPTs. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: The participants were members of CPTs affiliated with hospitals that had pediatric emergency departments and which were located in Chiba Prefecture; specifically, 114 CPT members from 23 hospitals responded to this survey. The two main questionnaire items concerned are as follows: 1) each respondent's evaluation of conducting assessments, providing support, and implementing multidisciplinary collaborative practice in the treatment of abusive and negligent parents, and 2) each CPT member's opinion on the professions that are most important for CPT activities. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to explore the factor structure of the data, and a correlation analysis was performed using the result obtained. RESULTS: The EFA returned two factors: multidisciplinary collaborative practice (α = 0.84) and assessment and support (α = 0.89). A correlational analysis showed that multidisciplinary collaborative practice had a positive correlation for obstetricians (r = 0.315, p = 0.001), neonatologists (r = 0.261, p = 0.007), midwives (r = 0.248, p = 0.011), and psychiatrists (r = 0.194, p = 0.048); however, assessment and support was only significantly correlated with midwives (r = 0.208, p = 0.039). CONCLUSION: This study showed that hospital-based CPT members highly evaluate multidisciplinary collaborative practice for the management of abusive and/or negligent parents, and they believe that, in addition to pediatric physicians and nurses, perinatal care and mental health professionals are the most important participants in advanced CPT activities.