Que nous apprend le vécu des médecins généralistes sur les composantes de leur intervention dans les situations de suspicion de maltraitance infantile non urgentes ?
(2021) Carnet de notes sur les maltraitances infantiles — Vol. 10, p. 24-47 (2021)
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- (en) Non-urgent cases of suspected child abuse engage general prac¬titioners (GP) in a particularly complex process. Despite their important role in preventing such abuse, general practitioners still detect and report too few cases of child abuse. The barriers to this under-reporting are explored in the scientific literature but there is little research analysing GPs en¬gagement with situations of mal¬treatment. This study attempts to determine what constitutes GP’s intervention in situations of sus¬pected non-emergency child abuse in order to better understand their decision-making process and iden¬tify levers for action. To answer this question, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 GP practicing in the Wallonia-Brus¬sels Federation. The data from the interviews were analysed using the grounded theory method. This research highlights four catego¬ries which emphasize the compo¬nents of GPs’ intervention when faced with situations of suspected non-emergency child abuse. These categories are presented by pro¬gressively broadening our focus from the GP to the health care net¬work in which the practitioner is involved. They are then arranged in a chart which allows the modelling of the decision-making process un¬dertaken by these GPs. The analy¬sis of this decision-making process makes it possible to understand the limits of theoretical knowledge and why suspicion of a situation of abuse is not enough to intervene. Appropriate training programs could adequately support GPs in the complexity of these situations by integrating the specificities of their interventions highlighted by qualitative studies. An example of a pedagogical activity developed on the basis of the results of this research is discussed at the end of the article. More than a simple ac¬quisition of knowledge and skills, such training could contribute to the development of a reflexive posture among generalists, i.e. an awareness of the difficult deci¬sion-making process in which they engage.
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Cornelis, G., & Theys, C. (2021). Que nous apprend le vécu des médecins généralistes sur les composantes de leur intervention dans les situations de suspicion de maltraitance infantile non urgentes ? Carnet de notes sur les maltraitances infantiles, 10, 24-47. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/113547 (Original work published 2021)