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Barriers and factors influencing communication between dental professionals and Child Welfare Services in their everyday work
Author(s) -
Rønneberg Anne,
Nordgarden Hilde,
Skaare Anne B.,
Willumsen Tiril
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of paediatric dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.183
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1365-263X
pISSN - 0960-7439
DOI - 10.1111/ipd.12507
Subject(s) - safeguarding , medicine , health professionals , child protection , logistic regression , welfare , child abuse , family medicine , nursing , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , medical emergency , health care , political science , law , economics , economic growth
Background Among various health professionals, general dental professionals (GDPs) screen children frequently, giving them a unique opportunity to act upon suspicion of child maltreatment. The dental team has received considerable attention regarding safeguarding children. Aim The aims of this study were to explore whether GDPs have mutual collaboration and communication with the Child Welfare Services (CWS), and potential barriers for reporting child maltreatment. Design An electronically pre‐coded questionnaire was sent to all GDPs (n = 131) in the Public Dental Health Service (PDHS) in Oslo. Frequency distributions and statistical analysis were carried out by chi‐squared statistics and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results The response rate was 75%. Ninety per cent of GDPs had received requests from CWS to provide a child's dental chart. General dental professionals reported child maltreatment frequently (71%), but CWS only gave feedback in 55% of the cases. Uncertainty was the most common reason for not reporting and 33% of the GDPs had chosen not to send a report despite suspicion. Using guidelines increased frequency of reporting (OR 3.6). Conclusions Mutual collaboration and communication should be improved in the task of safeguarding children. Uncertainty and lack of guidelines may act as barriers for not reporting to the CWS.