The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 2009 , Vol 51 , Num 4
Six-Year Experience of a Hospital-Based Child Protection Team in Turkey
Departments of 1Pediatrics, 2Psychiatry, 3Forensic Medicine, 4Child Psychiatry, and 5Pediatric Surgery, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, 6Child Protection Center, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey; and 7Child Protection Program, University of Iowa, Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa, USA The objective of this article was to review the case series’ profile followed up by the Gazi University Multidisciplinary Team for Child Protection and to describe the challenges in our child protection system. The cases referred to this team between February 2001 and January 2007 were analyzed. In addition to the clinical management, challenges encountered during follow-up due to gaps in the child protection system were reviewed. A total of 139 patients were referred to the team during the study period. Mean age for physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect were 8.9±6.2, 10.8±4.2, and 5.1±5.5 years, respectively. Sexual abuse was significantly less common while neglect was significantly more common in the 0-5 years of age group. In addition to the gaps within each link of the child protection system (medical, legal and social services) in Turkey, interagency collaboration seems to be inadequate. Hospital-based multidisciplinary teams can start such a collaboration. Keywords : child abuse, multidisciplinary team approach, neglect, hospital-based child protection center.
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