The effect on the levels of knowledge and awareness of education about child abuse and neglect provided for healthcare professionals

Abuse and neglect are among the events that affect the physical, emotional, and psychological development of children negatively causing behavioral disorders. Insufficient reporting of abuse and neglect, difficulties in diagnosis, denial, and remaining hidden increase the importance of the issue. The present study was conducted in the experimental design with a pre-test and post-test control group to determine the effects of the training provided to health employees about child abuse and neglect on their knowledge and awareness levels. The study population consisted of healthcare professionals working in a city and a university hospital, and the sampling consisted of 95 healthcare professionals (experimental group = 48, control group = 47 healthcare professionals). The data were collected with the "descriptive data form" and "identification scale of the signs and risks of child abuse and neglect". Ethics committee approval was obtained. Percentage distribution, mean and standard deviation, t-test for dependent and independent groups, and chi-square analysis were used to evaluate the study data. The training was applied once a week for an average of 30 minutes and a total of 3 sessions. When the mean scores of the experimental and control groups were evaluated before the training, it was found that although they had knowledge scores above the average level, they were not as high as desired. In intergroup comparisons, no significant differences were detected between the pre-test scale mean scores of the experimental group and those of the control group (p>0.05). However, the mean scores of the experimental group were higher in the posttest, and this difference was significant at the statistical level (p<0.001). It was found in intragroup comparisons that the posttest scale mean score of the experimental group increased at significant levels when compared to the pretest (p<0.001), and the posttest mean scores of the control group did not show significant changes compared to the pretest (p>0.05). In conclusion, it was found that the training provided was effective in increasing the level of child neglect and abuse knowledge and awareness of healthcare professionals. Key words: Child Neglect, Child Abuse, Health Care Professionals, Psychiatric Nursing, Education