Training to Improve Child Abuse and Neglect Diagnostic and Administrative Coding

ended

Problem: Healthcare professionals frequently fail to reliably code child maltreatment even as this data is essential to determine if vulnerable children are recognised equally across regions, if they are adequately protected independent of gender, ethnic background, or other aspects of diversity. Hospital data are particularly relevant to address information on violence against the youngest who are not monitored by schools. Target groups and reach: Practitioners in healthcare n=300, children n=8-10, stakeholders n>1million. Objectives: The TICANDAC project, a German-Swedish collaboration, aims to contribute to the prevention of all forms of violence against children by supporting and improving national data collection, by: 1) systematic characterisation of obstacles to code child maltreatment in hospitals; 2) developing, pre-testing and piloting of a targeted e-training of frontline clinicians on coding with the forthcoming revision of ICD-11, including capacity building in data collection strategies, case management, data analysis and usage; 3) evaluating the impact with pre-and post-training measures; 4) awareness-raising and mutual learning activities; and 5) dissemination of e-training, tools and other project deliverables (in English) expandable across Europe via digital coordination platforms that build on established knowledge hubs in Germany and Sweden. Mainstreaming on gender, rights of the child, child participation, stakeholder liaison and sustainable development is integrated into the design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and communication of TICANDAC. Expected impact and scalability: The long-term effect of the project is expected to be improved, more systematised and reliable coding of hospital data on child maltreatment according to the ICD-11; with an evidence-based e-training concept ready for large-scale dissemination. Supported by the German National Association for Child in Medicine and the Swedish Paediatric Society.