Sensibilização de profissionais do Programa Saúde da Família (PSF) para notificação de violência contra criança e adolescente: um estudo de caso

Abstract

Studies show that when dealing with cases of abuse, health professionals have difficulties in identification and reporting. These difficulties are related to a gap on this topic on their professional training, the reproduction of cultural patterns of noninvolvement in matters concerning the family, the disbelief in the effectiveness of Child Protection Services, negative past experiences and other personal issues. Other studies have indicated the need for training programs for these professionals, pointing suggestions on what such program should contain, as well as its format, scope and professionals levels involved for this type of audience. The goal of this study was to raise awareness among professionals of the Family Health Program (PSF) about child abuse by developing, proposing and evaluating a training course to identify and report child maltreatment. The training was developed based on the guidelines described by the literature. The objectives of the training were that the professionals should be able to: a) identify the phenomenon of violence, b) identify the types of violence against children and adolescents, c) identify the signs and symptoms associated with such violence; d) identify risk and protective factors; e) analyze the myths surrounding the subject; f) analyse appropriate ways to approach victimized children; g) identify the Protective Network in the city; h) identify and analyze factors that promote resilience; i) establish a dialogue between staff and the agencies responsible for children and youth and j) correctly complete the reporting form. The study was approved by the University´s Ethics Committee. The study included two teams of reference from two distinct Family Health Units. Initially only team participed in the intervention group and a the second remained as control. The study took place in a mid size city of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. The training lasted 15 hours, divided into 10 alternative week meeting. At the end of the first intervention, the control group took part of the training, as well. Each team had 11 health professionals. The assessment instruments used were: Questionnaire on Hypothetical Cases, Child Maltreatment Evaluations in Pediatric Primary Care and Questionnaire on Family Violence against Children and Adolescents. After the health teams training a positive changes on the procedures adopted in a situation of suspected or confirmed child maltreatment, were found as well considering incresining to reporting to Protective Services. Moreover, according to participants evaluation, the training made them aware of the care involved in such cases, which went unnoticed before. In conclusion the training of health professionals to identify and report Protective Services cases of child abuse is an efficient way to maximize reporting behavior. It would be important to have Public Polities to improve services to children as a mean to prevent violence, as well as strengthening Child Protection Services.